Teen Drug and Alcohol Abuse and Addiction, Signs and Treatments

The teenage years are among the toughest, so many changes and discoveries. Try to remember your teenage years while dealing with your teenager. Drugs and alcohol are a situation that all teens face and most will experiment. Wondering whether or not your teen is abusing drugs or alcohol can be stressful. If you think your teen may be experimenting with drugs and alcohol but don't know how to deal with it, the first thing to do is make sure this is the problem your teen is facing. Some signs that your teen may be experimenting with drugs and alcohol include:

~Dramatic Mood Swings~

Teenagers all have normal mood swings. But look for more dramatic changes -- like happy and full of energy one minute and then withdrawal, sadness, or fits of rage.

No one knows your child like you do but during these times you can feel like you don't know them at all.

~Does your teen have new friends?~

Teens often hang out with teens that are into the same things they are. If your teen has suddenly ditched his/her old friend for newer maybe older one it is a good sign that they may be using.

~Acting out in school~

Has your teens grades dropped recently? Has their attitude towards school changed? Cutting class, fighting, and generally acting out are signs that they might be using.

~Attitude and health~

Is there a change in appetite, or sleep patterns? Is your teen being openly dishonest and defiant? Has alcohol come up missing in your home? How about the medicine cabinet? Have you smelled cigarettes or alcohol on his/her breath? Is your teen using a lot of breath mints lately? Have they changed how they dress or do their hair? Have you suspected that your teen might be drunk or on something? Any slurred speech, stumbling, Or bloodshot eyes?

~Family~

Has anyone close to you mentioned that they think your teen may be using? Even if it's only one person, it's enough to investigate further.Teens will try to hide their drug and alcohol abuse from you.

No parent want to see their kids in this situation. We all as parents want only the best for them. Being faced with a teen that is using drugs and alcohol, can seem very overwhelming. How do you handle this? Is there help? Many parents deal with this problem everyday. There is help! Sometimes the solution varies, depending on your situation.

Sometimes, just talking to your teen can help. Be understanding, and try to remember how tough this age is, but let them know that you will not tolerate this behavior. Let them know that you are here to help and that they can trust you to always be there for them. Tell them the consequences of abusing drugs and alcohol, even if they already know them, sometimes hearing you say it can make all the difference.

If simply talking to your teen doesn't work then maybe a teen intervention is in order. It is one thing to hear one person who loves you ask you to stop your behavior, but, quite another to have everyone who loves you ask.

There is a difference between a teen who is experimenting with drugs and alcohol and a teen who is addicted to them.

Teen drug addiction can be harder to deal with. Again, the situation varies. Some parents turn to a support center, places designed to help you deal with your out of control teen, drug abuse counseling is an alternative to look into. Sadly, with all they are going through it can be hard for teens to talk to their parents, they may feel more comfortable talking to a stranger. With counseling at least you can pick the stranger they talk to.

Some parents take a firmer stand and send their teen to a teen drug rehab. There are many rehab centers available. Do some research, find the top rehab program.

The important thing is to get your teen treatment, whether your teen needs alcohol treatment or teen drug treatment, it's your job as a parent to help them through this.

Drug Rehab Programs That Work and Their Stats

Drug and alcohol addiction ruins families. The majority of calls I get are from the loved ones of drug & alcohol abusers, not the abusers themselves. Parents, spouses and kids of abusers suffer more. They're the ones calling for help.

As an aid to the people I work for, here is a study I've done on rehab programs, their costs and posted effectiveness.

First a clarification of rehab programs:

• 95% of rehab centers follow a 12 Step / medical approach to rehab; aka "you've got a disease, accept it and we can help you mitigate the problems"
• 5% use Social Educational, alternative, self help, empowerment, psycho-social-behavioral methods of recovery
• The national average success rate in the US and Canada is around 22%. This is lower in my hometown (10%) according to our past mayor

Why is this significant? For those of you strong in math, you'll quickly realize that the majority of rehab programs or traditional rehab, is getting a majority of rehab clients relapsing back to abuse with 75% + returning back to abusive practices. I believe the term 'spin dry' came about due to this fact.

What about the remaining 5% of rehab program methods?

I've made a listing of some of their posted success rates and costs. By the way, I believe in focusing on what works and have made it my career to find alternative (non-12 Step and non-medical) programs that actually end addiction.

If you're looking for results, then we are both on the same page.

4 Rehab Programs or Strategies That Work

• Emergency room use of Brief Interventions and CAGE (see "Drug Addiction Tests You Can Do Right Now" Palatinus) reduced damage to individuals by 47% (6 months). These intervention approaches are usually done by professionals, doctors and therapists
• Motivational Interviewing, a method of Social Educational rehab, is showing promise
• Bio-physical combined with Social Educational or lifestyle modification approaches. These get 70% to 90% long term success. Usually take 1 to 6 months on average. Prices range from $6,000 to $18,000 per month
• Alternative, results oriented 'high end' rehab centers. Costs are $40,000 + per month, gets 70% to 80% long term recovery

So Why Aren't More People Using These Methods?

1. Centers either don't make a lot of money for the centers or therapists and don't promote internally enough aka 'lobbyists'; or the centers are available to those of higher income levels only. Being the new guys on the block, not often funded by health plans et al, both types are relatively unknown.
2. People in crisis don't often think rationally. I'm talking now about families in the crisis of drug or alcohol abusing loved ones. States of shock can last longer than many would suspect. Some are in shock for years following a crisis.

The lesson to learn here is: Realize you're in a tough time if you've got a loved one abusing drugs / alcohol. This will one day pass, but can you afford the cost of doing nothing or the same thing and getting similar results?

Drug rehab programs work if done correctly. Professionals in rehab, especially those unbiased to traditional methods of recovery, 'because that's how they recovered', can greatly improve your chances of having a happy conclusion to treatment.