As any parent or guardian will tell you, there is no pain like seeing your child in pain, regardless of how that pain has negatively affected your own life. We feel awful for them regardless of what the pain is or the reason for it.
When they fall and scrape their knees, we feel that pain. When they get scared and cry, we feel for them, too.
There is a pain that cuts deeper that many parents deal with without knowing how to express it. That is the pain of watching a daughter deal with an addiction, or substance use disorder.
No matter how many times that addiction has led to harsh fights where things are said that are often not truly meant, or to lying and stealing, we still don’t want them in pain.
In 2018, a survey from Texans for Safe and Drug-Free Youth found that more than half of our state’s 7th-12th graders have tried alcohol. The survey also found troubling rates of tobacco use, marijuana use, and unprescribed medication use among our teens.
About 30% of Texas teens try tobacco, 22% have tried marijuana, and 19% have taken unprescribed medications. The same survey shares that more female teens in Texas (53%) are trying alcohol as opposed to male teens (50%).
While we do not want to push the belief that just one instance of use of any substance means a teen will become addicted, all addictions do begin with just a single use.
There are cases in which we ourselves have experience with substance use disorders in our own lives and know what to expect in finding recovery. But there are also many cases in which the behavior of addiction is completely new, not only to you as a parent but also as a person. Regardless of your own background and knowledge, we just want to help before it’s too late.
You and Your Child Are Not Alone If They’re Misusing Drugs
In nearly all cases, drug addiction or substance use disorder does not begin with a goal of becoming addicted. However, it does begin with voluntary use. Not always, but sometimes, that one voluntary use can snowball into addiction.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly 70% of high school seniors in the United States have tried alcohol at least once. Around 20% of high school seniors have taken prescription medications without a prescription.
These numbers simply showcase a mix of teenagers that are experimenting and those looking to cope with mental health challenges they are facing. For those using the substances as an escape, the risk of addiction is higher.
Forms of Drug Addiction
Among teenagers, the most commonly seen forms of substance use involve alcohol and marijuana, according to the CDC. While alcohol is completely socially accepted as something that can become addictive, there are arguments on both sides of the marijuana addiction debate.
To better form your own opinion, it is important to understand what exactly addiction is and what the difference between addiction and dependence is.
Addiction is continuing to do an activity that has negative consequences despite those negative consequences. Dependence is the need for something — in this case, a substance — to continue normal daily functioning. While marijuana has been greatly examined as having few dependency-building features, many continue to use it despite the possibilities of legal trouble, health issues, and financial struggles it can cause.
While our children use these substances out of either the desire to escape their reality for a moment of time or the desire to simply experiment with the world around them, the risks for addiction loom.
An addiction to alcohol often coincides with a dependence on alcohol, while marijuana is a substance that has addictive qualities but not many dependency-causing qualities.
While these are the most common substances used by teenagers, we cannot overlook the current state of the country’s battle with opioids, like heroin, and stimulants, like Adderall or cocaine. While these substances are often harder to get ahold of for teenagers, they can very much still be misused.
Uncovering Drug Misuse in Your Teen
Assuming is always dangerous, but when it comes to the safety of our children, sometimes it is all we can do. There are still ways to make informed guesses, though, and that comes simply through educating ourselves.
The reality is, we are not entirely likely to walk in on our daughter, niece, granddaughter, or another in the act of using drugs. The best we can do is look for the signs that may uncover the truth.
Though we are not diving directly into each different substance that can be misused, there are overarching signs to look for. A common one is physical appearance changes.
Depending on the drug of choice, physical changes can vary. For instance, your child may gain or lose weight. They may also suffer from unusual amounts of acne or blemishes from the change in substances entering their body.
Here are some other signs to look for in physical appearance:
Your child may also be acting secretive more than ever before if they are misusing substances. It is not uncommon to come across a teen that is doing the following to cover up their drug use:
The lists of signs can go on, but the truth is that nobody knows your kid better than you do. Simply keep watch over their typical behaviors and try to recognize any changes from normalcy.
Health Concerns for Teenagers Misusing Drugs
Addiction is dangerous for any person, but especially for young people with still-developing brains and bodies.
An article from Pediatrics in Review explains that chronic drinking or drug use can have harmful effects on the development of the brain, brain functioning, and psychological performance. These effects may plague the teen for the length of their adult life as well.
On top of the damage done to the brain, drug use can have a large impact on a teen’s general and physical health.
While their vital organs are still young, the liver can be damaged from drinking at an early age.
