Parents worry. If parenting had a job advertisement with a job description, worrying should be listed as a required skill. Be able to worry all hours of the day and night about the past, present, and future wellbeing of your child. We love our children. We want our children to experience the best in life,…
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Marijuana can inhibit the development of the prefrontal cortex in teenagers who abuse the drug. The adolescent mind is still developing until the early to mid 20s, researchers have concluded. Marijuana, a mind-altering drug, can impair the existing prefrontal cortex while halting its development. Brain changes associated with marijuana use by teenagers should be of…
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Many parents have watched the psychological toll that highly competitive contact sports take on their sons. Coaches put immense amounts of performance pressure on young boys who are supposed to be involved in sports for fun. Pee-wee football should be fun. Middle school football should be fun. Hockey, soccer, lacrosse, basketball, baseball, track and field–…
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released a report which examined the rate of drug overdose death in teenagers over a 16 year period. Looking at teenagers between the ages of 15-19, the report found that overdose rates doubled between 1999 to 2007. For a period of about seven years, drug overdose deaths…
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Gustav Ahr, known as rapper Lil Peep, died on Wednesday, November 15, 2017. The rapper was found dead in his tour bus after what officials suspected as an accidental overdose. The night in question, Lil Peep posted videos to his Instagram which showed him taking “bars,” the street name for tablets of the popular benzodiazepine…
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Philip Seymour Hoffman lost his life to a combination of drugs in 2015, a foreboding illustration of what was to come in the next two years. In 2016, it was Prince to fentanyl, George Michaels to opioids, and Carrie Fisher to a combination of drugs which included MDMA. When 2017 came to an end, more…
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New Year’s Eve is a fantastic celebration for a teen who is in recovery. Every year that a teen completes sober is a celebration of many hours, days, weeks, and months spent in recovery. New Year’s Eve celebrations are exciting and exhilarating in sobriety, but they can be triggering and challenging as well. Renown for…
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We live in a society of more. When our teen is recovering from drug and alcohol addiction, their concept of more is different from anyone else’s. Addiction is a disease of more. Drugs and alcohol alter brain chemistry in such a way that the brain develops an obsession of craving. As addiction progresses, the brain…
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Sending a beloved teen to treatment for drug and alcohol addiction is one of the most difficult, but best decisions we can make for ourselves, our child, and our families. When our teen comes home, there are certain behaviors we have to learn to relinquish in support of their fostering independence and autonomy in recovery.…
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What are we supposed to say, as parents, to our adolescents and teenagers who are recovering from drug and alcohol addiction to let them know what a great job they are doing? Some of us might start with just that sentiment, you’re doing a great job. Some of us might go for the trophy statement,…
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