DSM V Changes

The American Psychiatric Association has revealed new guidelines under consideration for the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, including changes to the categories of adolescent substance abuse, learning disabilities, and many other issues that can effect teens, such as examining new diagnoses for adolescents. Many anticipate that more varied diagnoses will help clinicians focus more on treating individual symptoms rather than over-medicating the population.
Many teens use drugs and alcohol as an attempt to self-medicate. Dual Diagnosis teen drug and alcohol rehab is an effective way for teens to deal with potentially crippling substance abuse issues and accompanying factors, such as bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, ADHD, eating disorders, and depression. In a safe environment, teens learn valuable tools while dealing with drug and alcohol dependence and other challenges. Staff clinicians help to create personalized treatment programs to fit each teen’s needs, working to establish self-value and self-care to ensure lifelong success.

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.

Click here to contact us about adolescent alcoholism and teen depression

Is Your Teen Depressed? Bringing Teen Depression To Light

CBS News talks to Visions Adolescent Treatment Centers about Teen Depression.

At any one time, nearly six percent of American teens are clinically depressed. That's about two million a year, and many of them don't get the help they need, reports CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker.

Now, a government task force is asking doctors to check all teenagers for depression regularly.

Behind the statistics are teens like 18-year-old Taryn. She felt so depressed, anxious and isolated in 9th grade, she started using hard drugs and ended up in rehab at Visions Adolescent Treatment Centers.

"It was just getting so out of control that I couldn't wake up and have a normal day anymore," Taryn says.

Click here for the rest of the story from CBS news.


If you think that your teen is depressed please act now.

What Causes Teen Drug Abuse?

What causes teen drug abuse?

Unfortunately there is not one simple solitary cause for teen drug abuse. As we know addiction is a Bio-Psych-Social disease and all of these components (Biological, Psychological and Social) play a part in addiction. Some teens are more vulnerable than others. Having a relative that is an addict, battling with depression and hanging out with a crowd that uses drugs are all examples of factors that contribute to one’s vulnerability to addiction. Other factors that place teens at more risk than others include:

-lack of parental supervision

-poor communication or relations between teens and their parents

-inconsistency within the family

-inconsistency regarding rules or consequences

-impulsivity

-psychological distress

-excessive mood swings and sensitivity

- lack of drug education

How Drugs Effect Teenagers

How Drugs Effect Teenagers

A drug is any chemical that produces a therapeutic or non-therapeutic effect within a body. Teenagers may be involved with legal or illegal drugs in various ways. Sometimes, experimentation with drugs during adolescence can be common. However, teenagers generally do not see links between their actions of the present and their consequences of the future. Teens also tend to feel invincible and immune to the problems that others around them experience.

Using alcohol, marijuana and tobacco at young ages will increase the potential of using other drugs like heroin, cocaine or speed later down the road. Some teens might experiment and stop, or continue to use occasionally, without significant problems. Others develop a dependency, moving on to more dangerous drugs and causing significant harm to themselves and possibly others.

When teenagers use drugs, they will tend to have symptoms or signs of something being wrong. For example, as far as physical appearance goes, the teen might have a sense of fatigue, red and glazed eyes and/or a lasting cough. On an emotional level, the teenagers might have general mood swings, or irresponsible behavior, possible low self-esteem, general lack of interest in anything or could be generally depressed. In a family environment, a teen drug abuser can often be argumentative, or they become very secretive in movements. In school, a teenager could decline participation, drop in grades, skip certain classes, or generally accumulate a myriad amount of tardiness. These are some of the reasons why it is important to keep kids safe and pay more attention to all that they need. They (teenagers) are always in need of something one way or another.

Drug Abuse - Cocaine

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  Teen addiction is generally used to make up for something that is missing or not visible in a teen’s life. It generally meets the needs of an addicted teenager who knows no other options. This could result in depression, general unhappiness, or a simple inability to deal with everyday situations that occur in real life.
  
  Cocaine is a quite common weapon of choice for troubled/addicted teens. No matter how cocaine is taken, whether it is snorted or smoked, it is highly dangerous and in some instances has killed some users when it (cocaine) has been mixed with alcohol. Serious health problems can evolve from using cocaine such as: major heart conditions, including heart attacks, respiratory conditions, nervous system breakdowns, including strokes, as well as extreme digestive complications.
  
  According to www.wrongdiagnosis.com 91% of hospital consultant episodes for mental and behavioral disorders due to use of cocaine required hospital admission in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03).
  
  Additional stats that are highly startling are as follows from www.drug-statistics.com
  
  
  
  
• 1 out of 4 Americans between the age of 26 and 34 have used cocaine in their lifetime
  
• According to the Minnesota Institute for Public Health and Drug Resource Center, 5,000 adults in the United States try cocaine for the first time each day. (1985)-
• Today it is estimated that 22 to 25 million people have tried cocaine at least once. Conservative estimates indicate that there are over two million cocaine addicts in the United States today.
  
• Contrary to earlier belief, high dose use of cocaine can be detected as long as 10 to 22 days after last use.
  
• Near half of all drug related emergency room visits are due to cocaine abuse.
  
  
  
  Hopefully, if more information about cocaine addiction is voiced more extensively, it will educate the population and possibly prevent future rising statistics.
  
  Andrew C

Holiday Blues

Holiday Blues

The holidays are supposed to be a time for family gatherings, vacations, and giving. However, for many people, teens included, it can be the most stressful time of the year. For teens that are depressed, the holidays can be a nightmarish experience. Unrealistic expectations of merriment and cheer are met with disappointment and alienation. Many teens use this time of the year for binge drinking. Furthermore, suicide rates tend to increase in the winter months. Some feel the financial strain of gift giving, not being able to afford presents for family and friends. Phony revelry and bright lights can only make matters worse.

With this in mind, try to remember the real meaning of the holidays. If you know a teen or someone who is depressed, let them know that they are not alone. If someone is obviously not in the spirit, don’t impose upon them to join in the celebration. Simply, try to talk to them and see if there is anything you can do to help. Remind them that the season will pass and life will return to relative normalcy.