44_https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ocp_1PtZupg_reducing alcohol consumption
gpt
Hey, hi, Andrea. Thanks for coming in today. So I don't know how much you've been told about why you're here, but basically, it's my job just to meet with all the students. I usually meet with you once or twice a semester. And I'm going to be talking to you kind of about your life and your goals and some behaviors that you might engage in and just the sorts of things like that.
human
Okay.
gpt
So why don't you start by telling me a little bit about yourself?
human
Uh, well, my name is Andrea, as you know, I'm, uh, in the marching band. I play the tenor sax.
gpt
Oh.
human
Yeah. I'm involved in music. So I'm also in the jazz band, the wind ensemble, and um, yeah, that's about—
gpt
Okay.
human
I'm an IB student.
gpt
Okay. How long ago did you start playing saxophone?
human
Well, saxophone. I started about four years ago, but I've been involved in music for about 10 years now, so.
gpt
Wow. That's a long time. What other instruments?
human
I started off on the violin first.
gpt
No kidding.
human
So I played that for like six years, once a clarinet, dabbled here and there with different things. And then I found the one- the one for me.
gpt
That's awesome. And you play tenor sax?
human
Yeah, the tenor sax.
gpt
Wow. And how long have you been in marching band?
human
Marching band since freshman year. So like three years.
gpt
Okay. Couple of years. Great. And how do you like Marching Band?
human
It's fun. It's a- it's a lot of work, long summers taught, but it's fun.
gpt
What are your favorite parts about it?
human
Oh, I really like the-the group setting.
gpt
Oh, okay.
human
You know, getting to work with my other classmates and things like that. And putting on this entire show-
gpt
Uh-huh.
human
-it's very exciting, very exhilarating once you're in competition.
gpt
Okay.
human
It's very cool.
gpt
Cool. And do you have a lot of friends who are in band with you or-
human
Yeah.
gpt
-friends outside of band or?
human
I have, um, you know, I have two-two separate groups. I have my friends from class and then my friends from bra-- from band.
gpt
Okay.
human
So.
gpt
Great. And then, um, tell me a little bit about your family?
human
Oh, well I have one brother he's older than me, about nine years older than me.
gpt
Oh, wow.
human
And, uh, my parents and my dog. [laughs]
gpt
Okay. What kind of dog do you have?
human
He's a golden retriever.
gpt
Oh, nice.
human
Charlie.
gpt
Charlie.
human
He's a big boy. Yeah.
gpt
Oh, cute. Have you had him a long time?
human
Yeah. He's about eight years old now.
gpt
Oh gosh. Yeah. Okay. Very cool. And what are your plans for after high school?
human
Uh, well, I'm planning on going to school. I'd like to become a doctor one day, so.
gpt
Wow.
human
I'm interested in psychology, psychiatry, something like that, so.
gpt
You've got big dreams.
human
Yeah.
gpt
Cool. All right. Have you started thinking about schools or majors? I guess you're thinking about psychology as a major.
human
Yeah, psychology, I haven't really thought too about which school, I mean, I-
gpt
Right.
human
Everyone wants to shoot for the Ivy leagues, so [chuckles]
gpt
All right. And how about your grades?
human
Uh, they're pretty good, you know, high three-point somethings.
gpt
Okay. Good. Very good. All right. Well, what are the kinds of things do you do for fun on weekends?
human
Uh, I usually go out with my friends. Uh, we'll go to the movies or we'll most likely we'll just meet up at someone's house-
gpt
Mm-hmm.
human
-and just hang out and things.
gpt
Mm-hmm. When you're hanging out, is there ever alcohol?
human
Sometimes, [chuckles] I'm gonna be honest sometimes.
gpt
Uh-huh So how often do you think you drink alcohol?
human
Um, depending on how much schoolwork there is When there's not, it might be like every other weekend or like three weekends out of the month or something like that.
gpt
Oh, so you're drinking a lot?
human
A little, yeah.
gpt
Okay. And how much are you drinking on the days that you're-- on the days that you drink?
human
Um, I don't, we don't get blackout drunk or anything. It's more of like a little tipsy kind of thing.
gpt
Mm-hmm.
human
I have gotten blackout drunk before-
gpt
Mm-hmm.
human
-but I kind of did that, learned my lesson, didn't like it.
gpt
Got it. So you've-you've had some pretty heavy drinking. What-what do you think is the most you've ever had?
human
Like how many drinks?
gpt
Yeah.
human
Um, it was a good amount. It was the first time I ever drank and it was like three or four cups, but it was mixing different things.
gpt
Okay, so you don't even know.
human
So, I'm not-- Yeah.
gpt
Okay. So, and then your friends drink too?
human
Yeah. Yes. Not all of them, but some of them do.
gpt
Okay. And how much do they typically drink?
human
More or less the same amount. So right now the most we'll have is maybe like one cup after that one time, but sometimes one or two, but they can be kind of heavy.
gpt
Okay, so it's one cup, but it's not-not one drink.
human
Oh, it's a red, you know, typical. Yeah.
gpt
It has a lot of alcohol in it.
human
Mm-hmm.
gpt
Okay. Um, so gosh, you're-you're actually really drinking quite a lot. Um, you know, your level of drinking puts you in what we call a high-risk group.
human
Mm-hmm.
gpt
So, is that surprising to you?
human
A little bit.
gpt
Yeah. Um, so we call it high-risk because it means that there's actually quite a bit of chances that you're gonna have some bad consequences from drinking like that. So, you know, things like, um, having car accidents, or other accidents, or getting in fights, or, you know, sexual assault, or health problems, or developing alcoholism. Have you thought about those things?