Young people that drink and consume drugs may also suffer unintended consequences of changing the rate at which hormones are created in the body. These changes can cause a number of problems that include sexual irregularities and growth disorders that can lead to bone and joint issues later in life.
Breaking Down Stigma Around Substance Use Disorder in Teens
Substance use disorders come with a stigma (negative and often unfair beliefs) from decades of American education being geared toward abstinence from drugs and alcohol. Our schools, dating back to before we parents were even in school ourselves, have been teaching us that drugs are bad and that people with addiction should bear all of the blame for their addiction.
We know, however, that there are many factors that lead to addiction, and most can be categorized as out of our own control — especially for young women.
Factors include:
Unfortunately, there are healthcare providers out there that see drug or alcohol issues as the person’s own fault. This leads to a lower level of care or even rejection of some from certain programs.
At Roots Renewal Ranch, it’s a goal for us to help break down the stigma that surrounds substance use disorders. We want our clients and their families to realize there are numerous factors that can lead to substance misuse in the first place. We do this with early assessments and in therapy, which includes family therapy.
Treating Your Family With Thoughtful Care
A guiding principle of substance use treatment is to treat the whole child. This means treating the family around the child as well. Families are complex and can provide valuable information in the work of breaking down the reasons for substance misuse, like:
Through the following, we will be able to better serve you and your child:
Using emotion-focused family therapy (EFFT) during your child’s program, you will become more knowledgeable on how to help your child while we work to heal your child and family from the experiences that created the substance use disorder.
We're here For You!
Your daughter or loved one is so much more than the problems they are facing. Call us today.
What Your Child Will Experience at Roots Renewal Ranch
We understand where you are right now. You want to do absolutely everything you can to help your daughter, but you also want to be careful and not do something that can damage your relationship or their life more than it is damaged right now.
Let this be a chance for us to explain everything your child may possibly experience at Roots Renewal Ranch.
Your child will receive weekly individual counseling sessions, daily group counseling sessions with their peers, and they will spend time journaling and completing assignments given to them by our clinical team. This all comes on top of the family programming.
We use a mix of therapies to achieve the best results for our clients. Our methods include:
Daily, we follow the guidelines of the Healthy Mind Platter created by Dan Siegel, which structures days for optimal productivity.
We use our evidence-based therapy methods along with keeping your student up to pace with schooling using certified teachers on our staff. Each student will spend approximately 2.5 hours in a classroom setting every day. Their home school and parents will receive weekly progress reports.
Along with schooling and traditional evidence-based treatments, clients may also participate in outdoors programming in which they will remain connected to the outside world.
A strong spiritual base will also be in place for our clients to grow with the use of a non-denominational church service and prayer.
Call Roots Renewal Today
We know the sense of panic you are feeling right now. We want to help you help your child.
Our goal at Roots Renewal Ranch is to provide ethical, effective, evidence-based care for our clients. With this, we will equip them for a life that leads them to happiness and health for decades to come.
Our evidence-based care is based on the values of commitment, safety, integrity, transparency, vulnerability, trust, service, growth, purpose, and simplicity.
If you want to learn more about our residential program in the Fort Worth area, give us a call today at (888) 399-0489.
FAQs:
What is the most effective treatment for substance use disorders?
The overarching answer here is behavioral therapy. However, each person takes to therapy differently and needs different styles of therapy to suit their background and type of substance misuse.
A successful program will offer a mix of many different therapy methods to find the correct path for each patient.
These methods of therapy should include cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), somatic psychotherapy, group counseling, family counseling, and emotion-focused family therapy (EFFT).
How should people with substance use disorders be treated?
Treatment for substance use disorders begins with detox typically. This time is spent removing the harmful toxins from the body.
After this, those with substance use disorders are treated best with a mix of behavioral therapies. At Roots Renewal Ranch, we understand the pain you must feel as a parent as you watch your teenage daughter, niece, or grandchild go through addiction. We offer the following forms of therapy to make recovery a reality: cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), somatic psychotherapy, group counseling, family counseling, and emotion-focused family therapy (EFFT).
What are some strategies or skills you could use when making choices relating to substance use or addictive behaviors?
Educating yourself about substance use and/or addictive behaviors is the best first step to take in protecting yourself and your child. Use your fact-finding skills to gather information from your friends, family, and the internet (like you are doing right now). These things will better prepare you in case you ever need assistance.
Also know, Roots Renewal Ranch is here for you anytime. If you would like to learn more about substance use disorders, you can contact us at (888) 399-0489 to speak with an intake specialist right now.