Spring Break and the Brain: Post #1 - The Seriousness of it All

One could argue that college students who do heavy partying during Spring Break do enough damage to their brains that everything learned in their classes thus far is wiped away.  I can remember when I was in college we joked around about killing brain cells with the amount of drinking we did.  What is it about the freedom to get blitzed and sick in the spring time that draws so many young people to the keg every year?

I heard about another spring break tragedy this morning on Good Morning America. Matt James fell from his balcony to his death. He is the second young person this spring break season to meet this kind of untimely demise {Brandon Kohler, 19 years old, was the first}.  In the news report, Matt, 17 years old, is described as hard-working, nice, funny high school football player who was recruited by Notre Dame for next year.  At the time of the incident however, Matt was described as a belligerent young man who broke things in his hotel room and began an argument with fellow partiers on the balcony next door.  It was in his attempt to "shake his finger at them" (I can only suspect what finger that was), when he quickly slipped off his 5th floor balcony. 

The seriousness of the dangers, safety issues, and overall health of young college students who flock to Florida or the nearest house party has prompted the Center for Disease Control (CDC) to post Spring Break Healthy & Safety Information.

I guess gone are the days when a few friends, enjoying the break from classes, get together for a casual cook-out and a few beers.  Like so many other things in the lives and culture of our youth, times have changed to where the consequences are tragic.

This week I am going to focus on the effects of alcohol on the developing adolescent brain. Any type of drug, - whether it be legal like alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, inhalants or the range of illegal drugs - can and does have an impact on the developing adolescent brain.  There is so much information regarding every type of drug, that I am choosing to focus on alcohol first.  I will conquer the others in future posts.

To end, here are some statistics from the CDC:

• About 90% of the alcohol consumed by youth under the age of 21 years in the United States is in the form of binge drinks.
• The proportion of current drinkers that binge is highest in the 18- to 20-year-old group (51%).
• The prevalence of binge drinking among men is 2 times the prevalence among women.