teen drug addiction - teen alcohol abuse - teen drug problems

Substance abuse, addiction and alcoholism are all terms used to describe the condition of repeated and uncontrolled use of a substance and its associated harmful behaviors. While alcohol and drug use may begin recreationally, in many this pattern inevitably progresses beyond their control. Teen alcohol abuse & teen drug addiction involves the compulsive use and seeking of substances, as well as subsequent craving during withdrawal periods. An addict will continue to use or drink compulsively even in the face of negative physical or social consequences. In adolescent addicts the loss of control may be harder to see because their age may mask the physical consequences of teen drug addiction, while their low amount of responsibility can hide the fact that they have become irresponsible and untrustworthy. However, if loved ones and others in the adolescent’s life believe there is a problem with drugs or alcohol then there likely is. Addicts will often lie about any negative consequences, and may constantly seem to be covering-up something, making-up stories, or explaining themselves for previous actions and inactions. It is important to note that an addict is under the control of a classified mental disorder, a recognized disease. They are in need of medical treatment for this condition. A drug or alcohol addiction is not indicative of a weak or evil person. In fact, chances are the adolescent is just as surprised and frightened by their behavior and substance use as their family members and friends are. They may have tried to quit or moderate on their own, unbeknownst to family or peers.

However, no amount of self-control can keep an addict clean and sober for long, because their brains have been altered by their chronic and prolonged substance abuse. In their confusion, addicts may become defensive when questioned or berated about their substance abuse because they are just as bewildered as their friends or family, though denial often makes this hard for them to see. Denial is simply the afflicted brain’s way of masking the unhealthy drive for more alcohol and/or drugs. Teen addiction is a disease and affects the brain adversely the same way diabetes affects the liver adversely; the course of the disease is out of the addict’s control. This fact is the hardest for loved ones to see because the addiction process supposedly all began with voluntary drug and alcohol use on the addict’s part. However, many scientific studies now argue that the genetic and environmental factors making the individual susceptible to addiction are in place long before the first drink or drug is ever taken. Medical treatment is the only successful option. An intervention begins the process of an addict entering treatment.