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Substance abuse in adolescents: the adolescent will lie and the parents will deny it

adminAugust 6, 2022

Parents beware. When your troubled teen has a problem with teen binge drinking or drug abuse and you confront them, your teen will most often deny their use. Parents often don’t know what to do, so many parents ignore the problem until drug or alcohol use begins to affect family life on a daily basis.

Here is a case of adolescent alcoholism and adolescent drug abuse from my psychiatric practice:

EH is 18 years old and a senior in high school. She started drinking in the tenth grade. She participates in teenage binge drinking on the weekends. She smokes marijuana almost daily and has used ecstasy about 50 times. She became pregnant and miscarried when she was 17 years old. This year, she contracted herpes after a one night stand when she was drunk and high. She went to rehab and now she is clean and sober and making better decisions for herself.

Teen alcoholism and teen drug abuse are devastating to a family. Parental denial can be very strong.

Here are 10 reasons why parental denial about teen alcohol and drug abuse is dangerous:

1. Your troubled teen could get into a car accident and kill someone or commit suicide while drinking and driving.
2. A teenage girl who is drunk or high has a much higher chance of getting pregnant or contracting a sexually transmitted disease.
3. A teen who abuses drugs or alcohol is at higher risk of being sexually assaulted or the victim of a violent crime.
4. The longer alcohol and drug abuse lasts in adolescence, the more likely it is that the teen’s brain will become dependent on the substance being abused, and the more difficult it will be to “get clean.”
5. The younger a troubled teen is when they begin underage drinking, the more likely they are to have a serious alcohol problem later in life.
6. Teen alcoholism and teen drug abuse take a toll on your teen’s self-esteem as the person’s school performance suffers, job performance suffers, and relationships suffer (constant stress at home, close friendships are lost, etc. )
7. Underage drinking and driving are at risk of not only getting into accidents, but also getting a DUI and going to jail. The legal fees and the implications for your future are significant.
8. The longer parents ignore the problem, the more serious the problem. Seeing a medical professional for an evaluation is important. Your doctor can advise you if detoxification or rehabilitation is necessary.
9. Don’t rationalize that your teen is only experimenting with drugs or alcohol when you know the use is frequent and has lasted for more than several months. It is normal for adolescents to experiment with the use of alcohol and illicit drugs. However, frequent use that begins to affect daily functioning is addiction.
10. Your teen may accidentally overdose by mixing substances that are dangerous together or the overdose may be an intentional suicide attempt. A person is more likely to act suicidal when using drugs or alcohol.

Teen alcoholism and drug abuse in teens have serious consequences, not only for the troubled youth, but also for the family; marriages are negatively affected and the needs of non-addicted siblings are ignored. Parents: Pay attention at home, keep communication open with your children, and be open to getting help for both yourself and your teens.