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more powerful...), internal negative reinforcement (avoiding
unpleasant feelings, such as loneliness, depression, anxiety...),
external positive reinforcement (being accepted, being praised, making
friends...), external negative reinforcement (avoiding unpleasant
experiences, such as rejection or failure--because you never tried).
This theory suggests drinking can be changed by changing the
reinforcement one gets from drinking or not drinking. Surely to some
extent, drinking follows the same laws of learning as all other
behaviors.
College students often believe that (1) learning to refuse unwanted
drinks, (2) setting time limits on drinking, and (3) avoiding heavy
drinking buddies can help you control your drinking, if you are not yet
addicted. Sounds reasonable but, as we have seen, there is good
reason to question just how well college students actually control
alcohol consumption, e.g. college students consume an average of 34
gallons of alcohol (mostly beer) per person per year. That's drinking
more alcohol than soft drinks. Yet, despite this fling into alcohol and
drugs when young, millions of the potential addicts in college become
sober parents who vigilantly try to guard their children against drugs
and the fruit of the vine.
An interesting social control method has developed as part of an
effort to reduce bingeing in college. It is called the "social norms
method." Basically, it is getting out the truth, e.g. most students think
other students drink more than they actually do, which seems to
encourage others to drink more. However, if it is well (and accurately)
publicized that "only 27% of our students have 5 or more drinks while
partying" (while students erroneously believe over half are having
more than five drinks on a binge), the overall rate of bingeing goes
down. The media can be powerful, although the old scare tactics didn't
work.
Alcoholic women are more likely to be depressed and anxious;
alcoholic men are more likely to have anger and an antisocial
personality disorder. Social pressure to drink is more common among
men; women drink alone more often than men. Among adolescents,
problem drinking is associated with delinquency, violence, and lower
grades. Alcohol may increase blood pressure or pulse rate and, thus,
may be associated with strokes. Alcohol certainly is a serious threat to
a developing fetus; please, never drink when pregnant.
In temperance cultures (where alcohol is viewed as a dangerous
addiction from which you must totally abstain), drinkers tend to binge
to get drunk, rather than drink beer or wine with meals every day. In
cultures where drinking is accepted as a daily part of life, people
seldom get drunk, and when they do have health problems from
drinking, the family simply helps them get back on a healthy diet.
"Demon alcohol" is not blamed and a religious solution, like AA, is not
prescribed.
