College Drinking - How to Intervene

Tips to Help Students Intervene When College Drinking Gets Out of Hand

It's tough enough to negotiate college life, but when a friend or roommate's drinking gets out of hand - and Margarita Monday starts running 24/7 - that can impact your college student too. If your child is concerned about how much a friend is drinking, he doesn't have to stage a full-on intervention to help. There are less extreme ways to offer support and concern when it comes to college drinking:

1. Check Campus Resources: First, suggest that he talk to an RA, check the online campus health resources or go to the campus clinic and talk to a counselor there to see what options are available.

2. Raise the Issue: It’s counterproductive to raise concerns about a friend’s alcohol use when he or she is drunk. Suggest that your child wait for a quiet, sober moment, then raise the issue gently, emphasizing how much he cares, but being specific about what is sending up red flags. He should expect denial, bluster and even anger. That's OK. It still needs to be said.

3. Take a Test: Your child can suggest his friend take a simple self-assessment, such as the on-line substance abuse quiz offered by UC Berkeley’s Tang Health Center. It offers a second, unbiased opinion and gives clear suggestions on what to do next.

4. Offer to Go: That "next" item is going to be making an appointment with a counselor at the school's health clinic, alcohol abuse center, or an AA meeting. It's tough to walk into something like that alone, but your child could offer encouragement and support by walking his friend to his appointment and waiting outside.

5. Offer Longterm Support: You can’t force someone else to get help, but friends can offer considerable support for good decisions. Your child might offer, for example, to help his roommate or buddy avoid temptation by going to the movies or the gym with him, instead of that kegger.

6. Call in the Cavalry: It’s important that your child not feel responsible for his friend’s problems. But your child may need some extra support too - from you, from campus counselors or from groups such as AlAnon. And if the situation is spiraling out of control – his friend cannot control his drinking, becomes abusive or violent, or starts exhibiting mental health issues – it's time to call in the cavalry. Start with the RA, and think about calling the friend's parents. RAs may be bound by the same privacy rules that govern the university. You and your child are not.