Just a Few Drinks

My name is Alan and when I was 14 I had a really bad experience

due to alcohol.

I like playing on the Xbox, watching DVDs

and I enjoy listening to music.

I like playing football as well, with my mates.

I've played for two, three football teams and I won a cup with them.

Although most under-16s never drink alcohol, Alan is one who did.

At 14, his drinking led to him being rushed into A&E.

About two years ago, on a Saturday, as usual we went to town.

Me and a group of friends.

And for the first two hours we were just skateboarding,

having a laugh, messing around, it was quite fun.

And then we got bored a little bit.

And one of my friends went off and he came back saying, "I've got

"someone who can get served for us.

"Shall we get something to drink?"

In the end, we got some beers.

One of my friends got some cider

and I went halves with a mate for some vodka.

We just really wanted to get drunk because that's

when all the fun begins.

Even though it's not true, but that's what you think.

We probably drank the whole bottle of vodka quite quickly.

And then after half an hour, it hits you and you're like, "Oh, crap, oh!"

Once inside the body, alcohol moves from the stomach to the small

intestine, where it's absorbed into the bloodstream.

The faster it's absorbed, the sooner you feel drunk.

Alcohol then interacts with the nervous system,

slowing down the messages sent from your ears and eyes to the brain.

As your body's reactions slow down, you become less aware

of your surroundings and more likely to cause yourself harm.

After about half an hour, we were thinking that, "Yeah, we're fine."

Stood up, went to have a go with a skateboard,

and wasn't really that fine at all.

And just probably got about ten yards and then flew off.

Inside the brain,

the motor cortex initiates the body's muscle movements.

The cerebellum coordinates these movements, allowing the body

to move smoothly, but excess alcohol disrupts this functioning,

so you become uncoordinated and find it difficult to balance.

Everyone who was around us, they were just laughing at me.

I wasn't taking it the wrong way, I was laughing my head off as well,

cos it was funny.

That's what you do when you're drunk, you act like an idiot.

But then, as it drags on, you start to get,

your head starts hurting a little bit.

You just want to sit down.

You start to get a little bit more, you know, sulky.

A little bit more agitated at anything.

And people just start angering you when they're really just being nice.

You say, like, "Shut up, leave me alone."

I'd probably finished off the vodka and had a few beers.

Two of my friends said they wanted to go to the shop.

So I went with them,

didn't go in, I stayed outside with one of them at a bus stop.

It was me, one of my mates and then a girl who my mate knew anyway,

I didn't know her.

That was the worse I'd felt all day.

My head was spinning and it'd stop and I'd feel fine

and then it would spin again.

And my stomach felt like it was upside down.

And I was just sitting there with my head in my hands, just trying

to wait for it to all just wear off so I could just go home.

And I started to hear like a group of men shouting as they were

walking up on the same side of the road as me.

And then one of them must have banged on the window.

And then they shouted something aimed at the girl I was with.

I'm not usually aggressive.

If someone I think has done something wrong, I won't argue,

start shouting abuse at them. I jumped up and started arguing

with them, definitely to do with the fact that I was drunk.

Alcohol affects the largest part of the brain, the cerebrum,

which controls anxieties and inhibitions.

Drinking too much can lead to overconfidence.

Excess alcohol also affects the limbic system,

which controls your emotions,

inducing sadness,

tearfulness or, as with Alan, aggression.

Eventually they came over, we started squaring up to each other.

And then it looked like one of them was going to like, swing for me

so I swang for him.

He just blocked it, picked me up by the throat and threw me

against the bus stop.

For a few minutes I didn't really know what had happened.

And didn't really feel, you know, that I knew where I was.

And then I went to twist my arm round and it was hurting

a little a bit until one of my mates lifted my top up and had a look.

He went, "You've broke your collarbone."

And the bone was like that, sticking upwards.

And that was when it started hurting properly.

I felt a little bit stupid in front of my mates

because obviously I'd just been "done in" by a group of people.

And that's obviously not cool.

