Table of Contents
- How Can Parents Deal with Teen Substance Abuse
- Staying Calm
- Talking to Your Teen
- How Do You Know if Your Teen is Taking Drugs
- Don’t Confront Your Teen on Your Own
- End Any and All Enabling
- Professional Addiction Treatment for Teenagers
- Get Your Teen Into a Substance Abuse Treatment Program Today
How Can Parents Deal with Teen Substance Abuse
Do you have a teen who is abusing alcohol or drugs? If so, there are some ways that you can deal with the situation to reduce the chances of your teen getting defensive or ignoring you altogether. By using the tips our Transformations Care team provides to you below, hopefully, you can get your child into a teen substance abuse treatment program right away. The sooner teen drug addiction is treated, the sooner they can get their life back on track.
Staying Calm
The most important thing to remember if you have a teen who is addicted to alcohol or drugs is to stay calm. If you react angrily or in a chaotic matter, it might only make things worse. Yes, dealing with teen drug addiction is one of the most difficult things a family can go through. However, it is crucial that you handle the situation as calmly as you can.
If you aren’t sure how you can stay calm while talking to your teen about their substance abuse, hopefully, these tips can help:
- Respond to your child with love and support
- Don’t put the blame on yourself
- Make a plan for what should be done (treatment programs are recommended)
- Remember, you aren’t alone
- Get you and your child the support that is needed
By doing these things, it will increase the chances of your teen being receptive to treatment and wanting to get help in overcoming their addiction.
Talking to Your Teen
Another tip for handling teen substance abuse is to have a talk with your child. Here at Transformations Care, we know that this topic is a delicate one. However, the longer you take to have this talk with your teen, the harder they can fall into their addiction.
Before you talk to your child about teen substance abuse, remember that you don’t know everything they are feeling or going through. Let them talk to you about this. Appreciate they are sharing any information with you as some teens don’t. Once you hear what your teen is saying, you and your child can make a plan to get them into an addiction treatment program.
How Do You Know if Your Teen is Taking Drugs
Are you unsure of whether your teen is using drugs? If so, there are some signs of drug abuse that you can and should look for in your child. Some of these signs include:
- They talk about friends who use drugs or alcohol
- Changes to their behavior which seem out of the norm
- Changes to their appearance and overall health
- Finding drug paraphernelia
- Lying to you and other loved ones
- Stealing money from you or other family members
- Stealing from stores
- Taking prescription medications from you, other family members, or friends
If you recognize the signs of teen substance abuse in your child, don’t wait much longer to talk to them. Keep in mind the tips above for having this conversation. We also highly recommend that you don’t have this conversation with your teenager on your own.
Don’t Confront Your Teen On Your Own
You are not responsible for your child’s teen substance abuse. It is vital to their recovery that you let them take responsibility for their actions and behaviors. You can be there as a parent, support partner and cheerleader for their recovery.
When you first talk to your teen about their addiction, it is best to hold an intervention. The intervention can include a range of people.
End Any and All Enabling
It is very important that your teenager is able to get the support they need to overcome their teen substance abuse issues. Having multiple people who care about your teenager come to the intervention can help your teen to see that people only want to help them. It can also help them to see that their addiction is affecting more than just themselves.
If your teenager is ready or willing to move forward, now is the best time for them to get into an teen substance abuse treatment program. You can contact our friendly, professionals team here at Transformations Care today.
Unfortunately, there are millions of people around the world that enable addicts. If you have been enabling your teen, forgive yourself today. You thought you were doing what was best to care for and help your child.
Not sure if you are even enabling your teen? Some signs that you were or are enabling your teenager with substance abuse issues include:
- Ignoring or “forgetting about” your teen’s dangerous behaviors
- Not being able to express your emotions about their addiction
- Prioritizing your child’s needs before your own
- Acting from a place of fear
- Lying to cover up the things your teenager does
- Blaming situations or other people for your teen’s behaviors
- Resenting your teenager for their addiction or behaviors
Continuing to enable a child who has teen substance abuse issues is a slippery slope. You may think you are helping them or doing what is right as a parent, however, it is likely only making things much worse for you and your child.
The good news is there are teen substance abuse treatment programs and support groups that can get your teen the treatment they need and get you the support you need to stop enabling them. If you have more questions about either the support groups or the addiction treatment programs, don’t hesitate to reach out to our Transformations Care team today.
Professional Addiction Treatment for Teenagers
How am I supposed to know whether my teenager even needs professional teen substance abuse treatment? The truth is that any teenager who is abusing drugs would greatly benefit from attending a professional addiction treatment program. Trying to handle their addiction on your own can become too much. It can also make things worse or cause too much stress for your teenager. This could lead to a higher risk of overdosing or other destructive behaviors.
Some of the signs that your teenager needs professional teen substance abuse treatment include:
- Recognizable signs of drug or alcohol addiction
- Getting into trouble with the law due to substance abuse issues
- Fighting with you or other loved ones due to bringing up the addiction
- Not listening to you or other loved ones about drug or alcohol abuse concerns
- Previous attempts to get clean and/or sober, but fell back into an addictive lifestyle
If you recognize these signs in your teen, you should do everything you can to get them into a professional addiction treatment program.
Get Your Teen Into a Substance Abuse Treatment Program Today
Does your child have teen substance abuse issues? If so, don’t wait any longer to confront this issue using the tips mentioned above. Do you need help talking to your teen about their addiction? If so, holding an intervention with your teen, yourself, other family members, close neighbors, teachers, friends, or anyone else who cares for your teen would be a great idea.
Is your teen ready to overcome their substance abuse issues or addiction? If so, please contact us here today at Transformations Care to get your teen into a substance abuse treatment program.