Teen Drug and Alcohol Abuse and Addiction, Signs and Treatments

The teenage years are among the toughest, so many changes and discoveries. Try to remember your teenage years while dealing with your teenager. Drugs and alcohol are a situation that all teens face and most will experiment. Wondering whether or not your teen is abusing drugs or alcohol can be stressful. If you think your teen may be experimenting with drugs and alcohol but don’t know how to deal with it, the first thing to do is make sure this is the problem your teen is facing. Some signs that your teen may be experimenting with drugs and alcohol include:

~Dramatic Mood Swings~

Teenagers all have normal mood swings. But look for more dramatic changes — like happy and full of energy one minute and then withdrawal, sadness, or fits of rage.

No one knows your child like you do but during these times you can feel like you don’t know them at all.

~Does your teen have new friends?~

Teens often hang out with teens that are into the same things they are. If your teen has suddenly ditched his/her old friend for newer maybe older one it is a good sign that they may be using.

~Acting out in school~

Has your teens grades dropped recently? Has their attitude towards school changed? Cutting class, fighting, and generally acting out are signs that they might be using.

~Attitude and health~

Is there a change in appetite, or sleep patterns? Is your teen being openly dishonest and defiant? Has alcohol come up missing in your home? How about the medicine cabinet? Have you smelled cigarettes or alcohol on his/her breath? Is your teen using a lot of breath mints lately? Have they changed how they dress or do their hair? Have you suspected that your teen might be drunk or on something? Any slurred speech, stumbling, Or bloodshot eyes?

~Family~

Has anyone close to you mentioned that they think your teen may be using? Even if it’s only one person, it’s enough to investigate further.Teens will try to hide their drug and alcohol abuse from you.

No parent want to see their kids in this situation. We all as parents want only the best for them. Being faced with a teen that is using drugs and alcohol, can seem very overwhelming. How do you handle this? Is there help? Many parents deal with this problem everyday. There is help! Sometimes the solution varies, depending on your situation.

Sometimes, just talking to your teen can help. Be understanding, and try to remember how tough this age is, but let them know that you will not tolerate this behavior. Let them know that you are here to help and that they can trust you to always be there for them. Tell them the consequences of abusing drugs and alcohol, even if they already know them, sometimes hearing you say it can make all the difference.

If simply talking to your teen doesn’t work then maybe a teen intervention is in order. It is one thing to hear one person who loves you ask you to stop your behavior, but, quite another to have everyone who loves you ask.

There is a difference between a teen who is experimenting with drugs and alcohol and a teen who is addicted to them. 

Teen drug addiction can be harder to deal with. Again, the situation varies. Some parents turn to a support center, places designed to help you deal with your out of control teen, drug abuse counseling is an alternative to look into. Sadly, with all they are going through it can be hard for teens to talk to their parents, they may feel more comfortable talking to a stranger. With counseling at least you can pick the stranger they talk to.

Some parents take a firmer stand and send their teen to a teen drug rehab. There are many rehab centers available. Do some research, find the top rehab program.

The important thing is to get your teen treatment, whether your teen needs alcohol treatment or teen drug treatment, it’s your job as a parent to help them through this.

Bend Over? Surprise! Diet Gurus Are Screwing Overeaters and Food Addicts

If you suffer from overeating or food addiction, yet another diet is not what you need. Go figure! If the truth be told, we now know that only 1 out of about 6 Americans who diet actually lose weight and keep it off. Chances are, you’re not one of them.(1)

Neither was I.

For years I struggled with my weight. I would diet, lose weight, put it back on and then put some more on. Kind of like you I suspect…

No, the answer is not in finding the perfect diet. It does not exist.

That of course is contrary to what the so-called “diet gurus” are going to tell you…

Now I don’t care how many qualifications that Nutritionist has, or how many years’ experience that Dietician has – if they seek to address your overweight problem with a diet only, well let me be frank and advise you to toss their advice.

Take it from one who’s been there.

Because a food addict or overeater’s problem is not with the food they eat; it’s what’s eating them. And food addiction is a powerful addiction comparable to drug addiction. Food addiction or overeating starts as a coping mechanism and ends in a habit that will destroy you if you don’t address it at the root of the problem. And the root of the problem is how you relate to food, not the actual food itself.

It’s a spiritual, emotional and physical issue, but the diet guru’s address only the physical aspect. Or most of them anyway. Let’s just get this out the way: there are of course the occasional diet guru who understands the problem exactly, but they are really very few and far between.

The diet industry is a booming one. It’s listed as one of the top money makers in the world. And the diet industry – surprise, surprise – wants to keep you fat, unhealthy and unhappy. Why? Because the longer you are desperate to get thin, the longer they intend to screw you to make money off of you. The more desperate you become, the more you are going to try their slimming products, their books and their supplements. All of which you pay for. And the diet industry benefits.

So now what? If you’re a food addict or overeater, the first step to take is to understand what that means. The second step is to understand what made you put on weight in the first place, and why you keep turning to food for fulfilment. And then you need to start breaking the overeating and food addiction habit.