These days, drugs can be found everywhere, and it may seem like everyone’s doing them. Lots of people are tempted by the excitement or escape that drugs seem to offer. But learning the facts about drugs can help you see the risks of chasing this excitement or escape. And just as there are many kinds of drugs available, there are as many reasons for trying them or starting to use them regularly. People take drugs just for the pleasure they believe they can bring. Often it’s because someone tried to convince them that drugs would make them feel good or that they’d have a better time if they took them.
Some teens believe drugs will help them think better, be more popular, stay more active, or become better athletes. Others are simply curious and figure one try won’t hurt. Others want to fit in. A few use drugs to gain attention from their parents. Many teens use drugs because they’re depressed or think drugs will help them escape their problems. The truth is, drugs don’t solve problems — they simply hide feelings and problems. When a drug wears off, the feelings and problems remain, or become worse.
Drugs can ruin every aspect of a person’s life. Drug abuse has as many definitions as the effects that it has on the society and the individual. Efforts to address drug abuse have intensified over the last one decade due to an increase in the levels of awareness on the effects of drug abuse on the individual, community and the entire society. The internet, schools, hospital and public forums are all increasingly being used to address drug abuse that is developing into a key social problem. Drug abuse originates with the individuals rrespective of the influence and nature of the family it is the individual who starts partaking in drug related activities (Karch, 2007). It therefore makes sense that the individual should be central to analysis of the effects of drug abuse.
It is individuals who make the families and communities thus an analysis of the effects of any social problem and not just drug abuse should be developed from the individual level. This research analyses the effects of drug abuse on individuals to help develop a proper understanding of the effects of drug abuse and therefore counter measures that could be implemented to ensure he negative effects are dealt with or avoided. Teen Drug Addiction The life decisions we make currently in our individual lives ultimately will effect, be it better or for worse, the futures of our lives. For instance one who neglects to learn how to read will be handicapped by their inability to read for the rest of their life until they learn to read. Lack of curbing problems while they are still in their growth stage can be tremendously more difficult to curb when the problems have reached their maturity.
For these reasons teens are at a unique time in their lives to be able to change, if they are in the right situation with enough leverage for a significant amount of time As their drug/alcohol use will ultimately still be in the growth stage. One of the best reasons to get a help for teens while they are still teenagers, beyond being a very formidable time in a childs life, is the consequences of inaction upon future generations. Statistics have shown that instances of teen drug addiction run in long chains from parents to children. This is why now is the time to either break the chain of teen drug addiction or stop it from forming.
No amount of hard work, money, sacrifice is worth more than breaking a chain of substance abuse or preventing one from forming. For some, the vicious cycle of teen drug abuse begins at home when they are influenced by the addictive behaviors their parents exhibit. For example, children of alcoholics (COAs) are a group of individuals who suffer the plight of their parents’ alcoholism. As many as 6. 6 million children lived with at least one alcoholic parent according to 1998 statistics (Trebilcock, 1998). Many researchers attest to the fact that familial influence is the primary reason COAs seek solace in the comforting effects of alcohol.
Growing up as the child of an alcoholic parent creates a great deal of pressure to handle home front issues at a very young age. The various roles forced upon children often make them assume responsibilities meant for adults; as a result, they take on personality traits that reflect mascots, enablers, scapegoats, heroes and lost children. These behaviors tend to lead to self-destructive activities, such as the perpetuation of alcoholism and teen drug addiction, as a means by which to escape the pain of a miserable home life (Rodney, 1996)
Low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, inability to express feeling, lack of control, distrust, issues with intimacy, hypervigilance and an overwhelming sense of responsibility are all indicative of COAs. Trying to deal with issues revolving around the family upon such an escalated level proves extremely difficult when children of alcoholic parents cannot even function normally regarding their own lives. This situation often spawns a codependency syndrome that follows the child throughout his or her entire life; codependency has long been found to be a significant indicator of alcoholism (Rodney, 1996).
COAs severely compromise their own self worth for their alcoholic parent. Because of this, there are many unresolved issues that remain buried deep within the child’s subconscious. One way they manifest themselves is through the consumption of alcohol, which enables the COA to forget the pain of home. In order to mask these emotional deficiencies most effectively, COAs often follow a pattern of behavior that ultimately establishes its own pattern of self-loathing: _ Taking extreme pride in maintaining self-control _ Basing self-esteem on having relationships _ Placing everyone else’s needs before one’s own Denying that one’s own needs exists _ Sacrificing one’s own identity for the sake of intimacy _ Changing one’s personality to please others _ Battling low self-worth _ Always compelled by compulsions _ Abusing substances _ Trying to control others with love or anger _ Facing the world with a fasade of false feelings _ Experiencing stress-related medical illnesses (Rodney, 1996, p. 19). The very foundation of a strong family is undermined when one or more parents are alcoholics. This lack of definition, as well as a sense of stability and safety, is what often instigate the onset of alcoholism and teen drug addiction in COAs.
