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Examining Oxycodone Use in Florida

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Prescription drug abuse is a significant issue nationwide, but in Florida, it is an epidemic. Ease of access to drugs like oxycodone has led many young people into addiction in Fort Lauderdale and beyond, thanks to the powerfully physical and psychological addictive nature of the substances. Watch this video to see how oxycodone has affected people across Florida.

Oxycodone, prescribed for pain, can cause feelings of euphoria when taken and severe withdrawal symptoms when a user tries to stop. Many young people end up facing oxycodone drug addiction after pilfering legally prescribed pills from their parents. The intensity of oxycodone addiction can be overwhelming and lead teens to crime to support their habits. In some cases, oxycodone addiction leads to heroin addiction, as young people try to get the same feeling as oxycodone at a lower price. Substance abuse treatment is a necessary step in overcoming oxycodone use.

Assessing Your Child’s Addiction Treatment Needs

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For teens and their families who are dealing with drug addiction and alcohol abuse, an assessment is often the first step in recovery. When parents take the step of enrolling their teen in rehab in Fort Lauderdale, the treatment team will perform an assessment to determine the best treatment approach. This assessment will shape the rehab process for every patient.

During an assessment, the rehab team will use evaluative tools to determine the type and severity of your teen’s addiction, or in some cases, whether your teen can benefit from rehab at all. The results of the assessment are used to decide the right level of care for your teen, from mental health treatment to substance abuse rehab services. After the assessment, if it is determined that your teen can benefit from rehab, he or she may be advised to go into outpatient therapy or intensive outpatient therapy, which include different degrees of counseling and therapy services. With the right treatment approach and aftercare services, your teen can overcome addiction and get back on the road to a healthy life.

Answering Questions About Addiction Aftercare

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One of the most important parts of addiction recovery happens after rehab and substance abuse counseling. A good aftercare plan reduces the risk of relapse and helps people who are overcoming the disease of addiction rebuild their lives. If your teen is entering rehab in Fort Lauderdale, be sure to consider the aftercare services before treatment even begins. Here are the answers to some common questions about addiction aftercare.

Aftercare is a general term that refers to the kind of support that a rehab center provides people when they finish their initial phases of drug or alcohol addiction treatment. People have different needs for aftercare based on a number of factors, from their age to the point they are in their treatment plan. For some people, aftercare can mean help finding a job and finding a sober living home to help them transition back to life outside of a treatment center. For teens who are getting treatment for drug and alcohol addiction, aftercare might mean family counseling and plans for dealing stress without relapsing.

Why is aftercare important?

Aftercare plays a number of important roles in addiction recovery. For many people, drug addiction or alcoholism leads to unemployment, financial and legal problems, and damaged relationships. Aftercare offers a support system for putting the practical parts of life back together after addiction. It also offers support as people transition to dealing with stressful events without using drugs or alcohol. Aftercare can make this transition easier to reduce the risk of rehab.

How can aftercare help teens?

For teens in addiction treatment, aftercare is usually focused on reinforcing positive behavior changes and helping patients learn new ways of coping with stressors.

With teen patients, aftercare is more of a family affair. Often, an aftercare program will include a clearly defined outline of behavioral goals and consequences for violating family rules. All of these services are designed to help reduce the risk of relapse and to spot the warning signs of a potential backslide into negative behavior.

Advice for Talking to Your Kids About Their Sibling’s Addiction

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Addiction is a family disease, particularly when the person who is abusing drugs or alcohol is a teen living at home with their parents and siblings. For parents, the prospect of helping one child fight addiction in Fort Lauderdale is exacerbated by questions about how to address what is happening with the other children in the family. Although it may be tempting to try to pretend like everything is fine for as long as possible, it is usually beneficial to be direct and confront the issues head-on. Even young children are likely to sense when there is a problem, and not addressing the issues could cause them unnecessary distress. When addiction strikes someone in your family, use these tips to confront the problem with your healthy children.

Be Honest

Tell your children exactly what is happening in age-appropriate terms that they can understand. For very young children, simply telling them that their sibling is sick may be enough. With older children, be direct about the problem without conveying any sense that you don’t have control. Let your children know that the issue is something that you are working on and that the problems have nothing to do with them, nor do they have to take on any kind of responsibility for what is happening. Remind them that their sibling still cares for them but has an illness that may not let him or her show it right now.

Open Lines of Communication

Make your kids aware that you are always open to their questions and concerns about what is happening and that they can always be honest. Not only does making yourself approachable give your children an outlet for their fears, anger, and sadness about the situation, but it also lets them know that they should tell you if they witness dangerous behavior.

Get Help

Substance abuse treatment for teens involves family counseling, and aftercare services are focused on helping teens with addiction issues repair their relationships with the family. While this kind of counseling may help your other children, consider other resources, such as Alateen, where teens in families dealing with substance abuse can go to vent and get support. Private counseling can also be helpful.

What to Do if You Think Your Teen Is Abusing Alcohol

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Discovering that a teen is engaging in drug or alcohol abuse is devastating for parents. It can be difficult to know what to do in these situations. Every family will respond in a slightly different way. However, in all cases, it’s necessary to reach out to addiction professionals for help. The counselors at a rehab in Fort Lauderdale can help you figure out what to do next about your teen’s alcohol abuse or addiction.

Make Observations

In some cases, a parent might only suspect that a teen is abusing alcohol because of changes in behavior, grades, or personality. If you have suspicions, but need to confirm them, evaluate your teen’s behavior carefully. Does he or she often break curfew, hang out with new friends, or behave in a secretive manner? Perhaps your teen comes home smelling strongly of perfume or body spray; this could be an attempt to mask the smell of alcohol. Consider whether you’re willing to violate your teen’s privacy by searching his or her room for hidden alcohol.

