The number of children with alcoholics has sharply increased in Russia

A monstrous figure was recently announced by the Novosibirsk Ministry of Health: the number of adolescents with officially confirmed alcoholism increased by 18.2% over the year. Experts confirm that the number of alcoholic children is growing almost throughout the country. Doctors attribute children’s alcoholism to the craze of children with alcoholic cocktails, which many seem harmless. However, this is not at all the case.

The regional ministry explained that teenagers perceive the low-alcohol highly carbonated drink as almost harmless lemonade. But the harm from it is even greater than from strong alcohol: sweet carbonated liquid is easier to drink, and alcohol enters the bloodstream much faster. According to narcologists, adolescents become addicted to alcohol in one year, while in adults alcoholism becomes chronic in 5–10 years.

Now, according to the current law, the sale of alcohol to minors is prohibited, and it does not matter how many degrees in a strong drink. But getting around the law is easy – just ask adult friends to buy alcohol.

The Ministry of Health of Russia has long proposed raising the lower age limit for buying alcohol, citing medical studies that have shown that alcohol consumption has a detrimental effect on brain development, and it is finally formed only by the age of 21. Some establishments set their own age limits, so somewhere you can hear when you show your passport: “My bar, my rules: we sell alcohol only from 21 years old.”

… And in small towns and villages, shop workers sell alcohol to children all the time, Russians testify in social networks. “There are points, and many, where from the age of ten they sell beer and all sorts of absiks, suffice it to say -“ dad-mother-uncle. “We have a store nearby, no matter how you come in, a crowd of teenagers – both on the street and in the store! – says a resident of the Ryazan region. – Teenagers take out beer both on tap and in containers. If I knew where to turn, I would write. The store doesn’t even have a cash register. It is located on the territory of the dachas. Here in it they sell what they want and to whom they want.

Sometimes, however, criminal sellers are caught. And they are attracted. The other day, for example, in Magnitogorsk, a 63-year-old saleswoman was found guilty of a crime under the article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Retail sale of alcoholic products to minors.” She did not ask the age of the 14-year-old customer who came for a bottle of beer. It turned out that the woman sold alcohol to teenagers not for the first time. She was sentenced to four months of hard labor.

We discussed with the chief doctor of the Moscow clinic, psychiatrist-narcologist, doctor of the highest category, Alexei Kazantsev, how it is possible to deal with the problem of teenage and child alcoholism in our time.

– To begin with, there is no such diagnosis as “alcoholism” now, there are “mental and behavioral disorders caused by alcohol use,” says Kazantsev. – Criteria for alcoholism and dependence – is the loss of quantitative control of alcohol consumption – that is, a person constantly gets drunk. And the second criterion is that he needs a hangover, he develops amnesia of intoxication, etc. As a specialist with great experience, I have big doubts about how such a diagnosis could be made to teenagers, on the basis of what?

– How to treat a teenager if it is established that he abuses alcohol? And what are the possible preventive measures?

– Of course, there are specialized departments in narcological clinics (there are no mixed departments, as they were before). In Moscow, there is a branch of the narcological dispensary, which deals only with teenagers. There is both outpatient and inpatient treatment. Clinical psychologists, psychotherapists who work with addictions deal with adolescents. There are certain standards of treatment, but the principle itself, the algorithms are similar to the treatment of adults.

These teenagers can also benefit from counseling with people who have gone through this addiction and have a history of recovery. In my opinion, they could perform in schools, it would be a good example for teenagers.

We need to use social advertising about the dangers of alcohol more, it should be with colorful, frightening pictures … After all, visual analyzers work best for teenagers. What do they see the most right now? Clips with their idols who drink alcohol, or films where the characters are constantly kissing a glass of whiskey?

In addition to prevention and promotion of a healthy lifestyle, I think there should also be the creation – as was the case in the USSR – of a large number of free sections, hobby groups (namely free and therefore accessible to everyone), which we do not have now; workout grounds (outdoor gym) – so that they are in every city, every village. Raise the salaries of physical education teachers and coaches so that they are interested in getting as many children as possible into sports…

And, of course, no one canceled the role of parents. Parents should set an example of an active lifestyle.