Alcohol and Your Health

Adolescents typically have an increased desire to experience new things, but experimenting with alcohol is not a good idea.

• Alcohol-related blackouts are gaps in a person's memory for events that occurred while they were intoxicated. These gaps happen when someone drinks enough alcohol to temporarily block the transfer of memories from short-term to long-term storage—known as memory consolidation—in an area of the brain called the hippocampus.¹
• There are two types of blackouts, which are defined by the severity of the memory impairment. 
  • The most common type is called a fragmentary blackout and is characterized by spotty memories for events, with “islands” of memories separated by missing periods of time in between. This type is sometimes referred to as a grayout or a brownout. 
  • Complete amnesia, often spanning hours, is known as an en bloc blackout. With this severe form of blackout, memories of events do not form and typically cannot be recovered. To the person experiencing the blackout, it is as if the events simply never occurred. 
• Blackouts are quite common among adolescents. In one study, 1 in 5 older adolescents who drank alcohol in the previous 6 months reported an alcohol-induced memory blackout.² 
• Research suggests that the earlier a teen starts drinking, the more likely they are to report experiencing blackouts years later, even if they decreased their drinking.³
• Blackouts are not necessarily a sign of alcohol use disorder (AUD), but experiencing even one is a reason for concern. Teens who have a blackout should think about their relationship with alcohol and consider talking to their doctor about their drinking. 

For more information, see the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism fact sheet Interrupted Memories: Alcohol-Induced Blackouts.

If you suspect someone is experiencing an alcohol overdose, get medical help immediately. Cold showers, hot coffee, food, or walking will NOT reverse the effects of alcohol overdose and could actually make things worse.

• Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a medical condition characterized by an impaired ability to stop or control alcohol use despite adverse social, occupational, or health consequences. It encompasses the conditions that some people refer to as alcohol abuse, alcohol dependence, alcohol addiction, and the colloquial term “alcoholism.”
• Considered a brain disorder, AUD can be mild, moderate, or severe.
• Research shows that people who start drinking at an earlier age are at a higher risk for developing AUD later in life. For example, adults ages 26 and older who began drinking before age 15 are 4 times more likely to report having AUD in the past year compared to those who waited until age 21 or later to begin drinking.¹
• It may be hard to imagine why people with AUD can’t just “use a little willpower” to stop drinking. But severe AUD creates an uncontrollable craving for alcohol. It can be as strong as the need for food and water. People may want to stop because they know that drinking harms their health and their loved ones. But quitting is extremely difficult.
• No matter how severe the problem may seem, most people with AUD can benefit from treatment with behavioral therapies, medications, or both.
• Research indicates that alcohol use during the teenage years can interfere with normal adolescent brain development and increase the risk of developing AUD. 
• Research shows that genes are responsible for around 50% of the risk for AUD. Therefore, genes alone do not determine whether someone will develop AUD. Environmental factors play important roles in determining the outcomes, as with other conditions linked to a wide array of genes. For example, having a parent with a drinking problem increases a child's risk for developing an alcohol problem. About 10% of U.S. children ages 17 and younger live with a parent who has AUD.²

• Although a person’s brain generally reaches its maximum size by age 10, the second decade of life brings widespread changes in the organization and functioning of the brain. Changes in brain circuits continue until at least the mid-20s. 
• Alcohol misuse during adolescence might cause negative long-term effects because of physical changes in the brain during development.  
• Alcohol misuse during adolescence is also associated with reduced size of the frontal lobe (involved in planning and decision-making), hippocampus (involved in memory), amygdala (involved in fear-sensing), and corpus callosum (involved in the communication between the two sides of the brain).¹ 
• A growing body of evidence suggests that the earlier people start drinking alcohol, the more likely they are to experience a measurable negative impact on cognitive functions, memory, and school performance over time—perhaps even into adulthood.^2,3 
• In some people, a history of adolescent alcohol misuse could increase the likelihood of developing alcohol use disorder, and is associated with mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression during adolescence and later in life.^4,5 
• The good news is that the ability of the brain to change during adolescence can also help the brain recover from some alcohol-induced consequences.
• Alcohol use and sleep problems in adolescence are linked to an increased risk of depression, which can be made even worse by environmental stressors.⁶ 
• As with adults, alcohol plays a role in suicide involving underage people who drink.⁷