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The Risk of Prescription Drug Abuse in Young People

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For teens, addiction doesn’t necessarily start with abusing illegal drugs. Instead, substance abuse may begin in their parents’ medicine cabinet with prescription medications. Abusing prescription drugs is an increasingly common reason teens need help with addiction near Fort Lauderdale. Watch this video to learn more.

Teens have begun turning to their parents’ pain medications to get high, as well as their own medications for ADHD. They share pain medication, Adderall, and other drugs amongst each other at parties and even at school, to focus before a test or get a boost to get their homework. They often underestimate the dangers of prescription medicines, but in reality, these drugs have very high risks of addiction and can be deadly. Fortunately, treatment in a substance abuse program can help teens who do become addicted recover safely.

Does Early Drinking Increase the Risk of Alcoholism Later in Life?

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Among the dangers of early drinking behavior in young people is an increased risk of alcoholism later in life. In addition to seeking treatment for alcoholism in Fort Lauderdale for young people who are abusing alcohol as soon as possible, experts also recommend taking steps to discourage underage drinking before it begins to reduce the risk of alcoholism more effectively.

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), people who begin to drink before age 14 have a 47% chance of developing alcoholism in adulthood, compare with 9% of people who being drinking after age 21. The younger people are when they begin drinking, the more likely they are to develop alcoholism, while having a family member who also struggles with alcohol abuse raises the risk even more. People who begin drinking at young age also develop alcohol dependency faster and are more likely to have chronic, relapsing alcoholism problems than people who start drinking later in life.

What Parents Can Do to Support the Addiction Recovery Process

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When teens enter addiction treatments, parents play an enormous role in their success. Helping a teen enter rehab in Ft. Lauderdale is the first important step parents can take, but many remain unsure how they can be supportive after making that first call. Here are some things you can do to remain supporting of your teen throughout the addiction recovery process.

Get Informed

Most people don’t know anything about addiction until it happens to someone they love. By learning about addiction, you can get a better understanding of the disease your child is fighting and how the specific substances he or she abused may have affected him or her. In addition to helping them understand what to expect during rehab and recovery, many parents find that getting informed about addiction helps them to feel less resentment or anger about their teens’ behaviors and instead focus on healing.

Be Present

Rehab is always about healing relationships as well as the person, and this focus is especially important for teens. Most substance abuse treatment centers offer many opportunities for families to get counseling together so they can face the traumatic experiences that occurred during the addiction and begin to look forward to the future together. Take advantage of these resources to show your teen that you are committed to re-integrating him or her into your family and that you want to work together during this process.

Start Planning

The initial detox and rehab process is only the first step in recovery. For many people living with addiction, returning to life outside of treatment is extremely challenging. Work with the rehab center to make a plan for your teen’s transition back into your home. An important part of this conversation may be agreeing to a set of rules with your teen and setting out consequences for violating those rules, so that your teen a clear idea of your expectations. However, remember to be patient as well. Addiction recovery is a lengthy journey that frequently has ups and downs. Be prepared to embrace the entire process and to support your teen at each step.

Exploring the Reach of Heroin Addiction

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Heroin addiction, once thought to be confined to the inner cities, has now reached every community and every walk of life. There is no typical person dealing with heroin addiction in Fort Lauderdale. Teens in particular, from all backgrounds, enter rehab to conquer their addiction to heroin.

Watch this video to see how heroin changed the lives of two young adults from suburban Minnesota. These two young people do not fit the mold of what most people envision when they imagine heroin addiction, but they are among the new, younger faces of drug abuse, and in particular, heroin use. Because of the highly addictive nature of heroin, trying the drug once is enough to lead to a pattern of abuse, and only intervention through rehab can help users learn to overcome the intense cravings they experience.

Exploring the Link Between Sexual Assault and Drug Abuse in Teens

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Abuse, including sexual assaults, is strongly linked to addiction in both teens and adults. Teens who are the victims of sexual assaults have a higher risk of developing addictions as adults, and they may also turn to substance abuse as a coping mechanism when they are still teens. For teens who been victimized, it’s important to choose a substance abuse program that also offers family counseling or psychotherapy in Fort Lauderdale so that the underlying issues that contributed to the addiction.

Sexual Assault as a Trigger for Drug Use

Sexual abuse, including molestation in the home or assault by a stranger, can be a trigger for addiction for many teens. In order to cope with the repercussions of the abuse, teens may turn to alcohol or drugs. The National Institute on Drug Abuse recognizes being the victim of sexual violence as one of the risk factors for addiction in teens. Teens who were victimized as younger children may also turn to drugs or alcohol during their adolescence because of the impacts of those episodes. Parents who know that their children have been victimized may be able to reduce the risk of future drug abuse by getting therapy for their children when the incident occurs. Teens who enter rehab with histories of sexual assaults are sometimes diagnosed with and treated for post-traumatic stress disorder as a co-occurring condition along their addictions.

