Drinking Too Much Alcohol
Drinking too much alcohol can make you sick.
- If you drink too much alcohol at one time, you might:
- Throw up
- Get a headache
- Get dizzy
- Fall down
- If you drink a lot, you might “black out.”
- When you “black out,” you can’t remember what you did or said.
Drinking too much can also be dangerous. You might:
- Have an accident:
- In a car
- In the water
- With a gun
- With fire
- Get in a fight
Drinking too much all the time can hurt your body.
- People who drink too much all the time can get:
- High blood pressure
- Brain, liver, and heart damage
- Some kinds of cancer (like liver, mouth, and throat cancer)
- Some people even die from drinking too much alcohol over a long period of time.
Drinking too much can be a sickness called alcoholism.
- Some people feel they have to drink alcohol all the time.
- Some people cannot stop drinking when they start.
- This is called alcoholism.
If you think you are drinking too much alcohol, tell someone!
- Talk to someone you trust
- Your friends
- Your family
- People who work with you
- Or you can talk to:
- A doctor
- A nurse
- A counselor
- They can help you find a way to stop drinking.
You can stay healthy if you:
- Figure out how much is safe for you to drink
- Do not drink more than is safe
- Ask your friends and people who support you to help you remember what is safe
- Talk to your doctor about drinking if you have health problems
You should never drink alcohol if you:
- Have a problem with drinking too much
- Are younger than age 21
- Are pregnant or trying to get pregnant
- Have a health problem that can get worse if you drink
- Take medicine that will make you sick if you drink
If you drink, you should not drive.
- Driving a car after drinking alcohol is very dangerous and it is against the law.
- Drinking and driving can cause accidents that could hurt you and others.
- Do not get into a car if the driver has been drinking.
- The more you drink, the more dangerous driving becomes.
You can make your own choices about drinking!
- If you decide that you do not want to drink, that is okay.
- If you are with people who are drinking, you can tell them that you do not drink.
- Do not let other people talk you into drinking if:
- You do not want to, or
- If your doctor told you not to drink.
Things to read about drinking too much: