Young adults are taking prescription drugs instead of alcohol - and it's dividing experts
Young adults are increasingly using prescription medications as a substitute for alcohol to manage social anxiety and enhance social experiences. Experts warn that this trend carries significant risks, including dependency, dangerous side effects, and potential life-threatening outcomes.
Why it matters
This highlights a growing public health concern regarding the misuse of prescription drugs among youth and the limitations of current social support systems.
Young adults are taking prescription drugs instead of alcohol - and it's dividing experts
By Isabel Shaw , BBC Global Health and Jacqui Wakefield , BBC Global Health To enjoy a night out with friends, Matt once had to drink until he felt sick.
If he didn't, the 22-year-old from the north of England would spend the night silent, terrified of saying the wrong thing. The warehouse worker says it felt like there was "just no way into" the conversations everyone else seemed to be enjoying.
Then, two years ago, he swapped pints for prescription drugs he discovered through social media.
As he gets ready to go out on a Friday, Matt, whose name has been changed, now takes a medicine he purchases illegally online that usually treats epilepsy and nerve pain; alongside a beta blocker designed to slow a racing heart and relax trembling muscles (physical symptoms of anxiety).
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