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A Resource Guide for Parents & Families
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Why Do "Sally" & "Johnny" Use Drugs?
Adapted from an article by Alan Leshner, Director of the National Institute of Drug
Abuse
Some young people use alcohol and/or drugs because in some way or another they
are suffering. They use substances to make themselves feel better, or even
normal.
This group often includes people stuck in very difficult life situations - poverty or
abusive families, for example.
It also includes kids suffering from a variety of untreated mental disorders, like
clinical depression, manic depressive illness, panic disorders, schizophrenia.
Estimates are that as many as 10 million children and adolescents may suffer from
emotional and psychiatric problems of such magnitude that their ability to function
is compromised, and the majority of those kids are at extremely high risk of
becoming addicted to alcohol and/or drugs.
These young people are not using just to feel good. These children are actually
trying to medicate themselves. They use alcohol and/or drugs because they think
they will make them feel better, or normal, in the same way that other people
might be given anti-depressants or anti-anxiety medications.
The problem, of course, is that using alcohol and/or illicit drugs is not an effective
treatment. In addition to other, perhaps more obvious problems - like that their
use interferes with normal functioning - this kind of use ultimately makes them feel
worse, not better.
Medical research has shown clearly that this kind of substance use makes
underlying psychological problems worse.
Even the otherwise powerful protective factor of loving, supportive family
involvement in the life of the child is not very effective in these areas.
Young people who are trying to self-medicate need help with their underlying problems.
They need professional treatment.
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How do you know if your children are using drugs?
It may seem natural for an adolescent to be a bit surly, but most adolescents are not actually sullen, withdrawn,
apathetic and lethargic. You should talk to your child about any of these symptoms. You do need to know.
What Can Parents Do?
What if your child is using alcohol and/or drugs?
In a small percentage of cases, parents can work with their own kids to get them to stop. This might be easiest when the
young person is just using occasionally, to have a good time.
Of course, the earlier you start talking to your children about alcohol and/or drugs, the better the chances are they won’t become involved with them.
If a child reaches the age of 20 without using alcohol, tobacco or marijuana, the probability is almost zero he or she will ever develop a serious
drug problem.
If you have questions or concerns about alcohol, tobacco or other drug use in your family, call the Adolescent Resource Center at 586-5908. You will be
able to talk to someone who can help give you good, confidential, and caring" information.
Treatment is Different For "Self-Medicators"
Both the preventive and the treatment approaches for these "self-medicating" young people need to be quite different from the approaches
one would use with novelty seekers or social users.
It can’t be very meaningful to warn people who feel terrible today that using drugs may alter their brains a month from now.
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-Other Parenting Resource Pages -
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Other resources:
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Adolescent Resource Center
(406) 586-5908
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