Can children drink energy drinks? Let the 15 year old alcoholic talk

Ecology of Consciousness: Psychology. I was surprised to rediscover that beer is not the only thing that quenches my thirst in the heat. But also water. Or ayran. That my favorite crayfish can be eaten with tomato juice. Or just there. What mood enhances communication with good people... And sports can tone the body.

Today is 10 years since I quit drinking. Completely and irrevocably refused to use alcohol in any form (except, perhaps, alcohol solutions of medicines) and for any reason.

And 10 years is a symbolic period. So it is tempting to sum up. Tweak the balance. And make a decision on the advisability of further following the chosen path.

I'm going to the second dozen

Then, a decade ago, I didn't think I could last that long. Moreover, it seemed to me that there was no obvious reason for doing this at that time. I was not killed by the disease progressing from alcohol. I was not threatened with dismissal if traces of his presence were found in the blood. My family did not fall apart, and my relatives did not issue ultimatums. Moreover, the decision to tie the overwhelming majority of acquaintances caused bewilderment: "So you don't seem to be drinking anyway!"

Yes, I didn’t drink. But he drank occasionally. Either relaxing with a bottle of beer, then improving the mood with a drink of vodka, then increasing the tone of the body with a glass of brandy. I didn't drink. But now, after 10 years, having received knowledge of the psychology of addictive behavior, I understand that I was already addicted. And over the years, he would come closer and closer to the line beyond which an independent refusal would be almost impossible.

Fortunately, I was lucky. One fine evening, a day after another libation my friend and I watched the anti-alcohol video Professor Zhdanov (a rather manipulative and deliberately nightmare lecture, to be honest, but for this the author doesn't care: “Thank you.” And we decided to quit.

I was lucky - because I had to do it not alone, but with him. With a person whom I am used to envy and with whom I am used to compete. This gave me additional motivation - I wanted to be stronger than him. Prove to him and others that my will is stronger. Just for one day.

“Now, if he turns out to be weaker and kisses the strong drink first, then I, too, will most likely refuse such an“ unnecessarily harsh ”promise,” I thought semi-consciously.

But he, too, was dumb to do it before me.

So we held out for the first year. Then the second one. And after that - let go.

I no longer wanted to relax with alcohol. Personally, I have found other ways. And the people around suddenly, as if by magic, lost interest in my soldering. Now, when they said that I didn’t drink, they stopped reacting with surprise and obsessive offers to pay for the most expensive cognac, but simply poured themselves. So after the second year of abstinence, it was easy enough to stay sober.

Besides that, I I was surprised to rediscover that beer is not the only thing that quenches thirst in the heat. But also water. Or ayran. That my favorite crayfish can be eaten with tomato juice. Or just there. That the mood increases communication with good people. And sports can tone the body.

All achievements - family, business, welfare, sports, successes in psychological practice, and so on - are in some way the consequences of this decision as well.

But if after 7 years of abstinence from alcohol I claimed that I had stopped drinking not because I had the prospect of getting drunk, now I think that is precisely why.

Was. And it remains.

Therefore, I am going to the second dozen.

Energy drinks became fashionable a few years ago. Funny advertising, attractive packaging design, tempting name - all this contributes to the growing popularity of these drinks. You often see young people with a bright jar in their hand, or even 8-10 year old children sipping an energy drink. In most cases, parents are not even interested and sometimes are not aware that their children consume energy. And if they are aware, then - “What's wrong? Let him drink. It's not vodka. "

Yes, an energy drink is not vodka, but this does not mean that it is safe. On the label, the composition of an energy drink may look like “caffeine, taurine, glucose, B vitamins”. So what? - everything is natural, natural, and vitamins are generally good - why not drink? In order to find out all the ins and outs of power engineers, you need to figure out what the main components of these drinks are.

Sucrose and glucose give the drink a sweet, attractive taste. Sucrose is a common sugar (disaccharide), glucose is a monosaccharide that takes an active part in metabolism. By the way, sucrose, which is more complex in structure, is broken down in the body, incl. for glucose.

