The Allure of Drugs
The allure of drugs is one that many people cannot resist. We all know someone who has been affected by drug addiction. It may be a teenager at school who is using marijuana for the first time or a friend you know who has become addicted to meth. Whatever the circumstance, there are many things you can do to help someone sober up from drug addiction. Teens are under a lot of pressure to try drugs whether it comes from their curiosity their friends and peers or television and movies. They are also generally easy to obtain in schools and areas around schools.
This makes the barrier to entry for these drugs very small for many teenagers. Teenagers often do not fully think through their decisions and the consequences. There are 8 common reasons why teenagers use drugs. The first one is their surroundings. The people they hang out with. They want to seem cool with their peers. Some do it because they see how their family uses it for fun. So they think there is nothing wrong with it. Some teenagers see drugs and alcohol in TV. They see how the people they want to be use it all the time.
There is a show called “True Life: I am an addict” In this episode they show different people and their drug addictions. Many of these people say they tried drugs at a very young age and that their reason was because of their peers. A young girl at the age of 18 says she uses alcohol to feel pretty, to get attention from other people, and because she enjoys the feeling. Teenagers are very emotional. They use drugs to escape from any pain they are feeling. They drink or do drugs to not feel any pain at all. Some teenagers consume such things to escape the real world. Some teenagers consume because they are bored.
Being bored is something every teenager feels everyone in a while. They don’t know what to do so they get anxious and curious to try new things. So they try to have fun by trying and experimenting new things. Some teenagers don’t get much attention at home. They want to rebel and make their parents pay attention to what they are doing. They feel like the more they rebel the more they get to feel that their parents are going to be there showing they care. Unfortunately smoking and drinking are widely promoted as habits enjoyed by sophisticated, fun-loving, attractive and sexy people.
What most teens want to become. If drug use wasn’t pleasurable, it would be relatively easy to keep kids and harmful substances separated. But the reality is that many teens enjoy the way they feel on drugs, at least for a while. Wayward children may engage in smoking, alcohol and drug use as a show of independence from family norms and valves. For many people life is just plain tough and normal waking can brings a constant stream of unpleasant sights, smells, sounds and sensations. The prospect of a chemical “timeout” may look very attractive.
Even when a person has plenty of creature comforts, the prevailing emotional whether can still be turbulent: Kids and teens often feel anxious, angry, depressed oppressed, stressed, bored or unfulfilled. Many teenagers and young adults are prone to aware their own invulnerability or immortality make shortsighted decisions, or shrug off the most fervent warnings about life’s pitfalls and perish with a smirk or the defiant pronouncements “I don’t care” shedding this perspective, learning to weight consequences and adopting a long range view of life are normal parts of maturing into adulthood.
Unfortunately some who become deeply involved in drug use remain stuck in an immature, self-destructive mind set. Teen’s drug abuse can have a number of negative consequences, including. Driving under the influence including Driving under the influence of any drug can impair driver’s motor skills, reaction time and judgment putting the driver, his or her passengers and others on the road at risk. Teens who abuse drugs are more likely to have poor judgment, which can result in unplanned and unsafe sex. Teens who abuse drugs are at risk of serious drug us later in life.
Drug use may lead to love interests in or become indifferent about what happens at school or in other areas of his or her life. Use of drugs, such as marijuana, may affect the parts of the brain that control memory, motivation attention and learning, making it more difficult to learn and perform complex tasks. It can be difficult to talk to teens about drug abuse. Start by choosing a comfortable time and setting. Share feelings with the teen. When discussing teen drug abuse. Listen to your teens opinions which may differ from your own. Ask questions about drug use.
Encourage them to talk by asking open ended questions. Avoid scare tactics. Emphasize how drug use can affect things important to your teens such as sports, driving, health and appearance. Explain that even a teen can develop a drug problem. Talk about what your teen has seen or heard. Don’t be afraid that talking about teen drug abuse will plant ideas in any teens head. Conversations about drugs won’t tempt them to try drugs. Instead talking about drug abuse lets teens know your views and understand what you expect of him or her.
Reference
- American Academy of child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), March 2011. Web.
