Alcohol and Drug Abuse
Many children medicate their feelings of depression by using drugs and alcohol. While it is bad enough that teens engage in this behavior, the prevalence of substance use in younger children is on the rise. One reason for this may be the peer pressure that children feel on a daily basis and their desire to fit in. Another reason may be that they see adults using substances to feel better. Still others feel so bad that they will try just about anything to make those feelings disappear!
The list of substances that are available to children is ever growing but consists primarily of alcohol, amphetamines, cannabis (marijuana), cocaine, hallucinogens, opioids, phencyclidine, and sedatives (hypnotics or anxiolytics). Caffeine and nicotine, though not considered necessarily dangerous, are included in this list.
Alert!
Inhalants are popular substances for kids to abuse. Kids call it “huffing,” which is described as inhaling the fumes from things like glue, spray paint, nail polish, and gasoline. This is easy for a child to hide, so you need to be on the lookout for inhalants in your child's possession that are not things he typically uses in other activities.
Is My Child Using?
What does a child look like who is using substances regularly? A child who normally makes good grades may stop studying or become disinterested in school altogether. She may have trouble getting up in the mornings when she used to jump out of bed at the first ring of her alarm clock. She may be more reactive than usual, bursting into tears or a rage over something seemingly trivial.
Questions about her whereabouts might be met by an overly defensive stance. When she returns from a social activity, she may avoid being in close contact with her parents for fear they might smell alcohol or other substances on her breath. She will be careful not to make eye contact lest her parents notice her glazed or bloodshot eyes.
Other Clues
There is another set of clues that you need to be watching for to determine if your child is abusing alcohol or drugs. Often a child's set of friends will abruptly change and he will begin to hang out with a very different crowd. He may show a decrease in activities that he used to enjoy so that he can spend more time indulging in substance use. He may engage in increasingly risky behaviors such as driving under the influence or getting into fights. Despite getting caught, he may continue to use and may not be able to stop.
Teenagers are famous for wanting their privacy, so it is normal for them to want to be in their rooms and to not want you to invade their space. If the amount of time your child is spending in his room becomes more excessive than usual, he may be actually using substances in his room or spending his time trying to get a substance. He may be using a fan that he normally doesn't in order to diffuse odors, or his window may be always open even when it is cold or really hot.
What's the difference between abuse and dependence?
Abuse is recurrent use of a substance despite problems with day-today functioning, the law, or physical harm. Dependence is marked by a tolerance for a substance such that more of it is needed to get the desired effect and despite efforts to cut back. Symptoms of withdrawal are also present.
Start Educating Early
Children are naturally focused on the present and rarely see their current behaviors as having potential consequences later. They are not aware of their own morbidity, so when they are told that these substances can seriously harm or kill them, they ignore your warnings. The conversation about substance use needs to start early in grade school.
Without lecturing, there are ways to educate your child about the dangers of substance use. If your child is actively using, don't pick that moment to confront him. Instead, you'll have better luck if you will let him sober up and then calmly try to address the situation.
To Search or Not
Parents typically ask if it's okay to search their child's room. Obviously, you do not want to invade anyone's privacy, and that is the first thing your child will holler if you search his room. If you have a suspicion that your child is using alcohol or drugs, you have every right to search his room. Your responsibility is to protect him and guide him. A child rarely becomes completely distraught and angry if he has nothing to hide. Excessive defensiveness and anger may be a sign that you are right on track with the search.
Drug Testing
No parent wants her kid to feel like he is living in a jail. However, if he has repeatedly been caught using alcohol or drugs, you are perfectly within your rights as a parent to have him randomly tested. Random drug testing is better than telling your child beforehand, as they can be quite crafty in finding ways to fool the test. Again, most kids won't like the idea, but if they are clean, they are usually cooperative.
Alert!
Many parents are reluctant to address their child's use of substances because they think “I did it when I was young, too and I'm okay.” Resist the urge to identify with your child's use. Remember that you are the parent and it is your job to protect and monitor your child's involvement in things that are harmful and illegal.
Because many drugs and alcohol have a depressive effect, it's expected that kids who use will be depressed. Also, those substances that act as stimulants cause a rebound effect, meaning that the high feeling goes away and a person may become more down as a result.
If a child is medicating his depression by using alcohol and drugs, his use will only make the condition worse. If he is not depressed, regular and frequent use of substances is likely to create depression.
