Risks for Teens with Alcoholism or Drug Addiction
The risks of teen drinking and drug use have never been more obvious. Brain scans are starting to reveal the effect that heavy alcohol and drug use can have on growing brains. If you have a teen, you must tell them about this. It isn’t just about staying out of trouble, it’s about preventing totally preventable problems. This may be one of the most important conversations you ever have with your teenager.
Damage To Developing Teenage Brain
Brain scans say it all. Drinking and drug use can literally change an adolescent’s brain before it is finished developing. Binge drinking, in particular, can do enough damage to be seen on a brain scan. The brand-new neural connections created during adolescence can be damaged or not even created.
The human brain doesn’t completely finish its development until a person is in their mid-twenties. While the brain can continue to grow new connections through out life, the biggest growth spurt is over by then. That may explain how young adults seem to grow up and settle down around their twenty-fifth birthday, give or take a year. The frontal cortex, the last area to develop, gives humans the ability to distinguish good and bad choices, compare and contrast things, develop social awareness, and retain long-term emotional memories.
Drugs Affect Decision Making And Impulse Control
Judgement, decision making, risk assessment, and impulse control are not fully developed in the teen years. This is totally normal and to be expected. But when a teen drinks heavily or uses drugs, these already unstable skills can be further disrupted.
Poor judgement can mean a teen boy jumps into a fist fight while high on meth. Poor risk assessment can mean a teen girl believes she is sober enough to walk home alone on a winter night. Poor impulse control can mean a teen boy and girl having unprotected sex when they are drinking enough to black out. Teens could easily make a bad decision about any of these situations when sober. But when you add alcohol or drugs, these situations could become dangerous.
Drug Treatment For Teens
When a teen has a definite problem with drugs or alcohol, it’s time for treatment. Bargaining, discipline, or punishment won’t make them stop. Specialized treatment programs and rehab centers focus on the things teens need most. They need connection with peers at this age, yet they also need privacy to protect their emerging sense of self.
Family participation is very important for teen drug and alcohol treatment. It is rarely an isolated problem. Many teens with addiction come from homes with chaos, conflict, frequent transitions, parenting that is either too strict or too permissive, or family history of addiction. For many potential reasons, these teens find escape with drugs or alcohol. Family treatment can address these core issues to reduce or eliminate the need for escape. It can get families talking and caring for each other in healthy ways.
Evidence Shows That Addiction Hurts Young Minds
The evidence on teen addiction is in, and it is more dangerous than many have thought. Teens with drug and alcohol problems need intervention as early as possible. Drug treatment programs can help, especially if the family gets involved. Help your teen turn their life around and get started with drug and alcohol rehab today.
