Recovery Trade Publications Blog

RELAPSE AMONG TEENAGERS

Relapse among teenagers can be challenging to explain and deal with as a parent.  Many times among teenagers relapse may be viewed as a “slip up” but this may not be the case. There are varying degrees of relapse among teens.  Many times teenagers may go through periods in their teenage years where they experiment with using drugs and/or alcohol and so their use is sporadic and inconsistent.  Other teens may use on the weekends or at certain parties but continue to keep their life functional.  The drug and/or alcohol use have not become their main focus.  There are the teenagers that begin to use and the use becomes a continual escalation where they are using daily or up to several times a day, they may be trying different types of drugs or cocktailing different types of drugs but they are doing whatever it takes to feel “high”.  The escalation in drug use along with other determining factors could be the beginning of an addiction and not teenage experimentation.   

Whether it is abuse or addiction the drug and alcohol use may continue if there is not some type of action taken.  As parents watch their teen behaviors change when they become more engaged in the drug world, they may choose to intervene by sending their teen to treatment. These treatments range from intensive outpatient, wilderness programs; to a residential treatment facility. If the teen is sent to a residential facility then their drug use and behavior was most likely out of control.  Once they leave these treatment facilities the transition back home will be crucial in determining whether or not the teen continues in a recovery lifestyle or relapses back into the drug and alcohol world.

There have been studies done on the reasons adolescents relapse. One such study by Talbott & Martin (1999), found that denial of drug dependency, rationalization of the drug use, lack of family support, lack of spiritual connection, cross addiction, over confidence, unresolved negative emotions, unresolved guilt from the past, or returning to using friends were factors of relapse.  Other studies by (Talbott & Matin and Gorsky & Miller, 1986), have found that teens that relapse are less involved in productive activities, and have less satisfying leisure activities in other words boredom may play a big part of relapse among teenagers.  

These factors also become the reason teenagers begin to experiment with drugs and alcohol in the first place.  If a teen is experimenting with drugs and alcohol and they quit for a substantial amount of time, this may not be considered addiction but substance abuse.  Generally these teens drug use is because of peer pressure or other pressures from school, or home.  The teen may not know how to handle the emotions and turn to drugs or alcohol to relieve these feelings.  The teen may use for that night but then revert back to not using drugs or alcohol for another period of time.  The problem with any type of drug use is that teenagers may be more susceptible to continued use once they start because their impulsivity and lack of judgment impedes their ability to know how or when to stop.  Studies have shown that the younger a person is when they begin drinking alcohol or using drugs the more likely they will become addicted.   

Teens that are experimenting with drugs or alcohol or that have continued substance abuse are prone to deal with higher addiction rates and lower overall life satisfaction.  Even with these factors however, there are still things that parents can do to help their teen. Whether they have been to treatment or you are trying to help your teen it is important for parents to remain open, remain consistent with rules and boundaries, and be a parent and not a friend.  Your teen will need to be involved in positive activities such as; going to support groups, NA/AA, sports, arts, and other productive activities like; school and work.  Teens are less likely to relapse if they are staying active and have a supportive family.  If your teen ends up in a situation where they have an opportunity to use and they begin to think they can handle these situations they will likely begin to experiment or test them self to see if they can handle it again. If they keep quiet about these situations the likelihood of them going back to daily drug use is high.  Teens can get back on track if they can talk openly about these situations with a mentor, parents, sponsors, or a counselor.  If they get back on track, talk to someone about their “slip” and keep going with their recovery this slip could be something that your teen can learn from and use to keep them self safe in the future.  

Parents need to learn to talk openly to their teen about using drugs and alcohol.  Teenagers need to know that their parents are by their side and they will support and help them; not rescue them or fix things for them in these tough situations.  Relapse can be less likely if the parents and family are supportive; the teen stays active in school, work, and sober activities.

If you would like more information you can purchase my book When Should You Send Your Teen To Treatment? A Parent Guide by Kelly Miller, MS at Amazon Kindle

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Kelly Miller will now be a regular guest blogger on our site. This first article is EXCELLENT, and adds a new dimension to our writings altogether!

