The effective treatment of adolescents with substance abuse and behavioral disorders requires an approach that includes attention to every aspect of a young person’s life. We see every individual as a whole being. In addition to fully understanding the emotional, developmental, physical, psychological, familial, social and cultural factors, there must be appropriate resources in place to address these issues. Need help? Contact Us Today! (866) 889-3665
A new study reports that 20% of teens report having shared their prescription medication like Oxycontin with their friends. The study showed that teens traded everything from opiate painkillers to allergy medication, to antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications. Many teens reported that they received medications in the same way.
Trading meds seemed to be the polite thing to do when I was using. I could easily trade my antidepressants for Xanax or Vicodin. Pills are easily hidden and they are easier to take undetected than drugs you have to smoke or snort. They don’t seem as dangerous to teens, either. I never considered that taking someone else’s Adderall or Darvocet could be as dangerous as snorting a line of speed or shooting heroin.
Getting clean at Visions helped me to realize that addiction can wreck lives regardless of the substance or the age. My pill abuse qualified me for help in the same way someone with a heroin problem needed help. No one at Visions ever made me feel like I was too young or “not enough” of an addict. I felt like I was too young, and that it hadn’t gotten bad enough to need help, but once I got out of my using fog, I could clearly see just how bad my life had become. I may not have crashed cars or ended up in jail, but I had completely lost sight of myself. In teen drug treatment, I got a chance to get to know myself again. I remembered that I wanted to do well in life, that I wanted to finish high school in Houston, Texas and get a degree. I wanted to be a good child and a good sibling. I wanted to be me again. Contact us for Prescription medication treatment.
A survey of 12,000 high school seniors indicates that 12.3% of the teens have abused prescription opiate-based painkillers to get high, confirming the rising trend in Teenage prescription drug abuse. Either ignorant of the dangers, or by choosing not to care, teenagers are putting themselves in great danger by abusing these drugs, which can very easily lead to accidental overdose. The study also concluded that most teens who engage in prescription drug abuse are also more likely to abuse other drugs and to have addictive problems. When I was a using, I considered prescription drugs like Vicodin and Oxycontin to be harmless. I wasn't shooting heroin so what was the big deal? The big deal was that regardless of the substance, I was desperately addicted.
I tried them with a friend who had found them in her parent's medicine cabinet. I began to use my after school job money to buy more pills from kids at school. I stole my mom's prescriptions to trade for opiates. When I didn't have them, I got really sick. My whole life began to revolve around getting more pills. I was constantly calculating how many I had versus how many I would need and how I was possibly going to get them. At the end of my using, I was consuming potentially lethal amounts of pills because my tolerance was so high. I needed help. Visions Adolescent Treatment Center helped me detox and begin the recovery process. We covered all aspects of my life, finding new ways to handle life without using drugs. It was a difficult process, but as the number of teenage prescription drug abusers increases, I am so glad I made it out alive.
Lately I have been overwhelmed by the number of prescription drug commercials that are bombarding the airwaves. It seems like there is a pill for everything, and while the ads aren't necessarily for medications like Vicodin or Demerol, they definitely reflect our culture's increasingly relaxed attitude about medicating everything. I absolutely recognize the need for medication in certain cases. In recovery, sometimes medication can help when dealing with severe emotional challenges. For instance, if you can't get out of bed to get to a alcoholics anonymous meeting because of crippling depression, then meetings aren't going to help. I suppose I am just concerned about our country's casual attitude towards pills, because it is similar to the attitude I had when I was using. Just woke up? Take a pill. Stubbed your toe? Take a pill. Feeling upset? Take a pill. Going to work/school/bed? Take a pill. Heck, take a handful.
