3/23/12: Alcohol Acts Like a Computer Virus in a Teen Brain

 Alcohol Acts Like a Computer Virus in a Teen Brain

Discussing brain science can sometimes put even seasoned professionals to sleep, but understanding this material is crucial in making the case for youth delaying drinking. This week I was looking for ways to explain the effects of alcohol on the developing brain.

I found a great resource at www.parentsempowered.org, a site is sponsored by the state of Utah. While the site is designed primarily for parents, I recommend it to educators, human services providers and all those interested in alcohol prevention.

Among the wealth of materials on this site, I found a wonderful series of brain science lessons entitled How Alcohol Can Damage a Teen’s Developing Brain Causing Brain Impairment and Early Addiction at http://parentsempowered.org/files/resources/teaching_tools.pdf. This lesson packet contains posters, lesson plans, worksheets and a fact sheet from the AMA. The lessons are grounded in research and a bibliography is provided.

One of the lessons used an analogy that I think is brilliant in discussing this topic with teens: Alcohol acts like a computer virus in a teen brain!

The lesson explains the role of the prefrontal cortex in governing good judgment, planning ahead, decision-making and impulse control, helping youth to avoid antisocial behavior and become thoughtful, responsible adults. The majority of prefrontal cortex brain wiring takes place during the ages of 12 to 16, and continues to develop until about age 24.  The hippocampus is responsible for learning and memory, and goes through a developmental “spurt” during the ages of 12 to 24.

The lesson goes on to explain that alcohol is a chemical which, if consumed before our brains are fully developed, interferes with chemical neurotransmitters and damages our brain neuron wiring. Alcohol acts like a computer virus in our brain. It slows or shuts down brain activity, thus keeping a teen brain from making connections and properly wiring. Drinking alcohol as a teen is like turning off the power when you are trying to download new software.

What would happen if you had a power-outage right when you were trying to load new software on your computer? It wouldn’t be there when the power came on.

Alcohol acts the same way on a still-developing brain. Important neural connections that we need to be a responsible, thoughtful adult may not be wired into our brains, making life more difficult for us, and those who will depend on us. We may be harmed in ways we cannot predict, becoming less than we could be.

Alcohol damage can cause young people to:

- develop social problems.

- have poor judgment.

- get into trouble.

- struggle in school.

- experience failure in achieving life-long goals.

Most alcohol brain damage doesn’t show up right away, until your brain is needed to handle complex jobs or relationships, and then it may be too late. Why is it important for teens to understand brain development and wiring? So they can protect their brain while it is developing.

Alcohol use not only harms a teen’s brain wiring, it also hijacks the brain’s pleasure-reward system, causing the brain to crave alcohol pleasure and leading to a great increase in the risk of alcohol addiction. 40% of kids who begin drinking at age 15 will become alcohol dependant as adults.

I hope that you find this analogy, and the rest of the materials at www.parentsempowered.org, as helpful as I did!

Regards,

Cheryl

3/16/12: BEER PONG: Where Getting Drunk is the Aim of the Game

The following is from the Drug Free Action Alliance:
What is beer pong? It’s a game where one person (or team) tries to bounce a ping-pong ball into a beer-filled plastic cup in order to make their opponent have to drink it. It seems it would not take much skill or athleticism to accomplish this task, yet there exist various local and national beer pong “sporting” leagues as well as a World Series of Beer Pong. Then there are the many “sporting” accessories, like beer pong tournament tables, balls and even themed clothing, that can be easily acquired online or in local retail stores. Now you can add a beer to that growing list of branded products, specific to this highly popular, definitely dangerous, drinking game.
According to marketing and sales guru Neal Frank, beer pong has become a $300 million dollar business industry and is increasing. It is also the reason behind his recent creation: Pong Beer. His low-priced beer comes with an attention-getting gimmick called the Rack Pack, which includes 30 cans of beer and two pong game balls.
On the company’s official website, Pong Beer claims to be an active leader in promoting alcohol responsibility, referencing initiatives that include identifying programs that encourage the prevention of drunk driving, the importance of addressing and educating consumers on dangers of binge drinking, as well as the company’s Zero Tolerance Policy on underage drinking. Against underage drinking and binge drinking?
Just google “beer pong” and let the pictures and stories speak for themselves. You won’t see or hear from too many adults, nor are you likely to witness so-called “responsible drinking.” As one internet user put it, as he was providing his how-to guide to playing beer pong: “Just remember, it's all about having fun and getting drunk.”
Pong Beer is currently available in 15 states, including New York, and the distribution list continues to grow.