Ken P.

Trend of Teen Drug Abuse

There are a number of National studies that have looked at drug abuse among teenagers. Marijuana continues to one of the most commonly used drugs but the new trend appears to be prescription pills. The following statistics is from the Office of National Drug Control. The intentional use of prescription pills, such as sedatives, pain relievers, tranquilizers, and stimulants, is the growing concern in the United States. Prescription drug use among ages 12 - 17 have become the second most illegal drug behind marijuana.

According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy there are three classes of prescription drugs that are commonly abused:

1) Opioids - Codeine, Oxycodone, and Morphine

2) Central Nervous System (CNS) Depressants - Barbiturates and Benzodiazepine (Xanax)

3) Stimulants - Dextroamphetamine and Methylphenidate (Adderall)

Teenagers are viewing these drugs as a medically safe high. Teens can find prescription drugs easily from the internet, through e-mail, and also from family and friends. Generally these prescription drugs are easy to get and can be sold or traded for other drugs. Pain relievers like OxyContin and Vicodin are the most commonly abused drugs by teenagers. Adderall, Soma, Xanax and other prescriptions are also becoming more common.

Nearly 1 in 5 teenagers report abusing prescription drugs that were not prescribed to them. One-third of teens believe that using prescribed medication (not prescribed to them) once in a while is not harmful, and nearly three out of ten teens believe prescribed pain relievers are not addictive. Nearly one-third of teenagers feel pressure from their peers to abuse prescription and illegal drugs and nine percent admit it is an important part of fitting in.

In 2004, more than 29 percent of teens in treatment were there for prescription drug dependence. In the last decade prescription drug abuse has increased and the number of teens going into treatment has increased by 300 percent. More 12 - 17 year olds than young adults became dependent on or abused prescription drugs in the past year and teens that abuse drugs for the first time before the age of 16 has a greater risk of dependency later in life.

The increasing prescription drug abuse has become alarming. As parents it is our responsibility to make sure we are not making it easy for our teens to get a hold of our medications, to make sure we are cleaning out our medicine closets of all old prescription meds, and to monitor the medication our teen is prescribed making sure they are not selling it or abusing it. So many times teenagers will abuse their own medications or sell them to friends. They will trade them for other street drugs or prescription drugs. Parents should be aware of this trend with teens. Many, not all of these prescriptions will show up in drug tests which may make it more difficult to test for this type of substance abuse. It is the job of parents to educate teens on the dangers of abusing prescription drugs.

I have worked with teens and their families for over 13 years. The drug problem has not lessened, the type of drugs have changed. There are a number of National studies that have looked at drug abuse among teenagers. Marijuana continues to one of the most commonly used drugs but the new trend appears to be prescription pills. Teenagers don’t realize the severity of drugs and alcohol on their brain which will not be fully grown until the age 24 for women and 26 for males.

The Office of National Drug Control is showing an increase in the intentional use and cocktailing of prescription pills, such as sedatives, pain relievers, tranquilizers, and stimulants. These prescription pills are not only orally taken but smoked, snorted, and injected to get the most extreme effect. Prescription drug use among ages 12 - 17 have become the second most illegal drug behind marijuana.

My book , “When Should You Send Your Teen to Treatment? A Parent Guide” by Kelly Miller, MS is available through Amazon Kindle book store.

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"Yes But," Notes on Denial By Codependents and Alcoholics

We are three men and a woman with over 50 years of recovery in Al-Anon, a 12-step recovery program for the families of alcoholics. Please read this and forward it to anybody in your  program community it may help. So many are so deeply damaged by years of living with addicts and/or alcoholics. 

Yes But....

We  love the oral tradition from AA that says..."everything after the word but is a lie."

   Denial is the favorite device for self-protection for everybody in an addicted household...the addict, the codependent spouse, the sick reactive children, even the enabling figures around the family like bosses and neighbors.