When I went to adolescent drug treatment, I was suddenly faced with having to deal with things clean. My pill addiction made me want to use every time I had an uncomfortable moment. It was hard to do new things without having that veil of intoxication separating me from the world. The new feelings I experienced made me feel like I was crazy, but as I sat through them, they became less foreign. I felt sad, and happy, and angry and upset. I didn't know what to do with my feelings. This is usually why I used. I had never put in the work to learn how to have acceptance, self-honesty, and hope. Working with the medical staff, I was able to sort out what feelings were actually detrimental to my ability to function, and which ones I was simply uncomfortable having. As I have stayed clean, a lot of those feelings have gotten better. I have learned to be patient with myself, and to not panic when I have a feeling. I can call my sponsor, or do some journaling, talk to a friend, or go for a walk. My feelings don't govern my decisions today. I am free from my teen prescription medication addiction because today I know that sometimes there aren't quick and easy answers to everything. Sometimes I have to do some uncomfortable work on myself. While this new process denies me the instant gratification of getting high with pills, the long term results are of a quality that are deeply gratifying. If your teen is struggling with a pill addiction, there isn't a quick fix, but there is help that can last a lifetime. Click here and contact us today.
Opiate rehab is a solution for teens struggling with opiate dependence. Some commonly abused opiates include the street drugs heroin and opium, and prescription medications such as Oxycontin, Vicodin, Morphine, Percoset, Fentanyl, or Darvocet. Some opiate abusers also abuse synthetic opiates like Methadone and Buprenorphine. Opiates and their derivatives are highly addictive both physically and psychologically, often causing major physical and social problems for the user. They are extremely dangerous when abused and their use can easily result in accidental overdose.
Because of the highly addictive nature of opioids, opiate users often encounter great difficulty in successful withdrawal on their own. Adolescent opiate rehab addresses not only the teen’s physical detox from the drug, but works to address the underlying psychological and emotional issues that may have contributed to the teen’s drug abuse in the first place. Our therapeutic environment provides your teen with a safe place to detox, without the temptations they might encounter at home. After successfully detoxing from opiates, your Adolescent will work with our treatment staff both one-on-one and in group settings to address their addiction, and also any underlying emotional, psychological, or behavioral problems. Our scholastic academy in Los Angeles allows your teen to enter treatment without disrupting their education, and provides a safe learning environment. Aftercare programs like our outpatient program facility in Los Angeles provide a safe re-entry into the world following rehab. Our goal is to provide your teen with the tools necessary to not only successfully detox, but to achieve long-term sobriety.
If you think your adolescent is abusing opiates, or any other substance, please don’t hesitate to contact us today for adolescent opiate rehab in Los Angeles
Eminem recently opened up to Vice Magazine, admitting that he used to be heavily addicted to prescription painkillers and sleeping pills. He reported that at times he was taking 10-20 Vicodin a day and so many Valium and Ambien that he couldn’t count them. Again we are reminded of the growing problem of prescription drug addiction. After a nasty relapse following a knee injury, Eminem got clean and stayed clean. In the article, he shares about his initial struggle to write raps sober. He says, “I almost feel like a little kid again with rap. I wanna play around with different flows. If I don’t feel like it’s what I’m fully capable of, if there’s one weak line, I wanna change it. Rap was my drug. It used to get me high and then it stopped getting me high. Then I had to resort to other things to make me feel that… Now rap’s getting me high again.”
Most of the people I know in recovery are highly creative in one form or another. Many addicts in early recovery struggle with the fear that they will not be able to do the creative things that they used to do when they were using. Art therapy is an extremely useful tool in exploring emotions and recovery. I associated painting and drawing with using, and I thought that I wouldn’t be creative anymore without drugs, which is a lie. I felt like art was a best friend that I could never go back to again, and it broke my heart. Recently, I heard a speaker share that as an artist, in order to overcome her challenges with creativity, she had to remember that she was a creative and clean person before she started using, and that she was a creative and clean person now. Art therapy at Visions helped me readjust my perspective regarding art. I began to see it as a useful tool in my recovery. Painting and drawing are now forms of meditation for me, and a way to work out challenging issues. I don’t know what role art will play in my future, but I know that I don’t want to be without my creative outlets.
