Parenting can be challenging even in the best of times. When your child seems to be unhappy, irritable, or otherwise out-of-sorts, however, your job as a parent can sometimes seem impossible. If you’re like many parents, you may assume that these mood changes or alterations in demeanor are simply a “phase” or the result of…
Substance abuse and addiction continue to be among the most pressing health concerns confronting today’s young people. Across the United States, millions of parents struggle with the challenge of teen addiction, and those problems don’t always conform to adult expectations of drug abuse trends. Across America, teens between the ages of 12 to 17 make…
Teen cutting is a serious problem that has grown worse in the recent years. Approximately 10 percent of young people in the U.S. intentionally hurt themselves. The predisposition to harm starts in puberty, but episodes of self-harm can happen as early as 6 years old. On Facebook and YouTube and other social media, these mutilations…
Teen post traumatic stress goes hand in hand with substance abuse. Let’s take a common scenario among teens. A young man, say that goes by the name of Jared, has experienced a rough upbringing. He has an extremely unhealthy relationship with his mother, which includes codependency and disrespect, and then Jared’s mother’s live-in boyfriend physically…
We’re putting them on the path to master drug addiction at the highest level. That’s what we’re doing as parents when we send our 18-21 year old children into traditional drug and alcohol rehab. Just as with prison, somebody goes into the system a novice in misdemeanors and emerges after time served with a PhD…
Alcohol is the most commonly used intoxicating substance among teens in the United States. The CDC reports that teenage binge drinking can be directly related to over 4,300 fatalities among teens every year. Why do teenagers drink in such large quantities, or binge drink? Teens want to experience something new and something tied to being…
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a regularly encountered disorder. BPD can be diagnosed in adolescence through an evaluation of developmental deficits, threshold for distress tolerance, the management of interpersonal relationships and emotions. During a teen’s early years, the symptoms of BPD being to manifest. It is difficult though, for a clinician to diagnose somebody under…
The teenage years are a powder keg of emotions. They can allow a person to broaden their horizons, befriend new people, become less dependent on family, and embolden passions for all things. Parents remain important in the equation, and are necessary for guidance for teenagers making better decisions. Teenagehood is also when alcohol and drugs become…
Mental health in an adolescent can damage more than just physical, emotional and spiritual outcomes in life, but can also deeply affect financial livelihood. “…Distressed adolescents are vulnerable to unemployment,” says Mark Egan of the Behavioural Science Centre at the University of Stirling. A factor for future unemployment, regardless of social or economic background, is…
Your teen is using. Alcohol. Drugs. Maybe occasionally or maybe this has turned into a full time problem. Either way, it is important for a parent to reach a solid conclusion before approaching their child. The more ammunition one has for that talk, the better. Finding clues to a teenager’s substance abuse is not always…