Contact a Rehab

Even if you don’t have definitive proof that your teen is abusing alcohol, you should contact a rehab to discuss your concerns with a professional. A counselor can offer guidance on confronting your teen and convincing him or her to seek help. You might need to take your teen to a specialist for a screening prior to admitting him or her to outpatient therapy.

Teen-Proof the Home

When your child was a toddler, you childproofed your home to prevent accidental access to dangerous substances. Now, it’s necessary to do the same thing for your teen. Don’t assume that if your teen is drinking, he or she will stick to alcohol. You’ll need to lock up prescription medications, cough syrups, and your own alcohol, if applicable. Your teen needs a clean environment in which to work on his or her recovery.

Eliminate Pocket Money

While your teen is going through counseling, you should eliminate the temptation to begin drinking again. Avoid giving your teen cash for school lunches, movie tickets, clothes or other items. Instead, write a check to the school cafeteria and directly purchase items your teen needs.

Provide Ongoing Support

Regardless of how upset you may be at your teen for abusing alcohol, remember that he or she needs your ongoing support. Let your teen know that you love him or her and are proud of him or her for getting treatment. Attend family counseling sessions and parent support groups.

Prescription Medicine Abuse in Teens

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In teens, prescription drug abuse is a major problem. Many teens can easily access medications from the family home or from friends. Others use their own medications in a manner other than prescribed by their doctors. Outpatient therapy and family counseling is available to combat this growing addiction problem in the Fort Lauderdale area.

The three common types of medications that may lead to addictions in teens include opioids, depressants, and stimulants. In addition to increasing the risk of an addiction, prescription drug abuse among teens can lead to short-term and long-term health problems. For example, teens who take high doses of opioids run the risk of breathing impairment and death. Stimulant abuse can lead to paranoid behavior, rapid heartbeat, and a dangerously high body temperature. Depressant abuse can cause shallow breathing, slurred speech, and disorientation. At high dosages, depressants can also lead to death. Parents who suspect that their teens may be abusing prescription medications are encouraged to get in touch with a rehab immediately for guidance.

What Is Binge Drinking?

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Binge drinking is a serious health risk and societal problem. Individuals who binge drink can benefit from seeking substance abuse treatment near Fort Lauderdale. Often associated with alcoholism, binge drinking is generally defined as the consumption of enough alcohol to elevate blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08% or higher. In women, this equals about four drinks per occasion. In men, it’s about five drinks per sitting.

You can hear more about alcoholism and binge drinking by watching this video. It explains the many dangers of this form of alcohol abuse. Among other problems, binge drinking encourages dangerous behaviors like drunk driving, unprotected sexual intercourse, and even interpersonal violence. This video also discusses some of the ways that community leaders can discourage binge drinking.

How Prevalent Is Drug and Alcohol Abuse Among Teens?

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Adolescence is a time of significant transition. Teens are preoccupied with social pressures and they are trying to fit in at school. They’re also beginning to assert their independence more vigorously. During adolescence, an individual is at a high risk of experimenting with drugs and alcohol. For some teens, in Fort Lauderdale, substance abuse follows experimentation. If you suspect that your teen may be engaging in alcohol or drug abuse, you can find the help your family needs at a rehab facility.

Alcohol

The National Institute on Drug Abuse conducts an annual Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey of U.S. students in eighth, 10 th, and 12 th grade to evaluate their drug use and attitudes toward drugs. The good news is that alcohol use among this demographic has declined significantly over the past five years. According to the organization, 1.2% of 12 th grade students tried alcohol in one reported month during 2010. The most recent survey reflects that 35.3% of 12 th graders had tried alcohol. There was also a decline in the percentage of 10 th graders who reported daily use of alcohol and an overall drop in the number of binge drinkers among 10 th and 12 th graders. This is encouraging news for combating alcoholism in the next generation, but these trends in underage drinking could still use major improvements.

Opioids

The same MTF survey reports that opioid use among teens is also on a downward trend. This includes narcotic pain relievers and heroin. In fact, since the MTF survey began, heroin use is at an all-time low among all ages surveyed. Despite an increase in the use of heroin by adults, the MTF survey reports that the majority of teens disapprove of even occasional heroin use.

Marijuana

Now that many states have passed laws that allow medical and recreational marijuana use among adults, one major concern was that this trend would encourage marijuana abuse among teens. The MTF survey reveals that although marijuana use has not declined among teens, it also has not increased. Over the past five years, marijuana abuse has held steady among eighth, 10 th , and 12 th graders. More than half of 12 th graders surveyed reported disapproving of regular marijuana abuse.

What to Do When Your Teen Won’t Agree to Treatment

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What do you do when you know your teen needs treatment for addiction in Fort Lauderdale, but he or she won’t agree to go? This situation is common for parents of teens with drug addiction or alcohol abuse problems, but help is available. The most important thing to do is to find the resources in your community that can support your family as you confront your teen’s addiction.

Start by finding a teen substance abuse program that can help with an intervention. Teen rehab programs frequently have experts to help you plan a productive intervention with your teen as well as an effective treatment plan. Be prepared to make multiple interventions if necessary. Family counseling and parent support groups can be extremely beneficial as you navigate difficult questions about tough love and support. Allowing your teen to experience some of the consequences of not seeking treatment can be an important step. Work closely with a teen rehab program as you try to get your child into treatment and keep the lines of communication open with your team to allow the recovery process to begin.

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