If you have a teen or loved one addicted to heroin or other opioids, you need to know what to do when they overdose. Um, excuse me? Why are we thinking about – let alone talking about – worst-case scenarios here? Of course, we are sure you’d prefer not to have your loved one be abusing drugs—or overdosing—in the first place. So, if you’re reading this and have a child
A study posted on March 19th, 2019 by the U.K. medical journal The Lancet – “The Contribution of Cannabis Use to Variation in the Incidence of Psychotic Disorder Across Europe” caused quite a stir in the U.S. media in the weeks following its publication. The headlines generated by several high-volume, high-exposure media outlets trended toward warnings like “Daily Marijuana Use and Highly Potent Weed Linked to Psychosis” and “Daily Use
Maybe you’re trying to read, but your thoughts keep wandering to your weekend plans. Perhaps you’re trying to listen in class, but your thoughts wander to what happened in the latest episode of your favorite show. You’re in a serious conversation with someone, but you keep zoning out. You find yourself thinking, “Why can’t I focus?” more often than you’d like. If you’re an adolescent, it’s normal to get distracted
In 1987, the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) established Alcohol Awareness Month. Their goal was to reduce stigma around alcohol and alcoholism by reaching out to the nation each April with facts about alcohol, alcohol abuse, and recovery. In the beginning, a primary purpose of Alcohol Awareness Month was countering the idea that problem drinking was a character flaw or moral failing. The NCADD sought to replace
Adolescence is a time of radical transformation. Teens develop physically, emotionally, intellectually, and socially. They form their own identities, distinct from their parents. They engage in an evolving, instinctive process of trial and error to learn about themselves and find their place in the world. Through a series of successes, failures, and everything in between, they create a vision of who they are, who they want to become, and how
The 21st century news cycle keeps our attention piqued all day every day. Scandals pop up and disappear before our eyes. Issues come and issues go. During this incessant media rollercoaster, regular citizens of the U.S. could not be blamed for missing the fact that we’re living through a period in history that our children’s children will read about years from now. At this moment, our country is involved in
Exercise and You If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a million times: a regular exercise regimen keeps you healthy, strong, emotionally balanced, and adds years to your life. Experts recommend at least an hour of activity a day for children, teenagers, adults, and people of retirement age. No matter how old you are, no matter what point in life you find yourself, you need to keep your body
If you check online news feeds regularly, you’ve probably noticed a trend over the past three months: there’s been an abundance of headlines in national media outlets linking social media use with depression in adolescents. When we see these types of headlines, we take them with a grain of salt. Online news media survives by getting clicks. The best way to get clicks is to write a provocative headline. Sometimes
Some people say parenting is the hardest job on earth. If that’s true, then single parenting is in a category all by itself. And if that’s true, then being the single parent of teenage children – well, let’s just say anyone doing that job alone deserves special recognition. This post will focus on them. But first, we’ll talk about single parents in general. The Common Stereotype What most people picture
In part one of this series, we discussed the difference between normal teen defiance and behavior that necessitates serious help. While some noncompliance is normal during adolescence, chronic verbal or physical aggression is not. In this article, we’ll explore why some teens develop serious behavioral issues that involve temper tantrums, verbal aggression, and/or physical outbursts. If your teen is being physically and/or verbally aggressive towards you on a consistent basis,