Cheryl DePaolo
Director, Ulster Prevention Council
85 Grand St.
Kingston, NY 12401
Voice: 845-458-7406
Fax: 845-458-7407
Cell: 845-392-4714
Email: cdepaolo@familyservicesny.org

3/9/12: Should We Teach Youth to Drink Responsibly at Home?

Ulster Prevention Council blog 3/9/12: Should We Teach Youth to Drink Responsibly at Home?

Often when I speak to community groups about underage drinking, a question is raised regarding youth drinking in European countries. A common perception is that youth in European countries are introduced to alcohol in cultural context that reduces heavy and harmful drinking.  The idea is often expressed that because the drinking age in the U.S. is 21, much higher than in European countries, youth miss out on the opportunity to learn to drink within family settings where moderate drinking is the norm. 

I decided that I needed more information in order to address these questions knowledgeably and accurately, and I was curious. Is there evidence that European youth drink less and experience fewer problems than their American counterparts?

Fortunately, we have significant data available in the form of the large European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD). ESPAD surveys students every four years, and in the last survey available (2007) 35 European countries collaborated, gathering data from more than 100,000 students. The questionnaire was closely modeled after the U.S. Monitoring the Future (MTF)survey and questions from the two surveys map closely onto one another.

Based on analysis of the 2007 ESPAD data by Bettina Friese and Joel W. Grube from the Prevention Research Center Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, the comparison of drinking rates and alcohol-related problems among youth with 2007 MTF data does not provide support for the belief that Western European youth drink more responsibly than youth in the U.S.

In comparison with youth in the U.S.:

• A greater percentage of youth from nearly all European countries report drinking in the past 30 days;
• A majority of the European countries have higher intoxication rates among youth;
• For a majority of European countries, a greater percentage of youth report having been intoxicated before the age of 13

The rate of current drinking among youth in the U.S. is significantly lower than that for any of the Western European countries in this study with the exception of Iceland, where the legal drinking age is 20, the highest in Western Europe.

The study concludes that there is no evidence that the more liberal policies and drinking socialization practices in Europe are associated with lower levels of intoxication.

 Studies have consistently shown that youth who start drinking and heavy drinking at a younger age are at significantly greater risk for damage to the developing brain and a range of alcohol problems, including car crashes, drinking and driving, suicidal thoughts and attempts, unintentional injury, as well as drug and alcohol dependence later in life (e.g., Dawson, Goldstein, Chou, Ruan, & Grant, 2008; Hingson & Zha, 2009; Hingson, Edwards, Heeren, & Rosenbloom, 2009; Hingson, Heeren, & Edwards, 2008).

The ESPAD data provides much more rich information about alcohol and drug trends among European youth. I’m glad that I was able to find creditable information to share with parents, youth, professionals and community members to address the question of cultural contexts for youth drinking and further basis for supporting the legal drinking age of 21, at home as well as in the community.

For a copy of this and other ESPAD reports, email me or visit www.espad.org.

Regards,

Cheryl

3/2/12: It’s About Saving Lives

Ulster Prevention Council Blog 3/2/12

It’s About Saving Lives.

This morning I had the good fortune to attend the American Cancer Society Live Legislative Breakfast Talk Show at the Holiday Inn in Kingston. The topic was the state of New York’s tobacco prevention program.

                     

I want to thank the American Cancer Society for reminding me why this funding is so important, and why I work in the prevention field.

As each speaker recounted how his/her own life had been personally affected by cancer, loved ones came to mind.  Last June I lost my beloved father to stomach cancer. I lost my grandfather to lung cancer, and a close friend, only 49 years old and a nonsmoker, was diagnosed with lung cancer and is currently fighting for her life.