This is a special form of insanity. How can there be a problem, if we simply refuse to admit it? We enablers of addicts are just as self-deluding as our counterparts in the addiction dance. We know that "we are special", and that the laws of physics somehow do not apply to us.

   But here is the rub. Reality keeps intruding into our delusion. The cops show up. There are DUI's. We end up in the ER bleeding through our guts from perforated ulcers just like the addict. It isn't always as dramatic as this. More commonly there are many days of work lost. How many cases of "liquid flu" have been reported by anxious spouses to bosses who want to believe them when everybody knows somewhere deep inside that somebody who is not in this conversation got loaded last night!

As the enabler, on the surface you feel confused. "So what's the deal? I always tried to do my best, I was always the good kid, I kept my nose clean, I always kept a job and payed my taxes. Why is my life such a mess?"

 The second step used by the millions living by the 12-step programs so popular throughout the world today says;

"We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity."

   Until insanity is acknowledged, recovery is impossible. At meetings we admit our insane behavior and thinking out loud in a safe place. Other recovering people nod their heads as we describe raging at a person who isn't even mentally present. Other Al-Anons smile as we tell of sleeping fully clothed so that we can be ready to bound out of bed and head for the emergency that we just know is going to happen tonight while our addicted son is "out there" in harm's way.  

   Until you "suit up and show up" at a meeting, you will be doomed to living in your own head. That marble keeps rolling anround and around through the same insane groove until you ask for help. You may someday accept the fact that the only sane approach to living with an addict is to admit that you cannot handle it alone, then go out and ask for help from people who have been there.

 Anything else...anything after "yes but," is insanity!

If you are honestly searching for a better life in the face of these realities, PLEASE...contact Al-Anon and find a meeting. There is probably one within walking distance of your house as you read this that meets every week! 

Al-Anon QWorld Service Office, 1-888-4-AL-ANON, or see their web site atwww.al-anon.alateen.org.

Also, if you wish to learn a great deal more about codependency, especially in MEN, please order our new book We Codependent Men-We Mute Coyoteswhich is available on this site and Amazon, etc.

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Men, You Need To Read This; You Are Powerless. 

  I am a man who has sponsored over 40 men during the last 35 years in Al-Anon. I wrote this blog post for a man who is living with an alcoholic or addicted person who still considers addiction a problem that he can solve on his own. If you are such a man, whether you have admitted it consciously or not, you see some loved-one’s behavior as a problem that you may somehow solve. This misconception is not only perpetuating your loved one’s disease, it is destroying you as well.

            If you can read this blog and somehow get yourself to a nearby  meeting, then you have chance for recovery. Your loved one’s addiction is not a problem you can solve. It is a fact, and you cannot solve a fact. You can only ask for help. As you will discover here, it is available from many sources.

             What I am saying is that you are absolutely powerless over someone else’s addiction. You may be a CEO, a minister, a physician, an attorney, a policeman, a psychiatrist, or the president. You are still powerless. Until you admit this fact first to God, to yourself, and to another human being, then you are cannot solve this, and you may be part of the problem!   Let us give an example. If you have planned a picnic and it has started raining, that is a fact. You cannot solve this fact. Your only choice is to decide how you are going to react to this fact.

            Once you understand that addiction is a fact, acceptance can follow. As you will read in our stories about how we tried to survive while living with addicted people (all over this web site, and in much Al-Anon literature), finally coming to that acceptance can be a horribly long and arduous process. May my blog post make your recovery process begin sooner!

        If alcoholism in another is the problem call 1-888-4AL-ANON (1-888-425-2666, or access www.al-anon.alateen.org

        If drug addiction is the problem, call 310.534.8188 or 1-800-477-6291 or access www.nar-anon.org

        If you are just a chronic pathological do-gooder like me, call Codependents Anonymous at 602-277-7991 or access www.coda.org

by Ken P., co-author of the new book We Codependent Men-We Mute Coyotes, copyright 2011, Recovery Trade Publications.

 

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