Caffeine- a well-known psychostimulant. By its structure, it is an alkaloid that is found in tea, coffee, guarana, cola nuts and many other plants. However, it is more often synthesized chemically. Caffeine relieves the feeling of fatigue, gives vigor, increases performance (especially mental), speeds up the pulse and increases blood pressure. The invigorating effect of caffeine lasts for about 3 hours. Large doses lead to depletion of nerve cells. Caffeine affects the heart muscle, increasing its contractions, so after the use of caffeine pressure may "jump". Some people experience heart pain while taking caffeine. Also, many people note that after taking caffeine they felt good at first, but after a while the condition was much worse than before (the period of caffeine withdrawal is long, repeated intake can cause an overdose). There is a desire to drink the energy drink again. All this leads to a rapidly developing addiction to caffeine - caffeinism.

Side effects of caffeine are insomnia, irritability and excitability, high blood pressure, arrhythmias.

Theobromine- a substance similar in structure to caffeine, has a weaker effect in comparison with it. Isolated from cocoa.

Taurine- a substance obtained from the amino acid cysteine. It is synthesized in the human body, found in food. In medicine, it is used as part of eye drops. Taurine itself is necessary for the proper functioning of the nervous and immune systems, regulates the metabolism of fats and calcium. The "invigorating" ability of taurine has been studied in mice, but not in humans. The use of high doses of taurine has not been described.

Glucuronolactone- a substance obtained during the conversion of glucose in the body. According to the available data, it does not have a psychostimulating effect. In energy drinks, this substance is contained in a dose exceeding the normal daily production by 250-500 times. The effect of such huge doses has also not been studied.

L-carnitine- a substance obtained by the interaction of the amino acids lysine and methionine. In medicine, it is used for nervous and physical exhaustion, anorexia, after serious illnesses (heart attack, stroke). A normal healthy body does not need additional L-carnitine supplementation. The effect of this substance in high doses has also not been studied.

Vitamins of group B- are necessary for the proper functioning of the nervous system. By themselves, they do not have a psychostimulating effect. They often cause allergic reactions.

Guarana- a natural psychostimulant. It contains many organic substances, the main of which is caffeine. By the way, the synonym for caffeine is guaranine.

Ginseng- a natural stimulant. Designed to help fight fatigue, increase efficiency. Side effects are similar to those of caffeine.

Also in the composition are dyes, flavors, preservatives, flavor enhancers and other substances accompanying sweet drinks.

So, the effect of an energy drink is that it does not give energy from the outside, but forces the cells of our body to give up the latter. A certain deception occurs: a person is filled with energy, it seems to him that he can move mountains, but in fact his state is approaching exhaustion. And if the child drank the energy drink? Several deaths are recorded in the world every year, which are associated precisely with the use of energy drinks. But not a single manufacturer has yet been punished: after all, people use energy at their own will, as it is supposed, after weighing all the pros and cons.

In some European countries, in particular in Denmark and Norway, power engineers are classified as medicines and can only be bought at a pharmacy. Recently, Russia has also thought about this, the State Duma is considering the issue of classifying energy drinks, if not as drugs, then as alcohol.

This information is enough to understand: an energy drink is not just tasty water. It is a stimulant drug, and quite powerful. But not only that. The effect of many of the components that make up these drinks in huge doses has simply not been studied.

An energetic cannot be drunk just like that, when you want to. You can't drink it every day. It should not be drunk by persons under the age of 18 (!) - it is important for parents to remember this. The risk group also includes the elderly, hypertensive patients, pregnant women, people with increased excitability, those who suffer from insomnia, disorders of the cardiovascular system and who are allergic to B vitamins.

The main danger lies in the effect that the energy drink has on the body. From this point of view, herbal energies, often presented by manufacturers as completely natural and completely safe, are no different from those that contain chemicals. They act on a person in the same way - using the whip method.

