Alcohol is a depressant, which means it slows down your body's responses in all kinds of ways. Just enough can make you feel sociable; too much and you’ll have a hangover the next day, and may not even remember what you got up to; and way too much alcohol in a single session could put you in a coma or even kill you.
What does it do?
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It can make you feel relaxed, sociable
and more confident.
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You can lose your inhibitions and you
could do things you might regret.
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It can exaggerate the mood you are in
before you started drinking.
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It can make you slur your words and lose your
balance.
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Too much alcohol can make you feel sick,
vomit or pass out.
Alcohol
What are risks of drinking alcohol?
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The day after you may feel low, irritable and depressed because of the 'hangover'.
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It can make some people feel aggressive. However, don't think 'alcohol makes people violent' as most people who drink alcohol don't become aggressive.
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Under the influence of alcohol you might take risks you wouldn't normally do (fighting, unprotected sex, taking other drugs) and have an increased risk of an accident.
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Alcohol is addictive and some people have long term dependency problems with it.
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Alcohol is a known cause of many health problems.
You have probably heard about the risks of young people drinking, maybe at school or in the media.
The latest guidlines from the government state that both men and women should not drink more than 14 units a week. Added to this they reccommend having several days a week where no alcohol is consumed. Similarly you should not 'save up' your units and binge drink all of the recommended amount of units in one session.
These guidlines are for adults, and it is recommended that you don't drink until you are at least 18, for those under 15 it's even more important to consider the impact of alcohol as it can have a far greater effect on your still growing body.