1 TAKING A SHOT- MENTAL HEALTH & BINGE DRINKINGBINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY COUNSELING CENTER MENTAL HEALTH OUTREACH PEER EDUCATORS Introduce yourselves: make the audience comfortable and know that you are not there to lecture them, but just give them some really useful information from a fellow student. Smile, make a joke, and make sure that they know how excited you are to be speaking to them.
2 WHAT IS THE UCC University Counseling Services 13 CounselorsSocial Work Graduate Interns Peer Educators (Undergrad Interns) 2 clerical staff members About 1,000 students are seen in our office per year. Feel free to add any other statistics or information about the UCC you feel the audience would appreciate (Maybe mention how friendly the clerical staff is, or how diverse the group of counselors are) Emergency hours, location, phone number, normal hours, how to make an appointment, any other relevant information
3 WHAT IS M-HOPE? M-HOPE interns are ambassadors of the UCC who outreach to students to advocate for the UCCs services and work to de-stigmatize mental illness on campus We are student leaders who are concerned about the mental and physical well being of Binghamton University Students We are friendly and approachable and want to be a source of guidance! talk about outreach, office hours, class, the time commitment, and whatever else you enjoy about the internship.
4 STIGMA: WHY DON’T PEOPLE SEEK COUNSELING?Bad past experiences Unsure of what to expect Fear of judgement Unaware of services This is a great slide to questions your audience about some reasons they think that people do not seek counseling and about stigma what can the student body do to fight stigma?
5 REFER A FRIEND Say what you see, “You don’t seem yourself lately” or “You seem down lately” (Avoid saying “you have depression, etc”) Ask what’s happening or going on in their lives Ask what they have done or tried Suggest counseling, “It sounds like you are having a hard time right now. Have you ever thought about going to counseling?” Tell them what you know about how counseling will help. (use what you learned today!) Use “I” statements that express your feelings and don’t blame them. “I’m worried about you. Maybe counseling can help.” Remain non-judgmental and listen to them. This slide is pretty straightforward- recall all the training you learned in class as to how to help a friend and refer them to the counseling center, without trying to be the counselor yourself.
6 WHAT IS BINGE DRINKING AND ALCOHOLISMDefined as a pattern of drinking that brings a person’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08 grams percent or above. This typically happens when men consume 5 or more drinks, and when women consume 4 or more drinks, in about 2 hours What is Alcoholism? Being unable to limit the amount of alcohol you drink Feel a strong need or compulsion to drink Develop tolerance to alcohol so that you need more to feel its effects Drink alone or hide your drinking A throwback to “AlcWise” Feel free to ask the group questions: Why do people binge drink? Is it a good idea? Is peer pressure involved?
7 MYTHS ABOUT DRINKING It will improve my sexual performanceYou can sober up quickly if you want to You can drive fine after a few drinks. If you’re both drunk, then it’s not sexual assault This slide usually gets a few laughs- maybe act out a drunk person trying to act sober, but make sure when you talk about sexual assault you address it seriously
8 DRINKING CULTURE Tan People base their identities of drinking…but…… Research shows that student bodies generally perceive alcohol to be abused at higher rate than what is true in reality When one believes that there is always someone who drinks more, then he or she will be more forgiving of overdrinking on their own part In the case of college students, there is a lot of pressure, especially among freshmen to “fit in”. These anxieties can cause them to seek social situations, such as fraternity parties (mentioned later) where access to alcohol is easy and abundant in volume
9 ALCOHOL AND YOUR BODY Alcohol is a depressant, which is a drug that slows down the central nervous system -This affects your reaction time, motor coordination, thought processes, and emotional processes. It goes straight to your brain! Alcohol doesn’t require digestion and reaches the brain within minutes of being absorbed into the bloodstream through the stomach walls At low doses, alcohol temporarily increases your heart rate, creating a mildly stimulating effect The liver removes alcohol from the bloodstream at a rate of one drink per hour. Your BAC rises when your drink more than this and your liver can’t keep up. Even though gender, body type, and size can factor into your tolerance level, the rate at which alcohol leaves your system is CONSTANT!!!! emphasize that fourth slide, and how alcohol is processed in the body much slower than you may think Define “a drink” as a half ounce of pure alcohol
10 HOW TO IDENTIFY A FRIEND OR FAMILY MEMBER WHO HAS A PROBLEMThey say they are only going to have a few drinks but always have more Their behavior changes drastically then they drink Don’t remember what happened the night before Say they are going to stop drinking so much/quit drinking but never do A little role-play can be used here to. You and your colleague can be two friends at a party, one who says they blacked out many nights in a row and says hes done drinking, but goes on to drink until in a stupor Also mention what can be done in the moment: interventions when someone has had too much to drink. You can go with the direct approach of “You’ve had too much”. Or be less direct and try to distract the person from drinking by going outside or looking for food.
