The Psychology Behind Addiction

Consumption of alcohol is an activity that seems to have greater social acceptance than consumption of other drug-related substances such as marijuana and cocaine. Consequently, a large number of children are more exposed to alcoholic drinks from an early point in their lives. This makes it easy for such children to adopt the drinking habit during their teenage years.

Teenagers who take to the bottle should be well-versed with the various stages of addiction to alcohol. Only then will such teenagers be in a position to save themselves from the death-trap that is alcohol addiction.

Binge Drinking And Increased Tolerance

The journey to alcohol addiction starts at the first sip. Addiction is a progressive phenomenon that creeps up on a person. In many cases, addicts will fail to realize that they are living through the various stages of addiction in their lives.

Binge drinkers may go for weeks on end without alcohol. However, whenever they hit the bottle, they consume large quantities of alcohol.

The habit of binge drinking eventually builds tolerance in the individual's system. Increased tolerance translates to an increase in the quantity of alcohol consumed by the individual.

The Coping Phase

Once tolerance towards alcohol is built, one is able to handle the effects of drinking with greater ease. Many times, strangers will only detect that a teenager in this phase of addiction is drunk when they speak up and their breath is alcohol-filled.

At this point, alcohol becomes a coping mechanism for the young adult. They will start having cravings for a bottle or two, and drinking becomes an integral part of their lifestyle. Drinking then begins to literally feel good and it becomes the physical embodiment of relaxation in the teenager's eyes.

Problem Drinking And Alcohol Dependence

The final stages of alcohol addiction are characterized by seemingly endless wrangles between the teenager and the people of authority in their life.  For those at this stage of addiction, alcohol is a basic need of sorts.

Teens at this stage of addiction will feel the need to drink on a daily basis. Some may even feel this need several times a day.

Often, alcohol use and abuse among teenagers is a symptom of an underlying psychological problem. Establishing the root of an underlying psychological problem is among the best ways to cheat addiction to alcohol.

If you worry that your teen is suffering from alcohol addiction, consider taking them to a psychologist to get to the root of the issue.