Teen Drug Addiction

The one way that Teen Drug Addiction and Treatment should never be explained is that it is a scaled down version of an adult treatment facility. When it comes to drug abuse adults and teens do not compare at all. Teens have a much more difficult time because they have extreme family difficulties, more psychological problems, and a higher risk of attempting suicide. Their patterns of use are quite different and often have multiple substances of choice. It is said that an addict must hit rock bottom before really embracing treatment but for teens rock bottom is also different. Rock bottom for an adult is usually losing a job, developing health problems, or interceptions from the law. Hitting rock bottom for a teen is not so obvious an often has to be sought out.

It will likely appear in school performance, relationships with friends, and difficulties with family, or possibly getting drug into the judicial system. Most teens, at least initially, object to treatment so it is forced by the judicial system or family. After they are settled in and feel more comfortable then teens seem to respond well to group therapy and want their family to be included as well. Teens and adults are never combined during treatment.

Adults that are involved with treatment do have some choices, unlike teens that have no freedoms. Adults can usually pick up and relocate after treatment if their sobriety depends on it and they are serious about staying clean. Teens do not have that luxury. This makes it that much harder for a teen to stay sober. With teen treatment it is required that the family be counseled so that they can become healthy and if they disagree then alternate housing might be found for the teen.

When teens are abusing drugs and alcohol they have a tendency to lose their identity so while they are in treatment they must deal with their substance abuse but also with the issue of forming an identity. In order to do this the teen will have to learn how to build self-esteem through problem solving and social skills, the ability to identify feelings and how to ask for help, how to cope with depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and anxiety. If these issues are not dealt with they will set the table for future relapse.

It is imperative that the teen have excellent aftercare that is easily accessible for him and as convenient as possible so that he continues with treatment. They also need added support from a new group of peers. These programs can be tailored to meet the needs of the individual teen but only so much can be done in terms of insurance provisions.

Teen addicts are more common today than ever before in history because they just want to find a way to escape and largely in part due to peer pressure. Now teens have to be taught how to live and cope with life without the use of any crutches.