Caring parents not only do not buy energy for their children, but also explain what their use can lead to, so that their children do not succumb to temptations and do not buy them with pocket money. Of course, sometimes it is difficult to give in to a whining child, especially under the pressure of arguments “And Vasya is being bought and nothing”. However, the issue of energy drinks consumption is one of those issues that require adherence to principles, exactly the same as smoking and drinking alcohol.

Around the clock

Check out 24 hours a day,
on weekends and holidays

Promptly

The team will arrive at the site
in 30-50 minutes

Officially

Medical license

Safely

Certified Doctors
with experience of 5 years

Confidentially

We do not record data, we do not register

Payment on the spot in cash or by card, we issue a check

We do not impose services
in which there is no need

Sick leave

We write out sick leave
for the period of treatment in the clinic

Tanya's dad used to work in the North, and then he fell ill and when his wife died, he felt that his daughter had fallen apart. He believes that it is better when his daughter drinks at home than somewhere else. During the broadcast, it turned out that in the house where Tanya lives, many regularly drink. The studio greeted Tanya's dad with a negative. The same reaction was on the program Let them talk - Parents are high. Even in an orphanage, a girl will have better conditions than at home. Tanya refused this offer, and then it turned out that she has a grandmother in Germany, but no one wants to deal with an alcoholic. Relatives are sure that Tanya and her father regularly steal and show no initiative at all to get rid of alcoholism.

They tried to forcibly treat Tanya twice, but, apparently, there were no positive results. An acquaintance called her a "prostitute" because of the girl's connections. At first, Victor helped Tatyana and her father, but he constantly observed a huge amount of alcohol in their apartment and realized that it was impossible to help them. They talked about alcoholism in the program Let them talk - At the bottom of the glass. The representative of the social security of Omsk reports that Tanya's parents did not work, the apartment was in an unsanitary state, the child did not attend school, was often seen drinking and smoking, and Tanya was repeatedly seen in the company of young people who lead an asocial lifestyle.

Is Tanya ready to recover from alcoholism

Tatiana is afraid to start treatment, as the doctors have already treated her cruelly. Nikita Lushnikov, head of the charity center, offered her free rehabilitation. Tanya refused and a woman with an alcohol addiction approached her, who told how hard it was for her and that the young girl still had many chances to live a healthy life. Nikita explained that his center is not Orphanage and if she doesn't like it, she can always leave him. Also, Tanya was offered rehabilitation together with another young girl who drank and used drugs at the same time. At one point it seemed that Tanya could be persuaded, but at the end of the program she flatly refused to receive treatment and undergo rehabilitation. This issue of Let Them Talk should be an example for all parents who have a responsibility to monitor what is happening in the lives of their children and prevent the development of addiction to the point where it is no longer possible to take any action.

I have been drinking for 10 years since my husband left, now 43, I see no reason to quit, probably the point of no return has already been passed, but I want to stop, maybe you can advise something ...

Human capabilities are greater than one might imagine. And these are not empty words.

If you, having ten years of experience in alcohol addiction, nevertheless say that you want to stop, then there are chances.

Read also

One of the serious difficulties in the fight against any drug addiction is that it is both a physiological and psychological problem. But this complexity, with a skillful approach, can also be used as a lifeline. No matter how accustomed your body is to the regular intake of alcohol doses, the so-called "point of no return", which you are talking about, is in your head. And therefore, only you decide whether it has been passed or not.

Here are a couple of motivating factors that can really be used by you in the fight against an illness:

Our regular reader shared an effective method that saved her husband from ALCOHOLISM. It seemed that nothing would help, there were several codings, treatment at the dispensary, nothing helped. The effective method recommended by Elena Malysheva helped. EFFECTIVE METHOD

Your problem is solvable. The only question is, at what cost. There are many examples of this.
With each day that is missed, the chances of recovery decrease and the amount of effort required to do so increases. Therefore, there is simply no point in delaying.

Take action. No fuss, but confident. See a psychologist. Don't expect him to do something for you. However, if you feel a desire to change your life, but you lack confidence in your abilities and systems approach then a specialist can provide real help.