11 A NIGHT OF BINGE DRINKINGhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAmI1MJECZ4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mo_49X7B53o Even a single night of binge drinking can cause aggression, and anti -social behavior, such as fighting, and negative rumination. Nobody wants to end up like the people in these videos These videos are great!! If time permits, watch the clips and discuss what you see. An exaggeration, but still a clear idea of what can happen when someone drinks too much. You can also explore the virtual bar if you want to with the group.
12 THE EFFECTS OF BINGE DRINKING ON MENTAL HEALTHEven a single night of binge drinking can cause aggression, and anti -social behavior, such as fighting, and negative rumination. While some mentally ill people have been found to turn to alcohol for self - medication, alcohol use can also cause an addiction that leads to depression and anxiety. Major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and anxiety disorder are all linked to alcoholism. [RL1] One third of mentally ill experience alcohol abuse, while simultaneously a third of alcohol abusers suffer from mental illness.!(National Alliance on Mental Health) emphasize the bidirectional relationship between alcohol and your mental health. Using alcohol to self-medicate is bad, but even worse given the effects of one episode of binge drinking
13 DRINKING AND ACADEMICSPorter and Pryor (2007) found that just two or more episodes of binge drinking in a two-week span correlated with lower semester grades Frequent binge drinkers are more likely to miss class, and to fall behind on work-the number of drinks consumed per week correlated positively with the number of classes missed per semester. talk about how drinking the nigh before can cause you to miss class or feel to hungover to miss class
14 DRINKING AND YOUR FUTUREAs seen in the last slide, abusing alcohol can lead to missing class and lower grades In the long term, this means a low GPA which will make it harder to get into graduate school, med school, or applying for jobs. If you are under the age of 21 and are caught drinking and driving, your license will be taken away and you may go to jail. If you are over 21 and are driving with a BAC of .08 or more, you will be charged with a DUI. → Both of these will lead to you having an arrest record and a much more difficult time getting a job!
15 PHYSICAL EFFECTS OF DRINKINGOn the Heart- cardiac arrythmias, high blood presssure On the Liver- Steatosis, or fatty liver, Alcoholic hepatitis, Fibrosis, Cirrhosis Pancreas- Pancreitis Cancer of the mouth, throat, liver, breast Ask the audience if they would like any of these! The answer is most likely no
16 HOW TO DRINK SMART: TIPS IF YOU CHOOSE TO DRINKExperiment with drinking less, saying “no”, and spacing your drinks It’s not a race! Take your time to enjoy your drink and have water in between (it’s free!) Set a drinking limit for yourself Count how many “standard drinks” you’ve had to keep track of how much you are drinking Eat a full meal before drinking and have some food while drinking too! -Don’t mix alcohol with stimulants like Red Bull or Monster, and never leave your drink unattended Avoid drinking games and be careful when driinking liquor or punch Remember that it is not necessary to go out drinking every weekend! Try staying in and watching a movie or going to an event on campus! Be sure to make it clear “IF” you chose to drink, not when you chose to drink, and most definitely not when you drink. We are educating the students on the dangers of drinking, but not saying that is an acceptable behavior or condoning it in any way (most of the audience is probably under the age of 21).