You probably know that drinking alcohol can make you feel dizzy, uninhibited or hungover, but did you know that drinking as a teenager can impact health and wellbeing for years to come?
While it’s easy to see the body growing during adolescence, it’s not as obvious that the brain is going through a significant period of growth, too. Throughout your teens and into your twenties, your brain continues to grow and change as the synapses that connect all the different neurons become more complex and efficient.
Drinking alcohol while your brain is still developing might slow down or change this growth. This could cause potential brain damage that you’ll carry with you throughout the rest of your life.
Alcohol’s effect on teenage learning and memory
One part of the brain that is affected by alcohol is the hippocampus. The hippocampus is the part of your brain that is responsible for learning and memory.
Alcohol can damage or even destroy the cells that make up the hippocampus, which is why some people experience fuzzy memories or ‘blackouts’ after drinking. Because an adolescent brain is still developing, this damage can be particularly dangerous. Studies have shown that adolescents who drink heavily and often can have a smaller hippocampus than their peers, because of the damage done to their brain by alcohol.
Your hippocampus will play a vital role in your brain function during and after adolescence. How well your hippocampus functions will affect how well you can learn and store short term memories, which could play a part in how well you do at school, work, hobbies and when learning new skills like driving a car.
You might not be aware of the effects, but damage done to your hippocampus during adolescence can affect your brain’s potential to learn and remember new things for the rest of your life.
How alcohol affects judgement and decision making in teens
To mature adults, teenagers can seem impulsive, sometimes making poor decisions or acting in seemingly irrational ways. This is because the pre-frontal cortex of the teenage brain, responsible for things like rational thinking, planning, personality, impulse control and language, is still maturing.
The pre-frontal cortex is also affected by the consumption of alcohol, which is why people who have been drinking might become irrational, overly confident or less inhibited. When a developing adolescent brain comes into contact with alcohol, the effects can be compounded.
Combining a still maturing brain with the effects of alcohol can mean teens who are drinking are more likely to engage in risky behaviours and have negative experiences, like:
- vomiting, blackouts and hangovers
- injuries, accidents and assaults
- unwanted or unsafe sex
- damaging their reputation by acting in ways they normally wouldn’t
- damaging relationships by treating people in ways they normally wouldn’t.
Pre-frontal cortex damage from drinking alcohol can affect how well young people make judgements as they move into adulthood.
Are teenagers still drinking alcohol?
The good news is that the number of Queensland teenagers drinking alcohol is dropping. But this doesn’t mean that alcohol use in teenagers should no longer be on the radar.
The most recent Chief Health Officer report shows that over half of Queenslanders aged 12 –17 are consuming alcohol each year, with a third drinking in the past four weeks.
How to help teenagers manage their relationship with alcohol
It’s important for teenagers to learn what alcohol could do to their brain and body in the short and long term. Learning about ways to deal with peer pressure, and if they’re going to drink, making sure they really know what alcohol is, what is in drinks and what a standard drink of alcohol looks like.
For parents and carers, learn about ways to positively influence your adolescent’s behaviour, how to have a conversation with them about alcohol and how to help them have a good and safe time.
Learn more about alcohol and the brain from It Can’t Hurt To Ask
Want to know more about how alcohol affects your brain and body? Tune in to our podcast, It Can’t Hurt To Ask, with an episode dedicated to alcohol and its effects on your wellbeing.