In the US, men have slightly less than a 1 in 2 lifetime risk of developing cancer; for women, the risk is a little more than 1 in 3.  In 2012, about 577,190 Americans are expected to die of cancer, more than 1,500 people a day. Cancer is the second most com­mon cause of death in the US, exceeded only by heart disease, accounting for nearly 1 of every 4 deaths. About 1,638,910 new cancer cases are expected to be diagnosed in 2012.

An estimated 226,160 new cases of lung cancer are expected in 2012, accounting for about 14% of cancer diagnoses. Lung cancer accounts for more deaths than any other cancer in both men and women. An estimated 160,340 deaths, accounting for about 28% of all cancer deaths, are expected to occur in 2012.

Cigarette smoking is by far the most important risk factor for lung cancer; risk increases with both quantity and duration of smoking. Male smokers are about 23 times more likely to develop lung cancer than nonsmokers. The number of lung cancer deaths among women surpasses those for breast cancer.

Nearly a quarter of high school students in the U.S. smoke cigarettes. Another 8% use smokeless tobacco. Smoking has many health risks for everyone. However, the younger you are when you start smoking, the more problems it can cause. According to the NIH, people who start smoking before the age of 21 have the hardest time quitting.  About 30% of youth smokers will continue smoking and die early from a smoking-related disease.

Tobacco control program have been proven to reduce youth smoking and help current smokers to quit. When more adequately funded, the New York tobacco control programs achieved successes in the effort to curb tobacco use. Teenage and adult tobacco use rates have fallen faster in New York than in the U.S. as a whole. In 2010, 12.6 percent of teenagers and 15.5 percent of adults were smokers.

However, New York has slashed its tobacco control budget. Since 2007, state funding has been cut in half, and New York has dropped from 5^th to 20^th among states per capita spending on tobacco control. Did you know that in New York, only about four pennies of every dollar raised by tobacco revenues goes to help people quit smoking?

With more resources, New York could target more resources to adult cessation, increase community level interventions, increase funding for anti-smoking media messages, and develop and implement strategies for reaching those in high-risk populations.

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network provides a simple way to advocate for appropriate levels of funding: Visit https://secure3.convio.net/acscan/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=7360 to email your state legislators to increase funding for tobacco control programming.

Remember, it’s about saving lives!

Regards,

Cheryl De Paolo

Family Services

Ulster Prevention Council

Program Director

85 Grand Street

Kingston, NY 12401

Phone 845-458-7406

Fax 845-458-7407

2/24/12: Spencer Watson Seupel Obituary

In lieu of my weekly blog, I encourage you to read the obituary of Spencer Watson Seupel, who took his own life on Friday, Feb. 17, 2012. 

