When is it Time For Inpatient Treatment?

Your teenager needs inpatient treatment for his addiction if his use is life-threatening, or if he is suicidal or has a serious mental illness, or if he just can't stop without going to an inpatient facility. Inpatient facilities -where the patients stay 24 hours a day, 7 days a week - are naturally more intensive, and can monitor your teenager in a way no clinic can possibly match. "Life-threatening" is of course sometimes a subjective term, but if your teenager cannot stop using cocaine, that would be a good time to consider inpatient treatment, given the lethality of that drug. And if your teenager hints at or even acts out at being suicidal, an inpatient stay will probably necessary to secure his safety. Also, if your teenager just can't stop using his drug of choice, even if it is marijuana, then an inpatient stay will likely be necessary. Teenagers often say that they don't want to go to inpatient treatment, since nothing external will change when they return home. That is true: the pressures of school, drug-and-alcohol using friends, and the vagaries of adolescent  adjustments will not have changed. But your teenager will have changed, gaining new strategies for refusing and moving ahead with a drug and alcohol- free life. Inpatient isn't perfect, nor is it usually curative of addiction. But it can safeguard your teenager's well being and start him on the road to sobriety!

Synthetic Marijuana and Your Teenager

Your teenager may come across a variety of substances known as "synthetic Marijuana," the most common being Salvia and K2. Marketed to teens on the Internet, in head shops, and gasoline stations, these substances look and act like marijuana, but (some) are technically legal. Some of the substances are packaged like marijuana, and some are powders that can be smoked on a cigarette. Recently, the DEA banned the most common 5 drugs in this category, but others will likely take their place. Since these   drugs are so different from each other, their effects are quite different, but you should look for hallucinations, "out-of-body" experiences, dizziness, slurred speech, and paranoia. If your teenager displays these symptoms, you should get help from an addictions specialist immediately. The argument that the substances are technically legal is just plain silly: the legality or illegality of a particular substance has no bearing on the danger it poses to your teenager.

Cigarettes and Your Teenager

Cigarettes kill more Americans every year than alcohol, heroin, and cocaine, put together. This is why it is vitally important for you to help your teenager kick cigarettes, even though they are not as immediately lethal as cocaine,or heroin, for instance. But studies have shown - in adults, at least - that there is no harm in stopping cigarette use at the same time the addicted person is stopping alcohol or other drugs. That is, there is no truth to the idea that stressing the person by stopping cigarettes will prevent achieving abstinence from other drugs. If your teenager smokes, you must yourself stop, and get help if you cannot stop on your own. Your teenager can attend groups therapies, like Smokenders and Smokestoppers, run by local Lung Associations and other groups. There are numerous complementary treatments available, like hypnosis, acupuncture, and mediation which have some effect in helping smokers stop.Finally, medications like Chantix, Zyban, and Nicorrette Gum can also help. But whatever you do, make sure your teenager tries, and keeps trying to stop smoking. It's important.

Sexual Addiction and Teenagers

With all the recent news about celebrities engaging in "sexting," extramarital affairs, and prostitution, one wonders about the sexual behavior of teenagers. How does a parent know when his teenager's behavior is dangerous or addictive in nature? While it is certainly normal for teenagers to experiment with sexuality, sexual behavior which is compulsive and/or destructive is certainly a problem, and should be addressed that way. I am not talking about whether or not your teenagers engages in sexual behavior, and at  what age,  or how many partners she has, or even what gender she is attracted to. You may have family values which necessitate rules about all these sorts of behavior, but they are not addiction. (Good luck enforcing those rules, by the way.) Sexual addiction, by contrast, is compulsive sexual behavior which is destructive to your teenagers and/or others.  For instance, posting pornographic images on oneself on the Internet is both illegal and can  be very harmful to one's future educational and job prospects. Trading sexual favors for money, drugs, or anything of value similarly suggests a dangerous precedent. Having multiple sexual partners, putting oneself in danger of becoming pregnant or contracting a sexually transmitted disease, or being raped, all constitute thoughtless and compulsive behavior, at the least. If yo see any of this, you will need to get your teenager to a therapist knowledgeable about teenagers and their sexual behavior, to sort out teenage experimentation from addictive behavior. No parent can handle this one alone.

What's So Bad About Marijuana?

Marijuana use has been increasing amongst teenagers for the past two years: 38% of High School Seniors acknowledged having used marijuana over the past year, according to the annual Monitoring the Future Study, conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan. What exactly does this mean for your teenager? First, marijuana use is not so harmless as teenagers would have you believe. The profound effects on motivation, social relatedness, memory, and decision-making ability are unquestioned. And your teenager's brain is still developing, making him or her even more vulnerable to the noxious effects of marijuana and other drugs, including alcohol. So, when your teenager says that the marijuana use if "just for fun,:" and "natural," you need to refute the idea that the drug is harmless. But you will also temper your assessment with a real risk assessment: how is your teenager functioning in school? In relationships? Health?Given the understanding that marijuana remains illegal, how much legal jeopardy is he or she in? You will need to fashion a plan for helping your teenager move forward in life: for some teenagers addicted to marijuana, a stay at an inpatient treatment center is necessary. (And yes, you can get addicted to marijuana!) For other marijuana users, however, meeting with an addiction-knowledgeable therapist suffices. The most important thing is to find  out what exactly is happening with your marijuana-using teenager, and then respond to that, rather than the mere fact of marijuana use!

"Bath Salts" and Your Teenager

"Bath Salts" are packaged drugs sold under  innocent sounding names like "Ivory Wave," "Purple Wave," Hurri9cane Charley," and "Aura." Although some of these packages have been found to contain mephedrone, a central nervous system stimulant, since there is so little oversight, the packages could in fact contain amphetamine, or sugar. (Or cyanide, for that matter.) These misleadingly labeled substances are sold in head shops, gas stations, and over the Internet.Stimulants can cause euphoria, high blood pressure, strove, and heart attack, and the DEA has named these substances "Drugs of Concern" in a prelude to making them illegal. ( http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/02/01/earlyshow/health/main7305536.shtml )Don't assume your teenager is treating herself to a bubblebath if you see these packages in your house!

Heroin and Teenagers

Over the last 10 years, the US  have been flooded with cheap, high quality heroin. The wide availability of this highly addictive drug has caused some teenagers to become addicted in numbers which would have been unthinkable a generation ago. Teenagers who see party drugs as marijuana, Ecstasy and alcohol, sometimes try heroin with the same casual attitude, not realizing its' highly addictive nature. Since the heroin available is so pure, teenagers can snort the drug, rather than having to inject it into their bodies with a needle, thereby lowering the bar to use. Some, but not all, teenagers progress to actually injecting the drug. Signs of heroin use include profound sedation( to the point of falling "asleep" into a plate of food), as well as pinpoint pupils and an overall silly mood.Overdose from heroin includes an unconsciousness from which you cannot arouse the person, can progress to death from paralysis of the breathing muscles, and necessitates an immediate call to 911. Withdrawal from heroin consists of a runny nose and eyes, goosebumps, muscle cramps, and diarrhea, and is the most common reason for return to heroin use. If your teenager is using or addicted to heroin, don't despair. Excellent treatments are available, and like all drug problems, your teenager can return to a healthy, gratifying life without substances. But you will have to help by getting him or her to professional help as soon as possible!.