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Drugs and Alcohol

Alcohol

How alcohol affects your health

Alcohol can lead to health problems if you drink a lot on a regular basis. Here are a few ways in which this can happen: 

  1. Alcohol poisoning: if you drink a lot of alcohol in a short space of time, it can cause alcohol poisoning, which can affect your ability to speak and move
  2. Accidents and injury: alcohol affects your ability to control your body movements, so if you have a lot to drink, you’re more likely to have accidents or hurt yourself. It also affects your judgement which can lead to you taking risks you wouldn’t normally take, like having unprotected sex, getting into fights or getting into trouble with the police.
  3. Diseases: drinking alcohol regularly increases the risk of liver disease. Alcohol has been linked to higher risks of different types of cancers and heart disease. Alcohol can also increase your risk of getting diabetes, this is because of the sugars present in alcoholic drinks. Cutting down your alcohol intake can reduce your risk of getting these diseases.
3 ways to deal with alcohol related peer pressure

Peer pressure is when friends try to make you do things you don't feel comfortable with.

  1. If you don't want to drink, then don't: you are in control of your body and can choose what you do or don't do.
  2. If it makes you feel better, give them a reason: you could say that you don’t feel very well, you’ve got to be up early in the morning or that you don’t want a hangover the next day!
  3. Use a decoy: have a soft drink in your hand already so your friends presume you already have a drink.
Three things to remember to keep yourself safe when drinking alcohol
  1. Don’t leave your drink unattended or accept drinks from strangers in case someone adds something to it that you don’t know about
  2. Look after yourself and your friends – be aware of your surroundings
  3. If a person is ‘drunk’, they are not legally able to give consent to engage in sexual activity

Local Support/advice

For Bedford Borough & Central Beds:

Aquarius

Support for under 18s effected by Substance Misuse in Bedfordshire (aquarius.org.uk)

Specialist services for children and young people under 18 who use substances or gamble, and those who are affected by a parent’s or carer’s substance misuse.

Delivering evidence based, whole family approaches, in partnership with adult drug and alcohol services when required

Tel. 0330 008 3925 / 07467 336 203

Email ypbedfordshire@aquarius.org.uk to refer a young person, or to request a referral form. 

Referrals also received via Early Help, Social Care referrals and MASH.

For Milton Keynes:

Young People’s Drug and Alcohol (YPDA) service

Drugs, alcohol and young people | Milton Keynes City Council (milton-keynes.gov.uk)

The Young People’s Drug and Alcohol (YPDA) service deliver a high quality and caring service for young people aged 18 and under (up to 25 with additional needs).

Drug and alcohol misuse has multiple risks to your development and health. The damage done during childhood can impact your future, limiting your physical and education development. Many adults with established drug misuse problems started using drugs as a young person

You may benefit greatly from support and advice for drug and alcohol use. This support is geared to help you cope with exam stress, schoolwork and the other pressures you may face including family breakdowns and domestic abuse.

The service is based at Civic offices, 1 Saxon Court East, Milton Keynes, MK9 3EJ.

For more information and to access this service

You can ask for support from our service by completing a referral form. Referrals should be sent to: ypdaservice@milton-keynes.gov.uk. If you require an offline copy of the referral form, please email the team so that this can be arranged.

For other enquiries telephone: 07557317317, 07557318684, 07557317331, 07823518842.