Thanksgiving is a very family-oriented holiday, coming second only to Christmas. This is proven by the fact that over 50 million Americans decide to travel somewhere else to spend the holidays with family or friends.

A large portion of these Americans happen to be young adults, with approximately 23 percent of all young adults deciding to travel back home for the holidays. This is over twice the number of people in their 40s that decide to go visit family or friends for Thanksgiving.

With all of these young adults coming home for the holidays, it is important that they know they are not putting anyone at risk by doing so. Here are the possible risks associated with young adults coming home for the holidays that everyone should be aware of in time for Thanksgiving.

More Drinking Occurs

Whenever a group of extended family members or friends get together, it is quite common for them to crack open a couple of cold ones with each other. However, what makes Thanksgiving unique is that the day before happens to be the biggest day for bars all over the country. In fact, this occurrence has gotten so popular it has officially been given several nicknames, such as Black Wednesday, Blackout Wednesday, and Drinksgiving.

One of the main reasons for this day being such a popular day to go out drinking is that almost everyone throughout the country has Thanksgiving off. Therefore, they do not have to worry about getting up early and going to work. They decide to take advantage of this by going out to drink and have some fun. While the exact increase in bar traffic varies from place to place, it is expected that bars see an average revenue on Drinksgiving that is over 160 percent of what they normally make in a single day.

This increase in alcohol consumption is obviously going to have some negative effects associated with it. One of the worst is the increase in the number of people who have sex while intoxicated. Unfortunately, when people are inebriated, they are far less likely to make smart decisions regarding sex. This means that they are much more likely to make a common mistake such as not using a condom. If they do end up having sex without a condom, it instantly makes them vulnerable to contracting hepatitis and other transmittable diseases.

Rise In Hometown Hookups

With the rise of dating apps, the number of hookups occurring over Thanksgiving has steadily risen. That is why there are so many articles online dedicated to the art of having a hometown hookup. In fact, several dating apps report an average increase of matches anywhere between 20 to 30 percent during the Thanksgiving holiday.

With all of these young adults hooking up with someone during the Thanksgiving holidays, it is important that they stay as safe as possible. There are a few different ways that this can best be done. One of them is to cut back on the amount of alcohol they drink so they can maintain a clear head and make good decisions.

However, something that is even more important is remembering to always have a condom readily available if there is even the smallest chance they will hook up with someone during the holidays. Properly using a condom helps to provide significant protection against any sort of sexually transmitted diseases.

Subtle STD Symptoms

Approximately 10 million young adults in the United States are diagnosed with an STD every year. However, what is even scarier than this massive number is the fact that a large portion of them did not even know that they had one until they got tested.

This is because sexually transmitted diseases can occasionally show little to no symptoms in an infected person. Therefore, they will walk around living their lives completely normally while being infected with a transmittable disease the entire time.