One of my friends called 999.

And I got took to the hospital.

In the hospital, they had to ring for my mum.

They put me in a sling which was really,

really painful to get my arm into place.

It was like two bones rubbing against each other.

It was excruciatingly painful.

My mum was quite shocked because she'd never known me

to be a drinker.

She'd just gone from...her son's not a drinker, to...he's in hospital

because of alcohol abuse.

Even now, in the morning ,I wake up

and there's a real ache on all the muscles surrounding

the collarbone and I have to roll my shoulder for ages

and sometimes throughout the entire day before it starts feeling OK again.

Due to the drinking underage, it definitely affected my education

cos I was off for three weeks, maybe four weeks.

I can't really play as much sport as I used to.

I can't play in goal. I can't play rugby.

Then I was out of PE for six months.

Had I not been drinking that night, I wouldn't have ended up into a fight.

I wouldn't have been as aggressive as I was.

I wouldn't have lost three weeks of school.

I wouldn't have lost six months of PE.

And I wouldn't have lost countless nights without sleep.

My name's Anna.

I'm 17 and this year I've ruined a friendship due to alcohol.

I was just like in the normal crowd at school.

I'm quite awkward with boys,

like, just talking to them, in case I say the wrong thing.

I don't mind being a bit quiet and sitting in the corner

and, like, taking a back seat occasionally.

Anna lives in the north-west of England.

This is the story of how a night of drinking alcohol has damaged

her relationships with her friends.

It was the first weekend after starting school,

so everyone was sort of stressed.

There was a party, all my friends from my social group were there.

I took some cider. It was quite a big bottle.

As the alcohol hit me I was a bit more confident,

so I was milling around talking to people I don't know.

I was more social than I'd normally be if I hadn't been drinking.

Once inside the body, alcohol is absorbed into the bloodstream

through the stomach wall

and small intestine.

Drinking on an empty stomach is more dangerous, as without food,

alcohol enters the bloodstream a lot faster.

The liver is put under extra pressure and cannot break down all

the alcohol in the system, leaving it to circulate around vital organs.

I sat down with my friends from school.

We just had a drink together.

As we drank more, we started talking about boys a bit more.

And usually you don't want to say, "I like him," but once you've had

a drink, you don't care what people think as much.

And then with a bit of encouragement from one of my best friends,

I went over and talked to a guy that I liked.

He had been dating one of my close friends.

And she was at that party as well.

I was flirting with him.

And I was doing it quite openly, as well.

I was so much less self-conscious, even after only, like, one drink.

As alcohol circulates around the bloodstream

and enters the body's organs, it disrupts the chemistry

of the cells, changing the way they, and you, behave.

In the brain, alcohol represses the areas that control your inhibitions,

making you feel temporarily more outgoing, extroverted and confident.

I went into the kitchen. I got a bottle of alcopops.

I got chatting to this other guy I'm sort of friends with from school.

I don't know him that well.

I probably wouldn't usually talk to him at school.

He was flirting with me

and I wouldn't usually have been interested.

But after a bit of quite open flirting, he leaned in for a kiss,

and I kissed him back. Probably, I wouldn't...if I wasn't drunk.

Alcohol interferes with a hormone called testosterone that

affects the reproductive system and also sexual attraction.

It can make females feel more confident

and increase their sexual desire.

Recent research suggests alcohol may

also impede the brain's judgement on the attractiveness of potential

partners, encouraging decisions that might later be regretted.

At this point, I'd had, like, the big thing of cider.

probably about three glasses, I think, equivalent to.

And then I was on my second alcopop.

And then I went to find my friends.

There was a load of us in this bedroom, including the guy who

I did actually quite like.

His ex, one of my close friends, was there.

And I was just flirting with him

even though she was in the same room.

We were still having a good time.

There was, like, a camera going round.

Me and him were, like, taking pictures of ourselves.

My close friend left the room, and when everyone had kind of left,

we started kissing, me and the boy who I quite liked.

