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59
Clearly few adolescents require instruction about alcohol but,
in accordance with the old adage "the child is the father to the
man" and in common with other forms of education, we need to
broach the subject and its complications well before adulthood.
All education is intended to fit the recipient for life in the
community and, with this in mind, adolescents must be made aware
of the problem arising from the abuse of alcohol and the way it
impinges upon many of society's other activities. Success will come
not by pressurising the adolescent but by giving accurate and
unbiased information and by showing that to drink or not to drink
is a decision for him alone.
Abnormal drinking in the young often develops in attempts
to emulate "adulthood" but, basically, the normal adolescent who
drinks does so to be socially acceptable "even if it kills him" and
would rather accept alcohol than be considered "odd man out".
On the other hand, the young alcoholic is to be found among the
emotionally disturbed, insecure, lonely and rejected who has
started to drink to reduce anxiety, tension and the feeling of
inadequacy.
Recent research in Canada into children who had at least one
alcoholic parent revealed that all considered they had suffered
as a result of the alcoholic situation and that total rather than
specific deprivation was a common factor. This had resulted
in lack of interest in school, lack of friends in whom they could
confide, shame in respect of the alcoholic parent, lack of faith
in adults generally and a fatalistic despair of ever making a
successful marriage with children of their own. What was even
more disturbing was the discovery that 2/3rds of these parents
were themselves children of alcoholic families.
These findings have been largely corroborated by more recent
studies in this country. They confirmed that, when compared with
controls, young alcoholics suffered considerably more disturbance,
had less satisfactory relationships at every level and complained
more frequently of nervous symptoms.
However, support for the view that the alcoholic is to be pitied
rather than blamed for his weakness has come from recent research
undertaken by a London biochemist. He claims to have demonstrated
metabolic abnormalities in alcoholics which suggest a
genetic or biochemical predisposition to the disease. Coupled
with a high lactic acid level in the body he has discovered in the
urine of the alcoholic a fermentable carbohydrate which was not
dextrose. Furthermore, almost all alcoholics in his investigations
had abnormal dermatoglyphics.