"The consequences can be disastrous" - it has nothing to do with coronavirus

"The consequences can be disastrous" - it has nothing to do with coronavirus

Dragoljub Jovanović, a pedagogue from the Special Hospital for Addiction Diseases in Drajzerova Street, told RTS that the consequences of drinking alcohol can be catastrophic for a young organism.

Dragoljub Jovanović says that there are three factors in the development of alcoholism - the substance itself, a person with its individual characteristics and the environment.

He states that children usually come to the first contact with alcohol at the age of 13.

"The question is whether it is drinking alcohol at all or abuse. Very often, young people are rebellious and rebel against authority, looking for a bigger role than they deserve. They think that by drinking alcohol they enter the world of adults much faster," explains Jovanovic. He says that adults often forget that they should talk to young people and emphasizes that the consequences of drinking alcohol on a young organism are very significant.

"The young organism is developing, so some consequences come to the fore much faster. The consequences in the social sphere are also more intense, because the young person is already learning at that moment that alcohol is present within its everyday functioning," says Jovanović.

"No person comes on its own to ask for help"

He points out that alcohol in young people can often cause aggressive behavior.

"A young person drinks competitively, with the goal of drinking as soon as possible and as much as possible. On the other hand, you have a young organism that is not developed enough, so it cannot tolerate that amount of alcohol. The consequences can be disastrous," Jovanovic warns.

He says that young people often use alcohol with other psychoactive substances, which exacerbates the problem on many levels.

Serbia ranks fourth in Europe in terms of alcohol consumption. On average, one citizen drinks 11 liters of alcohol a year, while the world average is six liters.

Dragoljub Jovanović says that no person comes on its own to ask for help when it comes to addiction, but is always brought by a family member or friend.

He points out that there are still a large number of people who have not tried alcohol and that one should not create the image that everyone drinks.

Jovanovic states that patients often say that they drank alcohol for the first time with their parents at home.

"Parents often make the worst move out of ignorance. We must all try to give young people something in return, to understand that there is something that is the opposite of alcohol, and just as much interesting as they think alcohol is," Dragoljub Jovanovic points out.