Cecily Paterson

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How To Be Happy #16: Alcohol, drugs and rock 'n' roll

How am I going to say this nicely?

Okay. I’ll just say it.

If you’re under age, don’t drink alcohol or take drugs.

Put simply: it won’t make you happy. Yeah, it might feel cool and awesome to party with your friends. It might be a secret thrill to drink on your own. But honestly, whatever excitement it brings you only lasts for a short, short time.

Why alcohol will make you unhappy: it has a bad effect on your brain. While your brain is still maturing (and that lasts until your mid-20s) pouring alcohol, which is basically poison, into your body doesn’t do it any favours. Also, long term it sets you up with a higher risk of cancer (true!)

Alcohol and drugs can also make you unhappy for other reasons. Kids who drink or get high are at higher risk for things like academic failure, sexual assault, unwanted pregnancy and accidents which can kill or disable you. Yes. I’m talking about death and hospitals.

And let me say this too: if you’re of legal age, yeah, have a few, but don’t binge drink. It will not make you happy in the long run.

People get drunk and take stuff for all sorts of reasons, but one of the main ones is that they are looking for happiness. And when everyone else is sculling or smoking and looking like they’re super happy, it’s easy to get tricked into thinking that this will solve your problems too.

Guess what? It won’t, especially when you’ve got a hangover in the morning.

So how do you not drink or take a few magic pills when all your friends are doing it around you?

Here’s a good strategy. Be happy. Genuinely happy. Because happy people are confident people who know who they are. If you’re happy and confident and sure of what you want to do and don’t want to do, the worst you can suffer is a little bit of teasing for not drinking.

Following the steps to happiness that you find in this series is actually going to help you say ‘no’ to the kind of drinking and substance abuse that can damage your body, hurt your brain and put you in dangerous situations.

Be happy and don’t drink or take drugs.

Rock ‘n’ roll, on the other hand? Play me that guitar solo, baby.

Are you a drinker (underage or legal)? Why do you drink?

What do you think is the definition of binge drinking? Write down your idea then go look it up in the dictionary.

Do you smoke or take drugs? What effect does it have on you?

Does it make you happy in the short term? In the long term? Do you want to stop? Why or why not?


Want more on how to be happy*? Check out the rest of Cecily Paterson's How To Be Happy blog series for more tips and advice. Want more of Cecily's writing? You can grab a free copy of her novel, Invisible here.

*PLEASE NOTE, I’M NOT A PSYCHIATRIST, PSYCHOLOGIST OR MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONAL. I’M JUST A PERSON WHO HAS HAD PLENTY OF PERIODS OF LOW MOODS OVER MANY YEARS AND FOUND SOME THINGS THAT HELP ME. IF YOU’RE REALLY STRUGGLING, PROFESSIONAL HELP CAN DO A LOT FOR YOU. IF YOU’RE IN A SUPER BAD WAY, GO HERE TO LIFELINE.