Drug Use as a Trigger for Sexual Assault

Teens who use abuse drugs or alcohol also have a higher risk of becoming the victims of sexual assault. The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence reports that alcohol is a factor in 40% of all violent crimes, and teens who are abusing drugs and alcohol may engage in sexually risky behaviors. Issues with consent are also possible. These incidences may further exacerbate the addition. Through psychotherapy and counseling, rehab centers can address these issues as part of the wider addiction recovery process.

Exploring the Link Between Depression and Drug Use in Teens

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Teens who use drugs frequently have a co-occurring mental health problem, like depression, alongside their addictions. There is a particularly tight relationship between depression and teen drug use, and frequently, drug addiction recovery programs for teens incorporate psychotherapy or other mental health counseling services into their treatment plans. The link between depression and drug use in teens is complex, but understanding it can help parents and teens find the right programs for treating addiction in Fort Lauderdale for their needs.

Depression and Addiction Cycle

Researchers are unsure what comes first in teens who suffer from addiction and depression. Does depression increase the risk for drug abuse, or does drug abuse make teens more likely to experience depression? Addiction experts believe that both answers are likely to be true, and that teens who suffer from both addiction and depression come to their diseases in different ways. During psychotherapy in rehab, teens may uncover which disease existed first and contributed to the other, which can help shape their rehab and aftercare plans.

Negative Urgency

For teens whose depression is likely a trigger for their drug abuse, researchers have found that negative urgency is a common thread. Negative urgency is a way of coping with depression symptoms that includes acting rashly without thought of the consequences when faced with severe stress. Teens with depression who use negative urgency behaviors seem to have a higher rate of drug abuse connected to their depression, as they use drugs as coping mechanisms. During rehab, teens with negative urgency traits often work on building coping skills to help prevent relapses.

Drug Use Triggers

For teens who are motivated by peer pressure or other factors when they begin to use drugs, depression can be a result of the addiction. The impact of drug use on their lives in school and their personal relationships can cause stress that leads depressive symptoms. Psychological changes caused by drug abuse and the pressure of cravings can also trigger symptoms of depression.

Why the Teenage Brain Is Susceptible to Addiction

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Despite what many people believe, addiction is not a disease that only affects adults. The seeds of addition are often found in adolescence, largely because of the nature of the teenage brain. For this reason, addressing addiction recovery with programs designed for teen drug and teen alcohol counseling near Fort Lauderdale is an important part of breaking the cycle.

Watch this video to learn about how teens’ brains put them at risk for addiction. Research has shown that the DNA in their brains is more open to the addictive nature of nearly any type of drug they use. People who begin drug abuse or alcohol abuse as teens without any intervention are much more likely to develop addictions than people who begin abusing drugs or alcohol as adults.

Setting Goals for Addiction Aftercare

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Aftercare is an essential part of addiction recovery. After the initial rehab process, aftercare supports people in recovery as they transition back to their normal lives while maintaining the progress they have made. Setting goals is an important part of aftercare services in Fort Lauderdale so that individuals get the appropriate support for their needs.

For teens recovering from addiction, aftercare goals involve the whole family. These goals may involve a plan for helping teens return to school without turning to drug abuse in times of stress or a strategy for coping with peer pressure, seeing old friends, or visiting old places that can trigger addiction symptoms. Other aftercare services may include goals for ongoing counseling for family members as they rebuild relationships or address issues that contributed to the substance abuse. Each aftercare plan is personalized based on individual needs, but the common goal each plan shares is helping people transition from rehab to normal life with the tools to avoid a relapse.

Helping Teens Overcome Peer Pressure to Drink

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For teens, the pressure to drink is everywhere, and it can be overwhelming. Even teens that are committed to staying sober are vulnerable without the right tools to help them overcome peer pressure and stand their ground when offered alcohol. If you are concerned about teen alcoholism in Fort Lauderdale, help is available to get your teen back on a healthier track. To fight addiction before it starts, help your teen face underage drinking peer pressure with these tips.

Plan Excuses

It’s nearly impossible for teens to go out and not be faced with an opportunity to drink at some point. Give your teens the confidence to deal with these situations by pre-planning a few excuses they can use to save face with their friends without taking a drink. Your teen could offer to be the designated driver, blame it on his or her need to get up early for a family event the next day, or say that you always check his or her breath after a night out. When your teen has a ready-made set of excuses that stop the peer pressure but not friendships, he or she will feel more comfortable about saying no.

Get Involved

Know who your teens’ friends are, and encourage your teens to host their friends at your house from time to time so you can develop relationships with them. It also helps to connect with their friends’ parents so you can have a network of support in managing behavior, and so you can identify the parents that may have laxer attitudes about drinking. Being engaged with your kids’ friends and letting them all know your behavior expectations can take some of the pressure of off your teen.

Share Your Stories

Tell your teens stories about when you had to deal with pressure to drink as a teen or maybe about how accepting a drink led to bad consequences. Showing your teens that alcohol abuse, addiction, and peer pressure are situations you also had to face will let them know that they’re not alone and will encourage open lines of communication.

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