Not my child. It’s a sentiment that is easy enough for any of us to think when it comes to the idea of self-harm. Our children wouldn’t, couldn’t do that to themselves. Where would they learn it from? Why would they hurt themselves? What can we do to make it stop? Self-harm is a self-destructive…
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Meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous and associated twelve step program fellowships are primarily for adults. Attend a designated “young people’s” meeting and you’ll find middle to late aged teenagers, those in their early twenties, and still find a littering of grown up adults. Family members of adolescents and teens who are struggling with drug and alcohol…
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Marijuana has declaratively had the title of “gateway drug” taken away from it as science has revealed that alcohol is more inspiring to alternative forms of substance abuse. However, that doesn’t change the large quantities of adolescents and teens recreationally experimenting with or abusing marijuana. Marijuana is popular among youth populations because it is considered…
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Playgrounds and schoolyards used to be the only platform parents had to worry about bullying for their adolescents and teens. The digital modern world has created a new platform which poses a threat to teen’s mental health due to feelings of inadequacy, anxiety, and the potential for bullying. Social media and it’s many distinct platforms,…
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Heroin is abundantly available. With new “filler” substances like synthetic opioids making the cost of heroin production cheaper for manufacturers, and the end product more potent, dealers are giving away their drugs for free. Reports from Chicago and cities like Columbus, Ohio have recently reported drug dealers giving away sometimes fatal samples of their heroin…
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Suboxone, buprenorphine, naltrexone, naloxone, vivitrol. These are the names of popular medications used to help adolescents, as well as adults, safely detox from drugs and alcohol. Using medications for withdrawal management is controversial. Many of these drugs contain trace elements of opioids in them, which is what makes them effective. Medications for withdrawal management help…
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Addiction in adolescence takes a toll on the student’s academics. Acting out in school, skipping class, not doing homework, constant suspensions and expulsions– parents run out of answers as to how to get their child to participate in his or her education. Underneath the surface of these problem behaviors are acute psychological processes which are…
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There is a reason that building a new life of recovery is so heavily emphasized in residential treatment programs for adolescents. Many parents are confused by the long list of activities, treatment methods and fun that their addicted adolescents and teens are set up to participate in when they go away to treatment. Addiction is…
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Translational Psychiatry recently released a study which found that more teenage girls are depressed compared to teenage boys. The numbers were startling: thirty six percent of girls compared to thirteen percent of boys. Over 100,000 subjects were surveyed from 2009 to 2014 for The National Survey of Drug Use and Health for the study. Interestingly,…
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Talking to your adolescent or teenage boy about what is going on in his life is challenging. It can be hard to relate to young boys and get them to open up about their personal lives. The male stereotype too heavily emphasizes strength as perfection and a qualification of being male. Males of all ages…
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