Studies report findings that correlate with this theory, establishing the fact that the inability to solve family problems, along with the inability to reach compromise and negotiation between parent and child, are instrumental in the influence of alcoholism (Ellis et al, 2000). High-risk families display a distinct sense of disconnectedness when it comes to the familial bond; during times of sobriety, the parent performs as a normal parent does, but the onset of drunkenness transforms her into an illogical, combative and belligerent enemy.
Cruse-Wegscheider (1999) discusses the predictability of behavior patterns, describing how the disease ultimately dictates how the teen feels, acts and perceives his world. Moreover, the manifestation of these distinguishable behaviors sets in motion a series of events some slow to pass, others more readily noticeable hat mark the ” accelerating disintegration of the whole person that is the mark of alcoholism” (Cruse-Wegscheider, 1989, p. 28).
Ketchum et al (2000) note that for many, alcoholism is a family tradition; not only does at least one parent drink but so did their grandparents and often even further back in the generational construct. ” If someone in your family is an alcoholic a parent, grandparent, uncle, aunt, brother, or sister you have a much greater risk of getting the disease if you drink” (Ketchum et al, 2000, p. 270). The author’s further point out how it is usually an early experience with liquor that hooks teenagers for life, all too often casting them into society to function in a constant stupor of drunkenness.
A great number of COAs are lonely teens unable to overcome their shyness with other peers and do not have a healthy relationship with their alcoholic parents. The unpredictability and instability of drunken parents intimidate what would otherwise be a strong child, forcing him to seek refuge in his world controlled by alcohol and teen drug addiction. Danger of Drug Teen use Young people begin using drugs sometimes as early as age 12 and continue abusing through the teen years, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Drugs are readily accessible for teens who choose to abuse them, carrying consequences that can be devastating to both the users and their families. The dangers of teen drug use can vary, but are nevertheless potentially life-altering. Mental Health and Suicide Teen suicide is on the increase, according to the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, and is the third leading cause of death for 15 to 24-year-olds. Mental health issues are a huge factor in this phenomenon, the CDC says, and suicide risk is even greater for teens with depression who abuse alcohol or drugs.
Addiction and Withdrawal Many teens find drug addiction so powerful and attempts to quit so intensely painful that they are never able to quit, according to the Nemours Foundation website Kids Health. This is the case for many popular drugs used by teens. Teens and adults, alike, who use amphetamines experience aggression, anxiety and intense cravings for the drugs. Cocaine and crack can create physical and psychological cravings so severe that stopping is extremely difficult.
Even those who use what many consider less dangerous drugs such as Ecstasy or cough syrup can quickly become psychologically dependent upon them. Decision Making Drugs greatly impair a person’s ability to make wise decisions, according to Kids Health. Teens who drink and use drugs are more likely to drive drunk and recklessly, have unprotected sex, and put themselves in dangerous situations. Results from the 2009 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey report that many high school teens continue to engage in risky drug-related behaviors that lead to death.
Just one month prior to the survey, nearly 30 percent of those interviewed rode in a car with someone under the influence, more than 40 percent had drunk alcohol and 20 percent had used marijuana. The four leading causes of death in persons ages 10 to 24 continue to be car crashes, other unintentional injuries, homicide and suicide—all of which drug and alcohol commonly play a role. Parents sometimes have a hard time seeing the warning signs of teenage drug use because many signs of drug use are just normal parts of being a teenager.
However, some behaviors are more likely to be related to drug use than others, explains Help Guide. Teens that begin using drugs often become secretive about their friends or activities and demand more privacy or begin to sneak around. They may also begin acting uncharacteristically energized, anxious or depressed. Many develop discipline problems at school or at home and may skip classes or have a sudden decline in their grades. Parents of teens who abuse drugs may notice money or valuables missing or notice that prescription medications or alcohol has been used or misplaced.
The Health Effects of Teen Drug Use: In recent years, much has been learned about the health effects of teen drug use. Drugs are readily available to those who choose to use them in either an “ experimental” way or to those who are chronic drug abusers. The consequence of such use, even causal use, can be devastating to both the user and to the user family members. But, teen drug use is costly to more than just families. It is especially costly to our society as a whole. Youth’s immature physical, emotional, and psychological development make them MORE susceptible than adults to the harmful effects of drug abuse.
In the 7 years that the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University has published the National Survey of American Attitudes on Substance Abuse, results have indicated that teens and their parents view drugs as their biggest concern. The health effects of teen drug use can vary, depending on such factors as frequency of use, the kind of drug taken, how much is taken, how quickly it gets into the brain, what other drugs are taken at the same time, the differences in body size and chemistry, the length of time the drugs are used, and other components.
Although no one can accurately predict if a teen will begin using drugs, certain risk factors in a teen may make this behavior more likely. A family history of substance abuse, depression or anxiety, early aggressive behavior, feeling rejected by family or peers, lack of parental supervision, low self-esteem, poverty and drug availability are common risk factors for teen drug abuse, according to the Mayo Clinic.
