Staying in Control This Festive Season

Everyone likes a cheeky drink once in a while; unfortunately, drinking heavily can make you look a bit of an idiot: if you're underage, it's also illegal. Risk Taking Behaviour (RTB) have given us a few great tips on how to stay in control and enjoy a drink without losing the plot!

• Eat before you go out!

This is a really effective way of being able to retain control when you have had a few drinks. Drinking on an empty stomach means that the alcohol will hit you much harder and much more quickly.

• Have a non-drinking night!

Go for a night out as usual with all your mates, but don’t drink. Resist the urge to go home early and force yourself to stay out until the very end. At the end of the night, have a good look at your mates. Is this how you look after a drink? Are they really the clever, funny guys who you normally drink with? Do you really want to be like this yourself?

• Dilute your drinks!

If you like to buy and drink bottles of spirits, why not consider splitting the bottles and adding water? Your mates wont know and the taste is the same; clearly it is still too much alcohol in terms of units and damage to your liver.... but it does allow you an opportunity to reduce your use without losing face!

Click here for a full list of tips on drinking. (DOC, 24kb)

If you're lucky, you might get a bit of a snog off someone, you might get a little bit more; you might go all the way! But what if you have unprotected sex? There's a lot to consider, from STI's to unwanted pregnancies. Once again, the kind folks at RTB have given us some info that we're happy to pass on to you.

So that you're prepared, here's a few places you can get free condoms in Cumbria:

• Dalton Community Youth Project 01229 467972

• Distington Club for Young People 01946 832882

• Brampton Youth Project 07984 914327

• Connexions Cumbria 01228 596272

• Phoenix Youth Project 01946 814555

Click here for a full list of places you can pick up a condom. (XLS, 25kb)

And ladies, if you've had unprotected sex and want to get the morning after pill (which is effective up to 72 hours after unprotected sex), here's some locations that can hook you up:

• Alliance Pharmacy 01228 792859

• Boots Pharmacy 01228 542944

• Co-Op Pharmacy 01228 521618

• Lloyds Chemst 01228 511102

• Superdrug Pharmacy 01228 521 440

Click here for a full list of locations you can pick up the pill from. (DOC, 278kb)

The other thing about unprotected sex is that it can lead to... well, some pretty unpleasant downstairs business if you catch my drift. That's not good for anyone, and can even lead to infertility in later life. If you think you might have picked something up (and remember, you might have no symptoms), check out the links below for confidential advice:

• http://www.c4urself.nhs.uk

• http://www.ruthinking.co.uk

• http://www.likeitis.org/indexuk.html

Remember, you can call Connexions at any time on this freephone number, whether you want advice on sex, drugs, drink or something else - 08080 013 219

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