Advice and Information on Teenage
Drug Abuse and Teenage Alcoholism

Teenage Drug Abuse and Addiction as well as Teenage Alcoholism have become huge problems ...

Gone are the days when the innocence of youth had real meaning. Today you'll find kids of age 10 and 11 starting to experiment with alcohol and drugs - and it's not uncommon these days to find kids of 12 and 13 in Rehab.

Why is that?

Teenage Drug Abuse and Addiction, and
Teenage Alcoholism: The Times have Changed

I think it's largely due to the times we live in ...

When I was growing up, I'd spend most of my time outdoors, playing sport and just generally mucking around with my mates.

These days youngsters are more likely to be surfing the internet, playing playstation or watching MTV. And as a result they're being exposed to so much more from a far younger age than ever before.

Sex, drugs and alcohol are topics they're being exposed to before they're ready. And with parents also generally being more unavailable because of longer work hours etc, there isn't the necessary level of supervision and involvement in a child's life to monitor what they're doing and what's generally going on in their life.

And so teenagers are having sex younger, experimenting with drugs and drinking alcohol before they're ready.

Until you're mature enough to handle sex, drugs and alcohol (and some people never are), you're playing with fire because inevitably you run the risk of cutting off more than you can chew, which can land you in trouble.

Media - from television, magazines and radio tend to glamorise things like alcohol and sex, and fitting in and being cool - so of course teenagers are going to be susceptible to those messages, which in turn will influence their behaviours.

Expose someone without the maturity and knowledge to handle these things - and you are always going to end with problems.

The Age Old Problem that Causes Teenage Drug Abuse and Teenage Alcoholism

For me though, the biggest reason for teenage drug abuse and alcoholism is still peer pressure. You're at an age where experimentation and fitting in go hand in hand - and so teenagers and adolescents naturally indulge and abuse alcohol and drugs.

When it seems everyone around you is starting to try alcohol and drugs - it becomes very difficult to say no. You want to fit in and be a part of the crowd.

And remember that as a teenager, your mantra is generally to 'get wasted.' Having a drink for purely enjoyment purposes or just a couple of drags from a joint so that you feel mellow and relaxed, without feeling totally out of it, just doesn't happen.

Because getting totally wasted almost earns you a badge of honour from your friends and peers. It's almost like you get extra recognition and respect - and what you did and how you behaved becomes a talking point for a long time afterwards.

It amazes me when I still hear adults talking about how wasted they got and what they got up to as a result, in almost reverend tones. It's scary to think how this kind of behaviour is accepted and sometimes revered in our society today. What's cool and funny about telling (often bragging) to someone about how 'out of it' you were? Yet, it's the kind of conversation you hear going on all the time ...

For me its behaviour that has simply been learned in your adolescent and teenage years - and then simply continued into adult life. And for those teenagers that have a predisposition to drug addiction and alcoholism, their exposure to binge drinking and experimenting with drugs from an early age, can easily result in the growing problem of teenage drug addiction and teenage alcoholism that there is today.

The problem is, I don't see how any of this is really going to change while as a society at large, we especially glamorise alcohol and getting drunk. (Drugs are generally regarded as more taboo – but alcohol is often the gateway to begin using drugs)

Teenage Drug Abuse and Addiction, and Teenage Alcoholism:
Some Facts that put things into Perspective

1.) Of all fatal accidents on roads, more than 50% involve alcohol

2.) Abuse of alcohol and drugs is one of the leading causes of death and injury in teenagers and young adults

3.) It is estimated that violent behaviour attributed to alcohol abuse accounts for around 49% of murders, 52% of rapes, 21% of suicides and 60% of child abuse

And abusing alcohol is regarded as okay? Getting drunk is cool?

Don't forget alcohol often also becomes the gateway for teenagers and adolescents to drugs. You're drunk so you're far more likely to try something you wouldn't normally do. When I was a teenager, the progression tended to go something like alcohol - marijuana - ecstasy - LSD - (and only once you were a fair bit older things like cocaine and rarely heroin)

Teenagers today are far more likely to move very quickly to highly addictive drugs like heroin and methamphetamine (where I come from, known as 'tik'). They've become so readily available. Drug dealers deliver them to you at home. They now operate in the most affluent suburbs because they know that they have a captive market in the teenagers and adolescents that live there.

These are drugs that literally destroy communities because they are so addictive and destructive. Regular use of these drugs guarantees addiction and will destroy you in an instant. Stealing, cheating, lying and selling your body become normal to ensure you get your next hit.

The question is - what do we do? And to be honest, I'm not sure. Yes, education will help, but fundamentally I think we're dealing with a far bigger and deeper problem that is interwoven into the very fabric of our society. Until our attitudes to alcohol changes and until we give our teenagers a real voice and sense of self so that they don’t look for dangerous outlets like drugs to express themselves or hide their pain – teenage drug abuse (addiction) and teenage alcoholism will continue to grow at alarming rates.

Additional Teenage Drug Abuse + Addiction and Teenage Alcoholism Resources

The first subject to understand is what causes teenage drug addiction and alcoholism. Knowing the causes will help give you greater understanding, which will in turn help you deal with the problem better.

Then we'll be looking into the signs of teenage drug addiction and alcoholism. Because as a parent or loved one you often don't know what to look for, so this will help tremendously.

Once you recognise the signs, its a case of knowing what to do, and this is where the treatment of teen addiction becomes the next topic you need to know more on.

My book, Addiction Uncovered, discusses teenage drug abuse and addiction, as well as teenage alcoholism in quite a bit of depth - so you might want to download it (remember it's free)and use the information there in conjunction with what I've written here.