User:Arianna Bailey/sandbox

= College Student Alcoholism = The rates of college students binge drinking in the United States have fluctuated for the past years. Rates of binge drinking amongst college students have fluctuated in the past years due to increased pressure and stress placed on college students. Increased pressure and stress from new and daunting responsibilities. From paying school tuition, room and board, rent if they live off campus, and balancing a job and their academics. As high as 40% of college students could now be considered alcoholics, as defined by the next edition psychiatry's diagnostic manual, but many of these individuals would be regarded as having only a mild drinking problem. Most college binge drinkers and drug users don't develop lifelong problems. However, it is more likely that they may develop alcoholism in the future. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) reported in 2012, that more than 80% of college students drink alcohol, with estimated 40% report binge drinking in the past 2 weeks, and about 25% report having academic consequences because of their drinking.[4] 56% of students reported binge drinking once a week.[5] Binge drinking amongst college students can cause severe life long health issues and legal issues as well. Legal issues may come about from things such as drunk driving, or partaking in illegal activities such as violently attacking someone or sexual assault. Some of the health issues that may occur due to alcoholism are liver damage, high blood pressure, or even an inflamed pancreas.

Causes of Alcoholism
Drinking is a major part of peer pressure beginning as early as high school. Students drink because they think it is the "cool" thing to do and that everybody is doing so they should be doing it too in order to fit in. Some students may also drink to ease the pain of any hardship they might be going through at the time. Numerous college students enter a brand new environment with new people, new social societies, high chance of being homesick, and all the stress and pressure that being a college student comes with. All of these factors are reasons why some college students turn to alcohol to ease the stress and pressure of navigating their new surroundings.

Increased Availability of Alcohol
College students that live on campus are at a very high risk of alcohol abuse based on the college culture and party lifestyle that encourages binge drinking and getting drunk. This is especially true in schools where greek life and sports such as football are a major part of the university. Students living in their own apartments off-campus have an even higher chance of becoming alcoholics because they have no rule of parents and no rules of living in the college dormitory. When college students are away from their parents for the first time they think they have the freedom to do anything they want and experiment with anything they want which leads to alcohol abuse and alcoholism. Social get togethers or gatherings are usually alcohol based in college where alcohol is available to everybody no matter their age. In this type of environment, students who don't normally drink may start to drink just to fit in with their new peers.

More Free Time
Students in College also have way more free time than they did in high school. They have way more free time and way less supervision. Things such as alcohol that were prohibited to them before are now easily available and at their disposal. Some students take advantage of this new availability and experiment with it.

Coping Mechanisms for Elevated Pressure and Responsibilities
After students leave their parents and begin university they have responsibilities that they never had before. They have to pay for classes that bear much greater importance than classes did in high school and they also never to worry about paying for classes in high school. Students living on campus have to pay for room and board and students living off campus have to pay rent amongst other bills such as groceries every week. To pay for these additional responsibilities, they have to get either a full-time or part-time job which only adds to their stress and pressure.

Effects of Alcoholism on College Students
Almost all college students have been directly or indirectly effected by alcoholism whether they were personally under the influence or someone they knew was under the influence. Even people that aren't actually consuming alcohol can be negatively affected based on others actions. Someone that is under the influence of heavy drinking is susceptible to dangerous behavior and is not in full control of all their actions.

Various negative effects affiliated with heavy drinking in college are:

Performing Poorly in Classes
The caliber of a students coursework can severely decline when consumption of alcohol becomes a normal everyday activity. Drinking can cause students to miss class, miss exams, miss homework assignments and just get lower grades overall because of lack of concentration and reduced brain function. A students grades may fall because a student may party and drink instead of studying or doing homework. A student may have a hangover and oversleep which leads them to miss their class the next day or an important exam. Drinking may also lead students to just ignore all responsibilities.

Risk of Injury and Assault
Drinking can increase a persons chance of being injured from small cuts to major bruises or becoming unconscious. According to alcohol rehab guide, "nearly 600,000 college students accidentally injure themselves due alcohol consumption. Such injuries include sprains, bruises, and bone fractures. Students under the influence of alcohol that are mentally unstable or depressed can induce major life-threatening issues. A mentally unstable person is more likely to commit suicide, harm themselves, harm others and behave irrationally.

Additionally, along with the risk of injury there is a high risk of sexual assault. Alcohol can decrease a person's reticence, which makes them more powerless to physical or sexual assault. According to alcohol rehab guide, "around 700,000 students between ages 18 and 24 are violently attacked by someone that was under the influence". Victims under the influence of alcohol are more likely to be preyed on because they are too incomprehensible to defend themselves or just faint before they even know what occurred. Sexual Assault can have long-lasting emotional and physical benefits on a person such as contracting an STD, undesired pregnancy, and causing long-lasting psychological impairment.

Committing Criminal Activities
A person under the influence is more likely to commit a crime than if they were sober. According to alcohol rehab guide, "intoxicated individuals have a higher chance of participating in vandalism, property damage, driving under the influence, as well as various other criminal activities. Severe alcohol-related crimes include battery, kidnapping, and homicide. Students who commit crimes while intoxicated have to deal with major legal penalty such as suspension or expulsion from school, fines, probation, suspended license, or spending time in prison.

Developing Health Issues
The effects of heavy drinking may occur over longer periods of time. According to alcohol rehab guide, "almost 150,000 college students develop an alcohol-related health problem every year". Some of the alcohol-related health problems include liver damage, high blood pressure, and inflammation of the pancreas. Students that participate in heavy alcohol consumption during youth have an increased dependency on alcohol as they get older. Alcoholism usually develops from longterm drinking, but it can also develop from sessions of heavy and regular drinking.

Drunk Driving Behavior of College Students
According to the University of Maryland School of Public Health, "when students were 19 and 20, about 45% reported that they had driven a vehicle after alcohol consumption within the past year and two out of every five students reported driving in a vehicle with a drunk driver within the past year". "After turning 21, six out of every ten students proclaimed driving after alcohol consumption and within the year half of all college students had driven in the car with a drunk driver" (University of Maryland School of Public Health). Getting caught driving under the influence can result in the driver getting a DUI which leads to even more problems. Getting a DUI always involves a fee, suspension of license, probation, and even spending some time in jail. The cost of a DUI ranges from $5,000 to over $20,000 (AlcoRehab). College students that get a DUI may be put on enrollment suspension, expelled from the university, lose student housing, and lose scholarships/financial aid.

How Alcohol Abuse turns to Alcoholism
Alcohol abuse or binge drinking is the excessive use and dependence on alcohol within a given time period. According to AlcoRehab, "about 20% of college students meet the medical standard for having an alcohol use disorder". Not all students that partake in binge drinking end up becoming alcoholics but they are very close to becoming alcoholics or becoming alcohol dependent. Binge drinking is described as consuming five or more drinks in any one sitting or elevating blood alcohol concentration levels to .08g/dL. "Raising BAC levels up to .08g/dL is fulfilled with five drinks for men and four drinks for women" (NIAAA). A study conducted by San Diego State University's Department of Psychology states that college students whom partake in frequent binge drinking on more than three occasions within a two-week time frame are 19 times more likely to develop alcoholism than non-drinkers or occasional drinkers.