College Drinking – Alcohol and Its Effects on Students

What can I do if I’m a college student struggling with alcohol? The college years are often seen as a time for students to begin experimenting with alcohol, learning their limits and finding out how much they can handle. And there’s nothing wrong with most people trying alcohol in moderation. But the amount of binge-drinking on college campuses indicates that people just aren’t drinking in moderation. College drinking can be a huge problem for all students. Its linked not only with health problems like heart disease, cirrhosis, and alcohol poisoning, but also to acts like violence, rape and date rape, and self-harm. And that’s not all-the sooner someone begins drinking, the more likely they are to develop alcoholism in later life.

Alcohol a Problem Even at Small Colleges

And binge-drinking and alcohol abuse are even a problem in small liberal-arts colleges like Curry College in Milton Mass, which doesn’t really have a reputation for being a party school at all. “Substance use and abuse is an issue at all colleges and universities, and we’re really working hard to educate students around those issues” said the Dean of Students at Curry College. Countless other liberal arts schools are dealing with the same issues, no matter their size, or if they’re traditionally known as “party schools.” Click here to learn more about college alcohol abuse and drinking.

What Can Be Done about College Drinking?

How can you help protect college students from alcohol abuse and alcoholism? Alcoholism is a disease that affects all kinds of people, but it can be especially dangerous for the college years because that’s when lots of people start binge-drinking for the first time. Drinking to excess causes over 1800 deaths a year, and probably a significant proportion of those are college students. And worse, alcohol is often combined with other drugs and can begin to lead young people down the path of addiction. Here are some ways that campuses all over the country are fighting back against the danger of alcohol abuse among their student populations:

• Staging alcoholism awareness rallies, events, and getting the word out about how dangerous alcohol can be
• Distributing flyers and other information
• Inviting Alcoholics Anonymous to be a presence on campus
• Encouraging students to use the counseling available at the college
• Building community so that students don’t drink in order to overcome their isolation

Effective Rehab for College Alcoholism

What can I do about college alcohol? Good treatment can help you get clean. Call Retreat at Lancaster County or Palm Beach County to learn more about how our PA rehab center can help you, in OH, PA, MD, DE, NJ, NY, FL and CT. Click here to learn more about our admissions process.