Drug Dependency

How to Know When Your Teen Is in Trouble

By Gary Direnfeld, MSW, RSW

Is your teen drug dependent? Would you even know?

Teens and drugs is certainly not a new issue. In fact, many parents will admit to drug use in their teenage years. As such, some parents are less able to recognize drug dependency in their teens, confusing it for perhaps their own "experimental" drug use.

While it is certainly common for teens to "experiment" or to simply desire to find out what being "high" feels like, there are some teens who are at risk for developing drug dependencies – a reliance on drugs to maintain a sense of well-being. Drug dependency can lead to poor school performance, conflict with family, friends and within the community, and conflict with the law. Teens who are drug dependent are at risk for less achievement socially and economically as adults.

Generally, teens at risk for drug dependency share several factors. They may have low self-esteem, poor relationships with parents or siblings and poor school performance. There may also be family difficulties, such as the death of a close or extended family member or the separation or divorce of parents.

While prolonged "experimentation" alone can lead to drug dependency, if drug use coincides with these factors, there can be an increased risk for developing a drug dependency. Facing turmoil in one's personal life at a time when trying illicit drugs can minimize the emotional pain of the situation and thus increase the desirability of the drug. Ongoing drug use lends the user to then associate with other similar drug users where drug use is normalized, accepted and encouraged by the group.

Want to see more?

• Intervention 101: Taking Control of Your Teen's Drug Use
• Drug Dilemma: Teens Share Their Thoughts on Drug Abuse
• Straight Talk: Giving Your Kids the Facts About Drugs
• Talk about it!