"STICKER SHOCK" To Prevent Teen Treatment

Virginia has now joined other states in a statewide “sticker shock” campaign, where youth and law enforcement officials, in cooperation with local retailers, have begun placing warning labels on alcohol. The stickers remind buyers of the legal consequences for buying alcohol for minors. The campaign hopes to curb teen drinking by cutting off their supply of alcohol.
When I was underage, I either stole alcohol with my friends from stores or people’s parents (my parents didn’t keep alcohol in the house) or I got someone older than me to buy it for me. Occasionally, a shopkeeper would sell me alcohol. I don’t know why, but they did. I’m not sure how my drinking would have progressed had I not had such easy access to alcohol. I think that I would have found something to get me loaded. I usually did. I don’t think that my problem was as much about people giving me access to alcohol, but that my compulsion to drink and use drugs. My solution wasn’t so much about cutting off my alcohol supply, but was more about finding the root of my drinking problem and treating that. In teen alcohol treatment, I was able to deal with the things that led me to try and numb myself. Drugs and alcohol are always going to be out there. The problem isn’t the substance- it’s me. In doing the necessary work on myself, I have been able to find freedom and happiness. If your teen is struggling with alcohol or drug dependence, contact us today.

Teen Alcohol Rehab

The LA Times reports that it has been proven that alcoholics have more difficulty interpreting facial cues indicating emotion that non-alcoholics. It has yet to be determined whether this social deficiency is a result of heavy drinking or one of the root causes of heavy drinking. Either way, it may be one of the reasons alcoholics have such a hard time perceiving the emotions of those around them.
Regardless of the causes, alcoholism can destroy families. Relationship troubles are frequently one of the first indicators that a teen has a problem. Secrecy, lying, and intense self-centeredness are all early indicators of a teen drinking problem. Teen alcohol rehab helps to repair the broken relationships that alcohol destroys. Family sessions with clinical staff aim to rebuild and strengthen familial bonds and closeness. Individual and group therapy sessions with struggling teens helps to strengthen their own interpersonal communication skills. Alcohol can destroy teens and families, but early intervention and treatment can help repair the damage done, and set troubled teens on the path to a better, more satisfying life. If you have questions regarding adolescent alcohol treatment for your teen, please contact us today.

Agoura Adolescent Drug Treatment

A study published by the July 2009 journal, Pediatrics, has determined that teens with a fatalistic attitude are more likely to engage in risky behavior such as adolescent drug use and fighting. It’s not surprising; as an invincible teen, it’s hard to imagine how actions in your youth will affect your life in the future. (For example, sometimes I wish I could go back and punch my teenage self for dropping classes and messing up my GPA because now I actually care about going to college.) “Live fast, die young,” is an enticing motto for teens, and the inability or unwillingness to consider future consequences makes it really hard to even want to get clean. Since I didn’t think I would live past 25, I didn’t care much about how my actions would affect my future.
In adolescent drug rehab, it was still hard to develop a strong desire to get clean, but as I stuck around, that began to change. When I realized that I could be of use to someone else, I started to want to live. After I’d been in drug treatment a few weeks, a new resident arrived and was having a lot of problems adjusting. She was extremely resistant and plotted ways to escape. I knew that I had had similar problems when I first arrived in drug treatment, and seeing how ridiculous and desperate her ideas seemed, I had a bit of clarity. I didn’t want her to go out and use, so why would I want that for myself? That little realization helped me refocus my attitude in treatment. I reached out to her and tried to offer the little bit of experience I had gained in how to stay put. I realized that even though I didn’t have years of wisdom, I knew how to stay in treatment for three weeks, and that was more than she knew. That small spark of a friendship gave me a purpose that week. As time has gone on, I have more and more purpose. There are more and more people that I have connected with. Small “esteemable” acts have helped my self worth grow tremendously. As I learned that I was worthy to others, my life began to have meaning, and a fatalistic attitude seemed pretty impractical and not at all glamorous. The article points out that teens with fatalistic attitudes are like big walking red flags for more and more trouble down the road.

If your teen is engaging in self destructive behaviors like teenage drinking and drug abuse, help exists to help stop it before it’s too late. I’m so glad I got my second chance, and I hope others will too.

Please click here if you live in Agoura Teen drug treatment.