Warning Signs Of Teen Substance Abuse
What should you look for as warning signs that your son or daughter may have, or be susceptible to developing, a substance abuse or addiction problem? To help you assess your teen's substance abuse risk, ask yourself the following questions: Did your teen begin to experiment regularly with substances at a very early age, 11-13, for example? If so, his or her potential for experiencing a serious abuse or addiction problem as a young adult or adult is much greater than for teens whose experimentation occurs later. In addition to experimenting with drugs or alcohol, does your teen suffer from excessive anxiety, depression, obsessive/compulsive characteristics, or other mental health problems?
Is your son or daughter experimenting with illegal substances in order to relax or feel better (self-medication)?
Does your son or daughter associate with other teens whom you suspect of being substance users or abusers? Has your teen lost interest in hobbies, sports, and other activities once enjoyed, with no visible healthy replacement? Have you noticed significant eating or sleeping changes? Does your teen seem nervous to be around you, exhibiting difficulty looking at you when talking (assuming they once talked with you in this manner)? Does your son or daughter seem to have a double life, one of which you know little to nothing about? Was your teen doing okay academically, but then a precipitous drop in grades occurred? Does he or she not seem to care about how well or poorly he or she is doing in school? Did your teen show signs of anti-social behavior before his or her teen years? Life-course-persistent anti-social behaviors are more of a problem indicator than adolescent-limited antisocial behaviors. Early signs of anti-social behaviors are evidenced by conduct problems, aggressiveness, and academic difficulties, for example.
Parental Behaviors
can affect a Teen's Substance Abuse Risk
There are also parent behaviors that increase
risk for a teenage son or daughter, particularly disengaging from
parenting responsibilities, such as: - Not knowing how your teen is doing in school
- Having little or no information about your teen's friends
- Not knowing how or where your teen spends time when not in school
- Rarely spending time with your teen
- Rarely talking with your teen about his or her daily activities or events
- Rarely if ever giving supportive comments to your teen
The more of the above questions you answered in the affirmative, the
more likely your teen will develop an alcohol or drug abuse,
dependency, or addiction problem.
For obvious reasons, few parents reading this website would fall into the category of disengaged parents, but it's nevertheless useful to ask oneself the question as to whether or not one has backed too far out of his or her child's life. It is easy to fall into the trap of believing that today's teens are so grown-up and sophisticated that they no longer need parental support, which definitely is not true. Do you spend an inordinate amount of time trying to control the substance use of your son or daughter, and usually to little or no avail? Have you continually increased the consequences for your teen's substance use, without any real decrease in his or her usage? Have you noticed that your son or daughter has improved his or her skill of lying in general, or his or her ability to hide his or her drug use in particular? Do you suspect that your teen has taken alcohol from your liquor cabinet, or stolen money from you? As parents, we always need to ask ourselves about our modeling. Are you using substances in unhealthy ways, whether the substances are legal or illegal? Do you frequently talk about alcohol and other substances? Does every social occasion involve the use of alcohol or other substances? Can you watch a football game without drinking a beer? Is there a problem with substances that is never discussed (the elephant in the room syndrome)? Do you consider your teen a pseudo-adult, rather than an adolescent who still needs your guidance and interest? Believing that we should "let go" and allow teens to find themselves before they are mentally equipped to do so adds pressure to teens' lives that they are not ready for, and increases the probability of risky behaviors, including teen substance abuse.
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