alcohol

We all like to have a laugh and a good night out. Although you don't need alcohol to have a great time many young people choose to drink, most drink alcohol without experiencing serious harm or injury. But there can be risks for you if you are under the influence of alcohol.

• If you are in your early teens or younger, alcohol will affect you more because your body isn't fully-grown.
• The immediate effects of drinking can be: Nausea, vomiting, headaches and hangovers.
• It can also affect your mental health through: anxiety, insomnia, depression, attempted suicide, suicide.
• On a social level it can lead to: Criminal damage, unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, arguments with your partners or family and domestic violence.
• Female drinkers are affected even more due to biological differences between the sexes. Binge drinking is on the increase and is very bad for you.

Binge drinking is -?Any drinking session which involves the consumption of at least eight units of alcohol, if you are a man, or six, if you are a woman.' Binge drinking increases your risks of accident, getting injured as a result of a fight, damage your health and it has been linked to strokes, kidney damage, memory loss and an increased breast cancer risk in women.