It seems like your teen is always shopping. At the mall or the outlets, alone or with friends, whether there’s a big sale going on or not. They come home with myriad purchases that seem unnecessary and trivial. Worst of all, they never use the things they buy or get any satisfaction out of them, and the shopping never stops. Simply put, you think your teen is addicted to retail
Recent statistics suggest that a growing number of adolescents struggle with alcohol or substance use disorder. The numbers are alarming: 1.3 million adolescents aged 12-17, and 5.8 million young adults aged 18-25, met the clinical criteria for alcohol use disorder. And, even more worryingly, there is a significant treatment gap for this age group, with only 5.8% of the first group, and only 8% of the second, receiving treatment. This
The most commonly prescribed medication for teens with an opioid use disorder is Buprenorphine. Buprenorphine was approved in 2002 by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for adolescents age 16 and over. One qualitative study of more than twenty-thousand teens and young adults in the U.S. showed that buprenorphine is eight times more likely to be prescribed to teens than other medications used in
This year, National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week takes place between March 30th and April 5th. Organizers and advocates invite teens, parents, teachers, school administrators, public policymakers, and anyone involved in the life of teenagers to get on board with the theme for 2020: NDAFW 2020: SHATTER THE MYTHS About Alcohol and Drug Use. This is our third article for NDAFW 2020. Our first article – National Drug and Alcohol
Your teen is addicted to heroin or other opioids. You’ve been getting lots of advice. Mental health professionals have told you about Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), 12-Step programs (e.g. Nar-Anon), and adolescent drug rehab centers. You’ve also heard about detoxification (often referred to as detox), and Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT). For teens addicted to heroin or other opioids, traditional detox—cutting off all the substances from their system
If you find yourself throwing up constantly, for no apparent reason, your doctor might ask whether you smoke marijuana. And how often. Don’t get annoyed at the doctor’s seeming nosiness. There’s actually a link between heavy marijuana use and vomiting. Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome Increasing case reports have shown that people who use marijuana often, and heavily, are at risk for developing what doctors call Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome, or CHS. Though
If your friend is addicted to drugs—whether it’s opioid pills like Oxycontin or recreational drugs like weed or crack—you may feel obligated to help. Whether or not your friend asks you for help, you may feel like you need to stop their dangerous cycle and get them back on track. First, we’ll be straight up with you: it’s not your job to make them better. What do we mean? The
Parents often call us when their adolescent is having substance abuse issues. Sometimes, when they mention that their teen has used heroin, they’ll follow up with a statement like, “But they say they’ve only tried it a couple of times at a party…” Unfortunately, we’re here to break your bubble: Heroin is not a social drug. If you’re imagining a bunch of teens getting high together and letting loose at
Two years ago, popular celebrity Lena Dunham shared her personal experience with benzodiazepines, otherwise known as benzos. Although her doctor prescribed benzos to manage her anxiety, Dunham found that she was becoming dependent on them. So much so, in fact, that she was taking the medication about every day for three years. They are only supposed to be prescribed for weeks, at most. Benzodiazepines are minor tranquilizers with sedative effects.
Everyone knows that injecting heroin is objectively dangerous. In addition to the damage caused by the substance itself, using a syringe and needle increases your risks of overdose, in addition to getting an infection. Those who use heroin intravenously have a higher risk of death than those who use heroin by other means. That’s why lots of adolescents feel better about snorting, or sniffing, heroin instead. Naively, they don’t think
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