Do you think your teen is on Drugs? part 4: Resources
If there are enough red flags to make you worry about whether your teen is using drugs, then you should call for help. Your teen on drugs is not your teen. Your teen on drugs does not have the beautiful smile and kind heart you remember. This is your teen on drugs. You can’t love your teen to sobriety. Teens don’t keep doing drugs because they don’t remember how much you love them. If anything it is remembering that love that creates a cycle of guilt and use. Since few parents would know how to handle this situation, it is important that you seek help now.
Treatment for drug and alcohol use involves, but is not limited to individual therapy (where the therapist meets with your teen alone), family therapy (the therapist meets with your teen with you and other involved family), and group therapy (where the therapist meets with your teen in a group of other teens with the same issue). Group therapy can also be Narcotics Anonymous (NA) or Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). Other places may include art therapy, relaxation therapy, physical therapy by way of exercise and the list goes on.
Rehabilitation can be done as an inpatient (in a rehabilitation facility) or outpatient setting (while the patient is still living at home). Therapists frequently start in an outpatient setting and this is important since your teen needs to learn how to function and cope in that environment and not all insurance companies cover inpatient rehabilitation, which can be very expensive.
Local Resources:
- Pediatrician or teen doctor.
- You can also call your insurance company. This will be different depending on the type of medical coverage in your area. More comprehensive healthcare may have this so well integrated into their standard of care that the referral is seamless.
- Local church or place of worship.
Online Resources:
- Alcohol Drug treatment is a great referral service for local help. An operator can answer questions and refer you to local rehabilitation centers.
- Google: There is no harm in doing a Google search for “Teen drug treatment in your city”
- NIDA is a great resource for information, resources and other information.
- Teendrugabuse.USAThey “educate people about why teens begin using, what they are using, and how those drugs are affecting teens physically, socially, and mentally.”
- Theantidrug.comThis is a website full of resources about teen drug use and stresses the fact that parents are really the antidrug message. They give you tools to help you perform that duty to the best of your ability.
Hotlines:
- 1.800.662.HELP. This is the number for the US Department of Health and Drug Treatment Referral Service. You can always Google search this same information for your local town.
- 1.866.SOBER12. Another referral number where the person can direct you based on the information you provide.
Books:
Books allow you to connect with others while learning from someone else’s story. Great examples of some well written stories are:
- Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey through His Son’s Addiction by David Sheff.
- Tweaked: Growing Up on Methamphetamines by Nic Sheff
- Broken by William Cope Moyers
- The Lost Years: Surviving a Mother and Daughter’s Worst Nightmare by Kristina Wandzilak and Constance Curry
Resources can get you the information and help you need and connect you with others who share your experience. You need a support system to endure this phenomenal challenge.
Tomorrow the definition of recovery will be stressed and there will be helpful tips to begin the discussions and habits that help prevent drug use and abuse.
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