I wouldn't have done that if I was sober, even though him

and my friend had broken up.

After we finished kissing,

I think maybe we did say, "This isn't a good idea.

"You're good friends with my ex."

I don't really remember a great deal of it.

An area of the brain known as the hippocampus

is responsible for recording new memories.

Alcohol can prevent this process,

leading to the brain blacking out events,

so they can't be remembered.

The regret did kick in, you know, waking up the next day.

The more I thought about it,

the more I was like, "Oh, no, what have I done?"

And I just kept, like, closing my eyes

and just wishing that I could go back and not do it.

And then, you know, got a notification on social media.

His ex, my close friend, has put these pictures up of you.

There were a few nice group shots of us all,

there were pictures of us kissing each other's cheeks.

And I just had this in the back of my mind.

"What if there's photos of us actually kissing?"

My main concern was, "His ex is going to find out

"and it's going to affect our friendship, and it's going to

"affect my friendship with all our mutual friends."

I thought, "OK, maybe I should tell her, you know.

"I was drunk, so she'll understand that I didn't mean it.

"I'll just pass it off as, whatever, a drunken mistake."

So I told her. Um...

At first, she was fine.

Like at first, she was just like, "Whatever, I'm over him."

And then, after a few days, she's like, "I'm really hurt,

"I'm really angry, I feel betrayed. You should have thought of this."

But I just, I hadn't thought of it... Like...I was...

If I hadn't drank, then I wouldn't have got into this mess.

She's still angry at me for what happened

and she's still not talking to me now.

My name is Jordan and when I was 16, drinking caused me

to be publicly humiliated in front of all of my friends.

I enjoy reading and writing poetry.

I can be assertive, but sometimes stubborn.

When I'm in my room, I don't have a TV, so I'm usually playing music.

I'm very inquisitive as well.

Jordan lives in London.

His experience with alcohol put his life at serious risk.

I was 16 and I was working at the time.

One of my friends was having a big party for his birthday

and I thought, "Yeah, tonight I'm going to get some brandy," cos

I just got paid and that's what the big boys drink, apparently.

We went over to the shop and bought two bottles of brandy.

We had every intention of getting drunk that night.

It was the first time I'd actually ever bought drink.

So, yeah, it was a big moment, but it was crazy,

because it was £70-worth of drink.

I wanted to have a wild night, I guess,

because I'd never been drunk before.

I had money now

and I didn't really have a care in the world for that one night.

Then we made our way to the party drinking a bit on the way,

to get a bit, not drunk, but tipsy, so we were in a nice place

when we get to the party.

Alcohol is measured in units which vary, depending on the size

and strength of the drink.

A small bottle of medium-strength beer is roughly one unit.

A small glass of wine is around 1.6 units,

whilst Jordan's bottle of brandy contained at least 28 units.

For adults aged 18 or over, it's recommended that men

shouldn't regularly drink more than three to four units per day

and women shouldn't regularly drink

more than two to three units per day.

We got to the party with the two brandies

and everyone was like, "Oh, they've brought brandy."

I wouldn't say we felt like kings, but we felt very powerful, I guess.

Thought, "Yeah, we're big guys," so we sat at the table,

put our bottles of brandy down.

We didn't think about pacing ourselves at all.

Most of the time I was swigging it from the bottle

and I didn't know how much I had been drinking...

and I was drinking it like it's juice.

We were just drinking, drinking, drinking.

When you're drunk, you feel a bit more confident in yourself.

So we was ordering people about, telling them to put on my music.

Telling them to go shop and get some more drink.

Telling them to get me some chicken and chips.

I was having a really good time and then I went to sit down

and I missed the chair.

And I was like, "Oh." And then my head started.

It all happened in the space of about two minutes.

My head started spinning. I felt sick.

I was like, "Oh, no." I looked at the bottle, it was empty.

I was like, "Oh, no, I've had too much to drink."

It was like everything you imagine it to be like

when you're absolutely drunk, off your face.

And it's not a nice thing at all.

It was a nightmare because the whole party was just spinning around my head.