Regards,

Cheryl

Spencer Watson Seupel HIGH FALLS- The Details: My beautiful son, Spencer Watson Seupel, of High Falls, New York, took his own life in his fraternity room at Penn State, State College, Pa. early in the morning of Friday, Feb. 17, 2012. He was 21 years old. Spencer is survived by his brother, Taylor, his mother Celia, his father Herbert, and his grandmother, Genie Watson. Spencer's funeral will be held at Copeland Funeral Home, Inc., 162 South Putt Corners Road, New Paltz, N.Y. 12561 on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2012. Friends and relatives may visit at the funeral home from 2 to 4 p.m.; a Celebration of Life Service will begin there at 4 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Spencer's name to www.benspeaks.org, an organization founded by my in-laws to help prevent teen suicide. The Story: Spencer loved to be always moving. As a baby, he could be held close only in sleep. As soon as he could stand, he was jumping. As soon as he could walk, he was running. Once, when we were in New York City's Central Park, we came upon a ring of people listening to the haunting Peruvian flutes. Spencer, who was two, ran into the empty space and began to dance. He turned round and round, he jumped, he rolled on the ground and came up waving his arms. Spencer loved to dance and later even studied dance in New Paltz. But he gave up dance for baseball, the more manly sport. Later it was lacrosse and football. Spencer, like all boys in our society, began looking for ways to be a man - as if being himself were not enough. I remember the rage and frustration he felt in Little League when he struck out; the unbearable self-hatred. My unending gratitude to Frank Coddington, a coach who saw something special in Spencer and helped Spencer develop what he could be good at - his speed. Spencer was always fast. It seems early on Spencer felt he was not good enough. I don't know why, but I do know it is something many young people feel today. How much teen and youth suicide do we have to endure? In 2007, suicide was the third leading cause of death for young people ages 15 to 24. There is despair among the young of our society that springs from a misapprehension of what it means to be human. Every human needs to feel special, to feel that he or she belongs as a valued member, to feel appreciated and honored by others. But so many of us don't. In our huge anonymous schools and conformist youth culture, in our adult world of fame and wealth, social climbing and cool, competition and winning seem to be the only means of finding what we need. We have lost our way. Love and tolerance is the way - the antithesis of teenage culture. As adults, we preach love and tolerance at school, then fail to lead by example. In business, in sports, in entertainment, in personal relationships and in the media ... how often do adults place people before profit, a helping hand before blame, caring ahead of winning, others ahead of self? Spencer's true nature was one of extreme sensitivity. He was easily and deeply wounded; he cried when others were cruel. When Spencer was in sixth grade, he told me he thought he should see a doctor because at times, "water" came out of his eyes. Of course, he was not crying; that was not manly. But Spencer was very smart, resourceful, ambitious and determined. As he grew, he built a new and tougher personality: a personality of cool, of fun, of hard work and goals. He built stubborn walls to protect that fragile self. He constructed a defensive, brittle confidence. He made friends; he gave parties; he got drunk; he achieved Eagle Scout; he drove fast. What Spencer really wanted, more than anything else, was closeness. He wanted to be a doctor so he could help others; he was an EMT. How ironic; how typical: His own walls and drive to be the best kept him apart from the closeness he craved. Ever determined, he worked hard on understanding what he was doing wrong, how he could be a better person, a better friend. And I think he was really beginning to get it. Drinking sabotaged all that: seductive, deadly alcohol. The drug that brings down the walls and helps us feel close - as long as we're drunk. The drug that circles back and rakes out your heart. The afternoon before Spencer died, he called me between classes. He was thrilled and excited about a lecture he'd just heard about nanotechnology and medicine. "This is the future," he said. "This is what's going to pull our country out of recession." Spencer had just won an internship for the summer. He was planning on applying to a med school that emphasized the special relationship between doctor and patient. He was excited about his future. That night, Spencer got very, very drunk. Binge drinking at college has been a regular thing since freshman year. Why didn't he get the proper help? Thursday night was one of those binge nights at the frat. He had a fight with his best friend. He said he was going to kill himself. He locked his door and did it. He did not leave a note. He did not look for help. Alcohol brought down those prefabricated walls, and all that was left was thoughtless pain. It was stupid and impulsive and he would not have done this thing if he had not been drunk. Spencer had plans and goals and family that loved him. He knew this. We talked about it -Spencer said he would never do such a thing. But he did. Because of alcohol. The drunken impulse in a moment of despair that can never be taken back. Kids drink this way because they need to escape their own false personalities. They strive to be the best, to be cool, to be popular and successful. Underneath, it's all about the same old human needs: to feel valued, to feel important and special, to belong, to be loved. Lectures and platitudes to the young will never change their society. We must all be the agents of change. Our society, as it gets bigger and more global, must evolve just as our species has evolved. Each of us, at work in the office, at home, in the post office, at the grocery store and in the government, must honor and value each person we encounter. How would your day be if, instead of trying to be right, you were trying to help? In the media, we must pay homage to the ordinary hero: not the superstar, but the man who goes to work and loves his kids, the person of integrity who has the courage of his convictions. The culture of children in huge schools should not be left to run amok with misguided values, churning out young men and women who believe that social status is the measure of their worth. It is more than destructive; it is brutal, a de-evolution of humanity. Now Spencer, finally, is at rest, and I hold him close within me. Please hold him close, as I do, in your mind and your spirit. Remember the meaning of this tragedy. If a young man or woman says maybe I'll kill myself, tell someone. Don't leave him alone. If a young man or woman drinks too much, say something. It's not a game; it's a symptom. And let us find and encourage within ourselves, within our society, those gifts that make each of us special: not star power, not intellectual prowess, but the ineffable mystery and extraordinary beauty of the simple human heart.

