Friday, August 1, 2014

Importance Of Adolescent Substance Abuse Evaluation

By Annabelle Holman


Substance abuse among youths has really increased and become a bother for most parents. Many parents are trying hard to fight off this problem while others have given up with their adolescents who have refused to change. Drug abuse occurs at early teenage life especially in schools due to peer pressures. If you evaluate the negative results of these kinds of behaviors, you will see the necessity of adolescent substance abuse evaluation of the affected youths.

As a parent, it is overwhelming to deal with teenagers who often see you as a bother especially due to the changes occurring in their body. Boys are becoming masculine, growing taller, and growing beards, which makes them feel so mature to follow instructions. Hormonal changes in both girls and boys make them want to discover new things.

The feeling of maturity makes them go haywire and parents cannot control them. They easily fall into bad influences as they prove to be mature and as they try to fit among the seniors. This in the end affects their academic life, their friendship changes, and they attach to bad peers. Later they start engaging in bad behavior of drug use, criminal acts, and immorality.

Adolescents who abuse drugs start smoking and drinking alcohol. They then progress into using marijuana and other inhalants. If not monitored and reversed, as they grow into adulthood, they get connections with drug dealers in the society who sell them dangerous drugs such as heroin and cocaine. These drugs affect school and relationships especially family relationships.

In the first instances, failing exams and poor concentration at school are common. Some involve themselves in breaking school rules and are suspended. Others become absentees and later drop out of school. Those who do not get help try out more bad things such as early sexual involvement putting them at risks of acquiring diseases such as HIV AIDS. Others suffer brain damage due to cannabis and cocaine use.

Some who may have used drugs due to difficulties and stress grow into depression and other psychological problems, which put them at risks of suicidal thoughts. They are stigmatized by mates and this adds more to their problems. At home, they become a bother always fighting, swearing and even threatening to kill. This progresses into criminal activities, which become legal cases.

Bad influence is the major cause of teenagers attempting drugs use. However, there are many other reasons, which cause the bad behavior such as lack of supervision and monitoring by parents. Besides, parents who have bad habits of smoking and taking alcohol when around their children may encourage this behavior. Also by parents not creating time to interact with their children leads to teens piling up problems, and with time they venture into drug abuse viewing it as the only solution.

Medical evaluation can be of great help especially if done early. It entails test by licensed medical professionals such as psychologists, psychiatrists, and physicians. They conduct different tests and interviews on the affected teens then create a summary of the findings and come up with the best therapy possible. Therapy may be in form of drugs, counselling or even rehabilitation.




About the Author:



No comments: