The title of this blog itself might be enough to stop you in your tracks –
The addiction and recovery process for teens?
People often think of those in addiction recovery as being adults. While the majority of them are, there are several teens who suffer from substance abuse just as equally, unfortunately.
As a parent or even just another outsider, it can be hard to understand what the recovery process is like for a teen. While you have certain expectations of what addiction recovery will be like, but when you see a teen going through it it is still different than what you might have expected.
Because they are so young and their brains are still so underdeveloped, it can be a difficult process on both parties experience:
They don’t understand their limits.
Obviously, as a young adult their body’s are smaller and less developed – however, they might not understand that they have much smaller limits than an adult.
It is common that they will excessively overdo it with drugs or alcohol. A major part of the addiction recovery process for teens is just understanding what the substance is doing to their body and how much worse it is harming them because they are so much younger and smaller of stature, and most importantly, still developing.
They need to grasp what this does to their brain and other organs and how a long-term abuse of the substance beginning at such a young age could really be detrimental when it comes to their adult life.
They will probably act out.
Behavioral issues typically already come with addiction recovery as the drug or alcohol that the individual was abusing changes their personality and coming off of that can create some emotional issues.
But, teens are extra hormonal as their bodies are changing so you might notice that they experience some extra sadness and frustration which can bleed over into their home life too. They might lash out at you easier or sleep much more.
They have their whole life ahead of them.
One benefit to addiction recovery as a teen is that your whole life is still waiting for you right ahead. So, while they are struggling to get better and hurting, remind them of that.
Most people feel down because they have wasted half or all of their life on their addiction, but a teen has the perfect opportunity to not become that person by getting better now.
Addiction treatment options are available for teenagers. Parents of addicted teens may want to consider a Christian drug rehab center for their teenager to instill new values within them.