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Thursday, 31 July 2014

Why Adolescent Substance Abuse Evaluation Is Necessary

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By Annabelle Holman


The rate at which teens are venturing into substance abuse today is quite alarming. Substance abuse among adolescents occurs between the ages of 12 years to 18 years. Some of these youths may or may not progress to be drug abusers or addicts but drug use is a very risky behavior. The negative consequences that follow can be quite devastating. This really calls for adolescent substance abuse evaluation among affected youths to reverse and treat the conditions in the addicted adolescents.

As a parent, it is overwhelming to deal with teenagers who often see you as a bother especially due to the changes occurring in their body. Boys are becoming masculine, growing taller, and growing beards, which makes them feel so mature to follow instructions. Hormonal changes in both girls and boys make them want to discover new things.

The feeling of maturity makes them go haywire and parents cannot control them. They easily fall into bad influences as they prove to be mature and as they try to fit among the seniors. This in the end affects their academic life, their friendship changes, and they attach to bad peers. Later they start engaging in bad behavior of drug use, criminal acts, and immorality.

Adolescent drug abusers start with alcoholism and tobacco smoking. If no action is taken early, they progress into illegal cannabis smoking and other sniffing drugs. They may get involved with traffickers and start using other illegal drugs such as heroin and cocaine. This drug abuse develops over time and results into catastrophic results.

In academics, declining grades, absenteeism from school, and dropping out of school are the main results. There is also increased risk of suicide, accidents, and illnesses. There is a risk of them acquiring HIV AIDS when sharing drug injection equipment. Drug use among adolescents increases their engagement in sexual activities, which can lead to early pregnancies and transmission of sexually transmitted diseases.

Others whose life becomes difficult, are mentally ill with severe depression, apathy, withdrawal problems, all of which put them at risks of committing suicide, murder trials, fights, and even injuring others. At home, peace is disturbed as they become aggressive even to their parents. They are constantly being arrested due to criminal activities, stealing, breaking into premises, and in the end, they end up in juvenile jails.

Causes of substances abuse among teens are insufficient parental supervision and monitoring, lack of communication and interaction between parents and kids, and family conflicts. Others include parental alcoholism and drug use, and lastly poorly communicated rules and expectations against drug use. In addition, youths may have psychological distress and peers who use substances, may lure them into drug users and addicts at a later stage.

Medical evaluation can be of great help especially if done early. It entails test by licensed medical professionals such as psychologists, psychiatrists, and physicians. They conduct different tests and interviews on the affected teens then create a summary of the findings and come up with the best therapy possible. Therapy may be in form of drugs, counselling or even rehabilitation.




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