Alcohol is a very popular drug in Australia, with almost 90 per cent of the population having drunk it at some time during their life. It is particularly popular among young people. Alcohol has a greater impact on young people, as some of them tend to drink more than they should and often don’t have the experience to know what effect it will have on them. This section has been written specifically for young women to give you some information about how alcohol can affect you.
Drinking in moderation can make you feel happy, relaxed and confident. However, drinking too much puts you at risk of experiencing a range of problems.
Alcohol and young women
Women should drink less alcohol than men. This is because the ‘average’ woman’s body has a lower water content than the ‘average’ man’s. This means that when you drink, the amount of alcohol in your bloodstream is less watered down. This results in women feeling the effects of the same amount of alcohol much more than a man would. This is of particular concern to young women who are dieting, and as a result can become dehydrated.
The higher concentration of alcohol means that women’s bodies are more likely to suffer harm when they drink. Some research suggests that women are more likely than men to suffer from liver damage even when they drink exactly the same amount of alcohol.
Changes in your menstrual cycle can lead to alcohol affecting you differently at different times of the month.
Alcohol contains a lot of calories and drinking a lot can cause weight gain, which is of concern to many young women. Alcohol can also cause premature ageing due to dehydration.
Most young people do not believe that you can overdose on alcohol, but this can happen, particularly when someone is drinking too much, too quickly. Too much alcohol causes the body to ‘shut down’ and the person falls into unconsciousness. In extreme cases, if the person does not receive medical help quickly they can die.
Most young women are not particularly concerned about the long-term effects of drinking too much alcohol, such as liver disease and cancers, but unfortunately we are now seeing younger women affected by these problems.
Why do we worry about young women and alcohol?
Although many young women talk about the confidence that alcohol gives them, feeling less inhibited can cause you to make decisions you wouldn’t have otherwise. Unfortunately, drinking too much can lead to unplanned and unprotected sex, or even sexual assault and rape.
Many young women report memory loss and blackouts during a drinking session. If you have experienced effects like these when you have been out partying, it means you are drinking too much. When you have drunk to a point of not remembering things, the risk of something going wrong is much greater.
Drinking too much, too often, can also have a bad effect on your health, education, work and relationships with your family and friends.
We know that drinking a lot during your pregnancy can harm the child. The safest option during this time is not to drink at all.
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