One major university has concluded a study indicating that underage drinkers consume 90% of their alcohol while binge drinking. This is no surprise to me really. Our culture, including the media, often promotes this attitude towards drinking. The problem for young people, is that younger drinking increases the chances of dependent drinking later on, and for some of us, that happens much earlier than others. The way I know that I was different from my drinking peers is that my life became quite unmanageable pretty quickly. I was consumed with the need to drink, and the longer I drank, the …

A recent study reports that teenage girls who use drugs and alcohol are more likely to make decisions that negatively affect their lives. They are more likely to contract STD’s and have unplanned pregnancies. Drugs and alcohol go hand in hand with poor decision making, which includes having unprotected, unplanned sex. When I was drinking and using, sex was a big part of my destructive repertoire. I used people to feel better just like I used drugs. When I was drinking and using, I didn’t think through consequences and only lived for instant gratification. In teen drug treatment, it was …

Mischa Barton has been involuntarily hospitalized in Los Angeles, with early reports speculating that she recently felt suicidal and out of control following a cocaine binge. She was due to appear at the premier of her new movie in New York this weekend, but friends called police to her LA home after they became concerned about her behavior. Mischa has hit the tabloids a lot recently following getting kicked out of a London night club, her yo-yoing weight, and erratic behavior. She has already been arrested for DUI. Cocaine use can lead to extreme paranoia, weight loss, erratic behavior and …

Last night my friend and I went to a party to celebrate our friend’s tenth anniversary in recovery. She got clean when she was fifteen in adolescent outpatient in Newport Beach and has stayed clean since. It is really inspiring to see someone get clean at the age that we did and to actually stay clean. Sometimes it is easy for me to tell myself that I was just going through a phase and that I was as an adolescent too young to be an addict or alcoholic, but I think that since I needed all of that help at …

I started to use drugs because I thought that it would help me fit in with my peers. I felt so uncomfortable with myself and drugs and alcohol initially helped to numb those uncomfortable feelings. As my using progressed, the numbing effects were less pronounced and the unmanageability of my life created a need to use more and more. When I went to Visions adolescent drug rehab, I felt like I was the only person on earth who felt the way I felt. Using drugs and alcohol had created this cosmic loneliness where it felt impossible to connect with people …

Bookmark on Delicious Digg this post Recommend on Facebook Share on Linkedin share via Reddit Share with Stumblers Tweet about it Subscribe to the comments on this post Tell a friend

Reports of Michael Jackson’s prescription drug abuse have been flooding the media. Recent articles depict a heavy addiction to painkillers and the anti-anxiety drug, Xanax. People surrounding Jackson have reported that he visited doctors in different states and had staff members fill prescriptions in their names in order to maintain his intense habit. It is a tragedy when anyone succumbs to the wrath of addiction, and the only positive thing that may come of Jackson’s death is that it has highlighted the dangers and seriousness of prescription drug abuse. What I would hope to see from the media is a …

At Visions Adolescent Treatment Center we’ve noticed the use of “club drugs” by teenagers has been on the rise. Teenagers involved with raves or other all night dance parties often take these extremely dangerous drugs thinking they are harmless and non-habit forming. Because they generally come in pill or liquid form, many of these drugs are easily hidden in pill bottles, candy containers, or eye drop containers or mouthwash or water bottles. Club drugs, or party drugs often refer to the following:Ecstasy- (E, X, Beans, Adam, Lover’s Speed, Clarity, Hugs, X-T-C, MDMA, Candy, Thiz, Rolls) This drug is a hallucinogen …

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N06RmpdCzkU] Psychological difficulties, including confusion, depression, sleep problems, drug craving, severe anxiety, and paranoia — during and sometimes weeks after taking Ecstasy (psychotic episodes have also been reported). Physical symptoms such as muscle tension, involuntary teeth clenching, nausea, blurred vision, rapid eye movement, faintness, and chills or sweating. Marked increase in body temperature (hyperthermia), which may further be exacerbated by the hot and crowded conditions characteristic of the rave environment. Hyperthermia can lead to liver, kidney, and cardiovascular system failure. Increases in heart rate and blood pressure, a special risk for people with circulatory or heart disease. Other cardiac effects …

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 …