Published in The Daily Freeman on February 19, 2012

2/17/12: Whitney Houston' Death

 Whitney Houston’s Death Provides an Opportunity to Talk to Youth

Youth today are so connected through Facebook and Twitter that word travels quite quickly in their world.  My 18 year old daughter, Liz, informed me of the death of Whitney Houston as soon as the news was released to the press. We speculated that cocaine may have played a role in her death, but at the time of this writing speculation is that she died from a combination of alcohol and prescription drugs.

Unfortunately, our sons and daughters are becoming accustomed to drug and alcohol overdose deaths.  As we talked, she mentioned Heath Ledger, Michael Jackson and Amy Winehouse. 

For my generation, celebrity deaths were more often tied to illicit drugs, especially heroin. John Belushi, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison come to mind. For me, these deaths were a cautionary tale against a lifestyle much removed from my personal experiences.

For Liz and her peers, however, overdose deaths are more likely to be attributed to prescription drugs, particularly when substances are mixed together or mixed with alcohol, and often strike much closer to home.

Such tragedies provide prime opportunities to talk with teens and young adults about alcohol and drugs.  Ask open ended questions such as “What do you think about that?” One in three teens surveyed say there is “nothing wrong” with abusing prescription drugs “every once in a while”.  Talk to your teen about the dangers of abusing alcohol, prescription and over-the-counter drugs. These are powerful drugs that, when abused, can be just as dangerous as street drugs.

Make sure that teens know that they can come to you as a trusted adult if they need help or know someone who needs help. Keep the lines of communication open, and use the news to start meaningful conversations.

2/10/12: Community Coalitions Work!

Community Coalitions Work!

I had the privilege of spending this week in National Harbor, Maryland at the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) Conference.  The message this week has consistently been that community coalitions are effective in reducing local substance use rates among youth and in creating safer and healthier communities. Alcohol and drug problems manifest in local communities and show up in our schools, churches, health centers, and in our homes.  Coalition work helps local leaders and community partners organize to identify the youth drug issues unique to their communities and develop the infrastructures necessary to effectively prevent and respond to the these issues to target the prevention needs of youth, their families, and surrounding communities.
The Drug Free Communities Support Program (DFC) is a Federal grant program that provides funding to community-based coalitions that organize to prevent youth substance use.  The DFC program has funded nearly 2,000 coalitions and currently mobilizes nearly 9,000 community volunteers across the country.  In Ulster County, Kingston Cares and the Community Partnership for a Safer New Paltz have received DFC funding. Recent evaluation data indicate that where DFC dollars are invested, youth substance use is lower.
Over the past five years, DFC-funded communities have achieved significant reductions in youth alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use.  For middle school youth living in DFC-funded communities, data from the 2011 DFC National Evaluation indicate a 12% reduction in alcohol use, 28% reduction in tobacco use, and 24% reduction in marijuana use.  High school-aged youth have reduced their use of alcohol by 8%, tobacco by 17%, and marijuana by 11% in DFC-funded communities. Even when communities start their coalition work with substance use rates higher than the national average, they were able to reduce to rates lower than the national average through organized and effective coalition work.

Recent data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) as well as local data indicate increases in youth prescription drug abuse, as well as marijuana and ecstasy.  Now, more than ever, coalitions are needed in local communities to help prevent drug use and reduce its consequences. 

In the coming months, the Ulster Prevention Council will be hosting community meetings throughout the county to raise awareness about local youth substance use issues and the importance of engaging all sectors of the community in addressing these issues.  To host a community meeting or find out about organizing a coalition in your area, please contact me at the UPC, 458-7406 or email cdepaolo@familyservicesny.org. Coalitions work!

Regards,

Cheryl

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