‘Tis the season to admit to having a prescription drug problem it seems. Paula Abdul joins Eminem this week in admitting to her past addiction to prescription painkillers. She reports that she finally took the plunge and went through the pain and discomfort of withdrawal last Thanksgiving because she couldn’t go on the way she was living. She recognizes now that the pills could have killed her. The singer and American Idol judge cites longstanding health problems, multiple surgeries, and strong drive to keep working and performing contributed to her increased dependency on pain pills.
Celebrities opening up about their own struggles with substance abuse generally helps to shine the spotlight on the addiction struggles of everyone else.
Prescription drug abuse, especially amongst teenagers, is a growing problem. The Office of National Drug Control Policy reported in 2007 that the number of adolescent prescription drug abusers has caught up to adolescent marijuana abusers, and that prescription drugs are the most commonly abused drug among 12-13 year olds. The most frequently abused prescription drugs are the powerful painkillers OxyContin and Vicodin. The report states that adolescents are more likely than young adults to become addicted to prescription drugs, as they are often viewed as harmless by teens. Teens easily get these drugs from friends and relatives. BYOP (bring your own pills) parties are where teens bring whatever pills they have, be it their own prescriptions or their parents’, and mix the pills into a pile, called “trail mix.” Whatever you get is whatever you get. In order to keep highs exciting, teens blindly take medications so that they will be surprised by their high. If prescriptions must be kept in the home, parents should keep them in a locked location. Pills that have the potential for abuse should be counted frequently. Parents should talk to their children about the true dangers of prescription drug abuse. If you suspect that your teenager is struggling with prescription drug abuse, don’t hesitate to contact us. Help is available.
Jack Osbourne takes Access Hollywood on a tour of Visions Adolescent Treatment Center.
Only seven years ago, Jack Osbourne was a party animal, now a grown up Jack Osbourne cleans up his act and gives Access Hollywood a rare look at his life in drug and alcohol rehab.
Watch this clip and see how we helped Jack with his problems with alcohol, oxycontin, marijuana and vicodin, and we can help you too.
If you need treatment for yourself, or you know someone who does and need immediate answers to your questions, please call 866 889-3665.
There are many different ways that adolescents are using to get high these days. Marijuana and alcohol are among the most common. However, more and more adolescents are turning to prescription medication abuse. 48 million or 20% of the United States population have used prescription medications for reasons other than medical in their lifetime. Since 1995 emergency room visits resulting from prescription medication abuse have gone up 163% and so are visits to adolescent drug rehabs Prescription medications are easier to obtain now more than ever. Some teens are simply stealing their parent’s prescriptions out of the medicine cabinet. More often teens are visiting online pharmacies, where they sell very addictive medications to anyone who will pay. Teens also will trade their prescriptions at school, either for other drugs or for money. Prescription medication can be classified in one of three categories that are the most commonly abused: stimulants, opioids and central nervous system depressants.
Opioids include Morphine, Vicodin and Oxycontin, to name a few. Opioids are used to treat pain. When abused these medications can be life threatening. If opioids are mixed with any substance that depressed the central nervous system, such as alcohol, Xanax, or Valium, they can cause respiratory malfunction and death. These drugs are occasionally snorted or injected, in order to amplify the high.
Central nervous system depressants, such as Xanax or Valium, are used to treat anxiety and sleep disorders. Barbiturates are also considered central nervous system depressants. These medications work by slowing down brain activity, which when abused or used with alcohol they can slow the activity down so much that it results in heart or respiratory malfunction and death.
Stimulants speed up the body causing increased attentiveness, alertness and energy. Stimulants were primarily used to treat asthma and obesity. Currently they are used to treat Attention Deficit Disorder, Depression and narcolepsy. Abusing these medications or mixing them with decongestants may result in irregular heart activity and high body temperatures.
VISIONS ADOLESCENT TREATMENT CENTERS Personalized programs dedicated to helping youth and their families recover from the destructive effects of substance and other behavior related problems. (866) 889-3665
