Drug Abuse Help for Parents: Help for Parents – How to Be Supportive When Teens Are Experimenting With Drugs

When we talk about help for parents, we are usually thinking of situations where teens are facing challenges and struggling with problems like drug abuse, eating disorders, cyber bullying, emotional and behavioral disorders. It is often not just a question of laying down the rules and being a strict enforcer of the law but rather being there.

By being there, we are ensuring that the lines of communication are always open. If they are not, the teen may seek help elsewhere and does not see the parents as a support. They then tend to seek help from their peer group only and may end up in toxic company.

Let us take the use of soft drugs such as marijuana as an example. There is a lot of debate about this at the moment and there are advocates who say that there are some benefits in taking this drug..

But the risks far outweigh any benefits. There may be a lack of motivation, impaired judgment and an increased tendency to indulge in risky behavior when driving, for instance. As it can damage the reproductive system, the immune system and even cause panic attacks, this needs to be pointed out when help for parents is sought. Many parents are simply unaware of the real risks.

When parents and teens talk about drug abuse, they all make one observation. If they had known and were more alert to the dangers and the tell tale signs, then a lot of trouble could have been avoided.

The organizations or programs that offer help for parents concentrate on communication. Are the parents’ ideas of drug abuse clear? They need to know and to be aware of what the risks are. That means doing a certain amount of homework and having a few answers and facts at their fingertips.

The second piece of advice is to ensure that the parents can talk in a calm and reasonable way. They can start by saying that they have noticed a change in the teenager’s habits. This could be the fact they are out all the time or they might be staying in their room too much and neglecting their usual activities and friends.

Other advice to parents is to ask them open questions and avoid those that might lead to a monosyllabic answers like ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘maybe’. Parents are there to listen, not to lecture.

The use of drugs may be linked to peer pressure, stress at school, experimentation and so on. There could be many reason why this is happening.

The bottom line when support groups offer help for parents is that the teenagers know that parents are supportive and that they can actually talk to them and that they are always there to give them the help when and if they need it.

This is just the beginning and many parents are looking for honest, down to earth and practical advice about all aspects of parenting which they can follow in a behavior modification program. Why not make your home a happier and more relaxed place where you feel that you are in control again?

Teenage Substance Abuse part 1 – John Knight, MD, is director of the Center for Adolescent Substance Abuse Research at Children’s Hospital Boston. He has served as a consultant to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and the President’s Office of National Drug Control Policy. In this interview, he talks about underage drinking, how to recognize a substance abuse problem and how parents can help their children learn to drink responsibly.

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