human
Not too much, to be honest. I-I've always thought since it's, you know, within my small group of friends-
gpt
Uh-huh.
human
-and we usually sleep over each other's house, we don't get into the problems of drinking and driving, and possibly sexual assaults and things like that.
gpt
Uh-huh.
human
But I haven't really thought about possible alcoholism or anything.
gpt
Okay. So it's, um, so it's good, because you're not drinking and driving, but you're still really drinking a lot. Um, and yeah. Okay. So, let's-let's talk a little bit about that, how you might be able to make some changes. Because I think you really need to- need to stop drinking like this.
human
Okay.
gpt
So, um, do you think you could quit drinking or?
human
Yeah, I think I could. I don't need it. For instance, it-it is-- it is used as a kind of, like, let's get the party going.
gpt
Uh-huh.
human
But we haven't always had it-
gpt
Uh-huh.
human
-obviously. So, I think it would be possible to stop drinking.
gpt
Okay. So, does that mean you're gonna stop drinking?
human
Um, I would probably start off by like, because my friends are also involved, so I'd be like, "Hey, guys, I don't think I'm gonna drink today."
gpt
Uh-huh.
human
And kind of see how that goes. Because—
gpt
Okay. Um, you don't sound very much like you think that's gonna work.
human
Yeah. It's, you know, it's one thing to control my own drinking, and it's another thing when everyone else around me is drinking and then there's like that pressure-
gpt
Mm-hmm.
human
-of, "Oh, they're gonna think I look stupid."
gpt
Okay. So, how are you gonna quit drinking without your friends thinking you look stupid?
human
Yeah.
gpt
Okay. Um, so I mean, do you think they're really good friends of yours if they're gonna give you such a hard time?
human
My close ones, I know they wouldn't be, you know, have a problem with that. But the ones that I'm not that close with, but I'll still like hang out with-
gpt
Uh-huh.
human
-those are probably the ones that like might ostracize me for something or.
gpt
It sounds like you might be better off without them though. They’re-
human
Yeah.
gpt
- maybe not very good friends.
human
Probably, might be too judgmental.
gpt
Mm-hmm. So, um, so I think we should set a goal that you're gonna stop drinking.
human
Okay.
gpt
And, um, I think you should probably stop as soon as possible, like this weekend.
human
Okay.
gpt
Um, so the way this normally works is, you know, we set you a goal, and then I'll have you come back and we'll talk about it again in a couple of weeks and make sure that you actually stopped. Um, and so what do you think about that?
human
Um, I think-- I think the possibility.
gpt
Okay. So-
human
I think if you make a good plan, like I think I'd be able to follow through with it.
gpt
Okay, great. So, the plan is gonna be that you're gonna quit and, um, the friends that you have that you don't think are supportive, you're just gonna, I guess, not hang out with anymore.
human
Yeah. I think I can do that.
gpt
Okay. And then, um, you know, like, are your friends in band drinking?
human
Um, not-not really. The ones that drink more are the ones like my class friends. My band friends, we’re focused on band-
gpt
Uh-huh.
human
-so I can't really—
gpt
Okay. So, that might be good, is really just to focus more on band. Um, because you know, the other big concern I have for you is if you wanna go to medical school, you're not ever gonna get into medical school if you're drinking like this.
human
Yeah.
gpt
You know, like college is gonna be really hard. And especially with all those pre-med classes, you're not gonna be able to handle it drinking this much. You know, have you thought about that?
human
Not too much, to be honest.
gpt
Yeah. Okay. So, setting this goal then of quitting drinking is gonna be really helpful for you. And um, it sounds like i-it shouldn't be that tough really, um, especially because you can just stop hanging out with-
human
Mm-hmm.
gpt
-the people who drink a lot, um, since you have some other friends. Um, yeah. So, do you have any questions for me or?
human
Um, what should I-- uh, yeah, I do. So what should I say like once, let's say, I hang out with my friends and they're like, "Hey, why aren't you- why aren't you drinking?"
gpt
Mm-hmm.
human
Like how should I go about that situation?
gpt
Well, you know, one good option would be to just review with them review with them all the bad things about alcohol. You can say, you know, "I thought about it, and I realized it's gonna mess up my schoolwork. And you know, it's really a lot of risk for my health." "I don't want to become an alcoholic." Um, you know, "I don't want to get liver disease.", "I don't want to end up driving drunk or getting into accidents-
human
Mm-hmm.
gpt
-or getting in fights." You know, one thing you could bring up is, "I've heard a lot of stories about kids who you know, are at parties and they're drunk and acting stupid, and then people post stuff on Instagram."
human
Mm.
gpt
And you know, that's it for their social life. It's like over.
human
Yeah.
gpt
So—
human
And-and you know, like professional life as well.
gpt
Mm-hmm.
human
I don't want that biting me in the butt, [chuckles] in the back.
gpt
Yeah. So I think just tell your friends you know, you realized there's always bad things about it and you don't want to do it anymore, so you're just not going to.
human
Okay.
gpt
And then-
human
I think I can do that.
gpt
-you can tell them to stop too. You know, then that'd be really good. You'd being a good friend.
human
It'd be easier as-- You know, as a group we-we all work together to become better.
gpt
Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. All right. Any other questions or anything else I can help with?
human
No. I think- I think I'm good.
gpt
Okay. So, like I said, I'll plan to meet with you again in a couple weeks.
human
Okay.
gpt
And make sure that you actually quit drinking.
human
Okay.
gpt
All right.
human
Sound good.
gpt
Great.