Adolescent Alcoholism and Teen Depression

The University of Southern California has released a study showing that people who drink to improve one’s mood are more likely to become dependent on alcohol and are more prone to depression. Using alcohol as a coping mechanism causes one to ignore what’s really going on emotionally and negative feelings can ferment, leading to depression, which usually leads to more drinking. This is especially alarming because of another recent study showing that adolescents that drink when depressed are at a higher risk of suicidal behavior.

When the alcohol and drugs are taken away from an addict or alcoholic, the negative feelings can remain. This is why I am glad I got clean in treatment because it gave me a safe place to address my depression and other issues. As I detoxed, doctors were finally able to get a better diagnosis for me, since there weren’t any drugs in me altering my mood. I learned more positive ways to deal with my depression. As I addressed the underlying issue in residential treatment, I began to find ways to deal with my feelings that didn’t involve cutting, using drugs, drinking, or my eating disorder. I learned that I couldn't always control my brain and my feelings but that I could change how I reacted to those feelings. I had to learn to take responsibility for my life and my recovery. This comprehensive approach to my situation let me leave treatment a whole person, the person I was meant to be.

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Adolescent Self Harm, Depression and addiction

When I was using, I resigned myself to the idea that I was just crazy. My behavior certainly made it appear that way. My self-harming behaviors and bouts of extreme depression landed me in more than one psych ward before I went to residential treatment in Malibu. I remember sitting in the hospital one time, surrounded by doctors asking me, “What happened to you? Why are you like this?” I thought I was destined to be crazy. I never considered that drugs might be contributing to my growing mental instability and depression. I never considered that because I was constantly using and not being honest with doctors that I was making it impossible for them to give me a clear diagnosis and treatment. One day a Hospitals and Institutions (H&I) panel from Narcotics Anonymous came to the hospital. The H&I panel members were volunteers from NA who had brought a meeting in to us, since we couldn’t leave. Even though they were much older than me, I identified with the feelings they talked about, and the unreasonable compulsion to use drugs and alcohol. They had had that same kind of "crazy" that no one could put their finger on. They were addicts, and I was an addict. I was a teenage drug addict? I felt like I should have had my own Lifetime movie or after school special in order to be classified a teenage drug addict. It was a heavy moment for me when I realized that drugs and alcohol might be the culprits behind my steady decline, and that I had to use drugs, even when I didn't want to. I took it in as something to consider.

Following the hospital stays, I began my attempts at sobriety, finally ending up in residential treatment. As I stayed clean and began to work the 12 steps with my sponsor and work more closely with the counseling staff at the rehab, I began to see myself kind of “level out.” In early recovery, my reactions to discomfort were rather volatile, but as I developed new behaviors to replace my old, destructive behaviors, I began to feel my insanity lift. Who’da thunk it, that taking away the drugs and alcohol and lunatic drama that was my life in Santa Monica would make me feel less crazy? The structure in treatment and the life that followed in outpatient and sober living was key in maintaining and developing my mental stability. My newly developed tools were best practiced in safe environments for awhile. After developing such a strong foundation, I have been able to take my skills into the world with me. In treatment I learned how to ask for help and worry about saving myself before saving face. I learned how to think before I speak and react. I learned anger management tools and practical application of the 12 steps. I learned how to show up even when I don't feel like it. When I walked out of the doors of Visions, I walked a out a completely different person than the fearful, depressed person that walked in.

Adolescent Self Harm, Depression and addiction

Self-injury and self-mutilation is an Addiction

Self-injury

Many of us don’t think of self-mutilation as an addiction. We think of drugs, alcohol, gambling and even sex as addictions, but rarely do we classify cutting, burning or other self-harm acts as an addiction. Many people turn to self-mutilation as a consequence of simply inadequate coping skills, the same reason that many turn to drugs. Nearly 2 million people identify themselves as “self-injurers” in the United States alone. Self-injury is defined as a deliberate injury to one’s body that causes tissue damage or marks on the skin as a way to deal with overwhelming feelings or situations. Self-harm is usually not done with the intention of suicide, yet in some cases death does occur. There are many different ways in which people self-harm, they include: cutting, branding, picking at skin or wounds, hair pulling, hitting, excessive piercing or tattooing and even drinking harmful chemicals. At first people usually stumble upon self-harm due to hearing about it and think that it may help them cope with unbearable feelings that they don’t know how to other wise express. People will continue to self-harm if it proves as a successful way of relieving uncomfortable emotions. Endorphins, which are the “feel-good” chemicals in your brain are released during self-harm and are natural pain killers. People recognize the relief self-harm grants them as well as the feeling that they get from the release of endorphins and thus the behavior turns into an addiction. Once the behavior passes into that of an addiction, even though the person may be feeling shame or remorse they find it increasingly difficult to stop.

People who self-harm exhibit some similar traits. Having a limited social support system may contribute as well as growing up in a family where expressions of emotions are discouraged. Many self-injurers usually are also dealing with substance abuse issues, eating disorders, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. There are many ways that a loved one can contribute to getting someone help. Some examples of ways that a loved one can help a self-injurer include: encourage expressions of emotions, offering a listening empathetic ear, offering to share enjoyable activities and offering support in the way of a therapist of professional. It is also very important to shy away from judgment or shame as it may trigger the self-injurer to want to harm themselves more due to low self-esteem and a feeling of worthlessness.