As alcohol reaches the liver, it's broken down into water and

carbon dioxide, which is expelled through sweat, urine and breath.

But the liver can only break down one unit per hour,

whereas Jordan had drunk over 15 units.

Highly dangerous amounts of alcohol and toxins were building up

in his bloodstream, putting his body at serious risk.

Then I started being sick.

After I was sick for the first time, no-one really knew what to do, to be honest.

Everyone was hanging about like, "Oh, Jordan's been sick."

And I was just lying there.

I remember people getting annoyed.

I just wanted the ground to swallow me up.

I just wanted to be home and for it to all be over.

The friend I came with and another friend they said, "No, take him

"outside to the drive."

So they've taken me out on the drive and I'm just lying on the floor.

It was quite messy. I was lying in my own sick a bit.

I was trying to fall asleep, I think, but I can't really remember.

Alcohol irritates the stomach

and can cause it to discharge or vomit its contents.

Large amounts of alcohol can disrupt the gag-reflex system

triggered in the throat, which prevents sick entering the lungs.

If the airways are blocked by vomit,

breathing can become disrupted, leading to choking, and even death.

In this state, an individual should never be laid out on their back,

left alone or allowed to fall asleep.

Medical advice should be sought immediately.

No-one knew what to do,

so they just called my parents to come pick me up.

I just felt humiliated.

Throughout the night you don't think about any of the medical effects.

You just think about how fun it's going to be when you get drunk.

You don't think about any side effects of what could poss...

You don't think about possibly being sick.

But back then, it was like, "Nah, it's never going to happen."

I woke up the next day without any memory of what had happened.

I stood up. And as soon as I stood up, the whole room started spinning

and I had the most banging headache.

It was a nightmare. My stomach was doing somersaults.

It was the worse possible thing that could ever happen

after a night of drinking, I guess.

I remember I went through stages.

I felt like I was ill, but I knew what made me ill.

It was really humiliating, I guess.

Alcohol is a diuretic, making the body urinate and sweat more.

Dehydration from loss of water makes the body feel thirsty and weak,

and increases the heart rate, all of which occur during a hangover.

The throbbing headache associated with a hangover is thought

also to be partly caused by alcohol opening up the blood vessels

to the brain, putting pressure on its protective layers.

It wasn't worth it at all.

It sounds a bit extreme, but I could have died that night.

I didn't really realise

until probably a few days later how serious it could have been.

And it's something that you don't think about

while you're drinking or even probably while you're being sick.

But it can happen.

This is Emily and when she was 16,

alcohol made her vulnerable to a traumatic experience.

Harry Potter books, I'm like a massive geek about.

Drawing. I never stop drawing.

Been told that I'm good at giving advice,

but not taking my own advice at the same time.

The following is what Emily remembers of the incident.

I'd had a bad week, sort of personal problems,

and I was having a really bad day.

I was already out with a few mates, we were just in town.

And one of them was 18 already.

Everyone was just chilled and having a laugh.

I was like, "It will cheer me up a bit after the week that I'd had."

So that was my general idea for going out drinking.

My mate then went to the shop, bought everyone beer.

I'd given them money to buy me a bottle of vodka.

So everyone was just chilled on this field, just all having a drink.

When I first started drinking, I still felt down

about having my bad week.

Then the more I was drinking, the more tipsy, I started having a laugh.

I could assume I was probably slurring my words.

I was giggling at everything. Couldn't walk in a straight line.

I felt better in myself.

I felt like, "Yeah, I've cheered up a lot now."

Alcohol affects the brain's chemical messengers,

called neurotransmitters, which control our thoughts,

behaviour, movement and emotions.

Alcohol increases the concentration of two neurotransmitters

called GABA and dopamine.

This reduces our inhibitions and

makes us feel temporarily happier.

We finished the few of the drinks off

and we started walking back in towards the town centre.

I saw a few of my other mates.

And a couple of them who were 18, 19, said they were going round town

and asked did I want to go with them.

So I went with them to a bar not far from where we were.

I started by getting my friends to buy my drinks at the bar, just

so I didn't get, like, run the risk of getting ID'd at the bar.

I was drinking pints. I had a few shots.

I was drinking quite a lot.

After a while, I started thinking about how bad my week had been.

I started getting down. I was like, "I'll have another drink to cheer me up."

And it wasn't, I just kept feeling worse and worse and started crying.

And I went outside for some fresh air

and the minute the fresh air hit me, I felt even more drunk.

My head was spinning all over the place.

And I was sick outside.

I was just, like, crying, being sick.

I wasn't really aware of what was going on around me.

The inner ear helps the body stay balanced.

Alcohol can change the inner ear's sensitivity to gravity,

making it hard to coordinate your movements,

and making you feel dizzy, as if everything is spinning around you.

Alcohol also irritates the stomach where it's

absorbed into the bloodstream.

This makes the stomach vomit out its contents.

So my friends who I was with were saying,

"Right, well, which one of us are going to get her home?"

And they were both drunk as well.

And just as everyone was deciding, who was all sitting in front,

a lad who we all knew walked past.

And he came over talking to us and he was like, "Is she OK?"

They were like, "Yeah, she's just a bit drunk and upset."

And he was like, "Well, I've not had a drink, so do you want me

"to get her home and yous can stay in the bar?"

And my mates were like, "Yeah, OK."

And he said he was going to walk me to a taxi office.

So I just left with him.

And I could not see where I was walking at all.

I was following him, trusting him to take me somewhere.

After I'd say about, what felt to me

about ten or 15 minutes of walking, I realised that we was on a field.

And my legs buckled underneath me sort of near a ditch.

And I was laying there.

I tried to get myself back up and realised that I couldn't move.

And I tried saying something to him and I couldn't speak.

And I remember thinking to myself, "Why isn't he helping me back up?"

And he came to, like, in front of me.

And he pulled my legs straight and he pulled my dress up.

I was thinking to myself, "What's he's doing?"

I was trying to say to myself, "Just push him off, push him off."

I was proper willing myself and I just couldn't move at all.

I was like, "Why can't I move?" And I wanted to scream and cry.

And he lay on top of me and started kissing me.

And I wasn't responding at all.

All I wanted to do was get him off me and just scream at him and hit him.

I wasn't doing anything, he was kissing me.

He was like, running his hands all over my body.

And he just carried on and wouldn't get off.

He tried to do other things.

He put his hands up my dress and on my legs and everything else.

He tried doing other stuff.

I remember, like in my head, screaming as loud as I could,

just willing myself to actually make a noise.

And I just couldn't do anything.

And I don't know how long it had been,

but to me it felt like for ever.

He just got up, pulled my dress down, kissed me again

and just left me in the ditch.

And I just blacked out at that point.

Inside Emily's body,

alcohol was flowing around her bloodstream

and into her vital organs.

She eventually lost consciousness,

and passed out, as her brain shut down.

Because of what actually happened that night, it ended up

affecting my mental health more than anything.

I couldn't sleep in my own bed for a few weeks after that.

I spent most nights sleeping on the couch.

I would be crying most nights.

I'd wake up in the middle of the night and I could feel

the weight of him on top of me. I could hear his voice in my head.

If I'd been a bit more sober that night, I wouldn't have said,

"Oh, yeah, I'm just going to leave with him."

I'd have asked one of my friends who I knew closer,

would they come with me? Instead of just going off with some lad

who I knew the name of and I'd spoke to him a couple of times.

A lot of my friends were saying, "It wasn't your fault, "it wasn't your fault."

I blamed myself a lot for a long time.

And it made me really depressed for a long time as well.

When I was in school, there was the popular group.

You'd hear the stories of how good their night was after having

a few drinks.

You think, "Yeah, that sounds dead good,"

but you never heard how ill they were the next day.

But no-one ever discusses the worst stuff.

It's just always, "Yeah, it was a fun night."

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd