Abuse In Adolescents

Some teenagers go through a depression stage with confusion and loneliness, some even consider harming themselves or taking drugs to cope with the depression. Some teenagers go through a period of stupid, reckless behavior. Some teenagers go through a period when drug addiction overrules their lives. When teens get peer pressured into taking drugs they think it will be cool, but throughout their addictive period they get involved with bad people. Research has shown that it take about 11 seconds after a teen takes a drug and they can be addicted. Teenagers have very high chances of addiction. Young people grasp things very quickly and can easily get addicted to things quicker, because their minds are constantly growing and it speeds up their learning process. According to the article, "Experts Link Brains' Immaturity, Juvenile Crime", Juveniles are more vulnerable and susceptible to negative influences and outside pressures, including peer pressure. This peer pressure often comes from a persons closest friends. During the development of a teen brain it matures and grows. People overcome challenges in adulthood by remembering choices they made during their teenage years and what those choices led them

Teenage drug abuse is an issue that can result from a wide variety of social influences, stressful events, and mental disorders. Drug abuse among adolescents is a troubling issue because it decreases focus, increases the chance of consistency in behavior during adulthood, increases the chances of developing emotional issues, permanently damages the brain, and damages tissues in every system that can lead to death. Previous scientific research has identified that social factors, including the media and peers, play an important role in psychological development and impact the adolescent's decision to start experimenting with substances (Botvin 888). Appropriate solutions for the teenage drug abuse issue already exist, but the only remaining

Among adolescents aged 12 to 17 years, 9.8 % are estimated to be current users of illicit drugs, with 4.9 % using drugs other than marijuana. Nearly three quarters of students have started to drink alcohol and nearly half (47%) have tried using an illicit drug (not including alcohol or tobacco) by the senior year of high school.” (Hassan, Harris, Sherritt, Van Hook, & Brooks, 2009)

Stress and weight control among teens are some other reasons why they use drugs, smoke cigarettes, or drink alcohol (Teen Detox, 1). “Younger Children, at eight-grade level and below, are at a greater risk, because their personalities haven’t developed well enough, and the aren’t mature enough to know how to handle altered states of consciousness. As with any drug, the younger the age of first use, the higher the risk” (Dr. Larry Chait, Teen Addiction, 64).

Many teenagers between the ages of 12-18 are exposed or already on their way to addiction to substances that are not good for our mental or physical health. Many teens experiment with drugs but aren’t addicted. According to addictioncenters.com “teen drug abuse can have long term cognitive and behavioural effects since the teenage brain is still developing.” A study also shows that half of all new drug users are under 18. This is because our brains are still seeking the “thrill” and temptation of substances. Other common reasons are curiosity, peer pressure, stress, emotional struggles and wanting a escape. Thankfully drug use among teens, despite popular opinion are significantly decreasing. The teenage brain is very immature. By doing drugs as a teen you are at a greater risk for being an addicted adult.

Adolescence is a time where adolescents grow and mature at a rapid rate. It is also a time where adolescents are more vulnerable to taking risks, such as using and becoming addicted to illegal substances, due to raging hormones. Whether or not an adolescent chooses to engage in drug use and abuse depends on their home environment and those they choose to associate themselves with. Adolescents are confronted with an enormous amount of pressure to participate in risky behaviors by their peers. According to Broderick and Blewitt (2015), “risky behaviors are behaviors that constitute a departure from socially accepted norms or behaviors that pose a threat to the well-being of individuals or groups” (p. 389). One such risky behavior is drug use and addiction. Some adolescents use cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and prescription drugs in order to get “high”. Adolescents who engage in drug use are likely to become addicted, and thus, their addiction will negatively affect their brain development.

It has been discovered that most people who struggle with drug addiction began experimenting with drugs in their teens. Teenage drug abuse is one of the largest problems in society today and the problem grows and larger every year. Drugs are a pervasive force in our culture today. To expect kids not to be influenced by the culture of their time is as unrealistic as believing in the tooth fairy (Bauman 140). Teens may feel pressured by their friends to try drugs, they may have easy access to drugs, they may use drugs to rebel against their family or society, or they may take an illegal drug because they are curious about it or the pleasure that it gives them.

Child abuse is when any child from newborn to age eighteen is abused, it also does not matter what gender the child is. Research shown by Emily Douglas that younger children, especially younger than the age of one are at greater risk for dying from abuse and maltreatment (Douglas, 2014, 260-264). Also found from this research was that a wide variety of behaviors from the abuser wanting control, having anger, or frustration can affect how a child is abused. For example if the abuser is angry then they might choose to beat the child, if the abuser is frustrated they might shake the child, or if the abuser want to control the child then they might hold the child down. Typically if the abuser is a lady then they will more likely abuse the child

When examining at a broad scope, traumatic events are often linked to PTSD (Cepeda, Saint Onge, Kaplan & Valdez, 2010), but this is generally examined at the adult level. Hurricane Katrina took its psychological toll on adolescents as well. Just as adults turn to substance use in stressful situations, adolescents follow this same pattern (Beaudoin, 2011). Adolescents are particularly vulnerable in the wake of a disaster (Wagner, Brief, Vielhauer, Sussman, Keane & Malow, 2009). The exposures of this disaster on adolescents lead to the development of destructive health behaviors. After disaster adolescents, namely female adolescents, suffer interpersonal victimization (Wagner, Brief, Vielhauer, Sussman, Keane & Malow, 2009). Young females are

They might start bedwetting, sucking their thumbs, go back to baby speech. They might become more clingy to parents and worry when their parents are going to get home. Have more temper tantrums and it's hard to calm them down. May not talk after a traumatic event because they are afraid that they will get hurt more. They have trouble falling asleep or have lots of nightmares about the traumatic event or other bad dreams.

There are some complex causes to teenage drinking. There are social, emotional, and physical causes that influence teens to drink alcohol. The most prevalent cause of teenage drinking is peer pressure.

Peer pressure shows up the most when adolescents come in contact with drugs and alcohol while they are with friends. Kathiann Kowalski from the book Teens at Risk says that “Teenagers are particularly vulnerable to peer influences” (Egendorf, L. K., & Hurley, J. A., P. 43). Some obvious ways to tell if an adolescent is being peer pressured is how they act around a certain group of people and doing things that they wouldn’t normally do. “In a NIDA-funded study, teens driving with their friends in the car were more likely to take risks—like speeding through yellow lights—if they knew that two or more of their friends were watching” (Why Does Peer Pressure Influence Teens To Try Drugs?). Many teens have an impulse when they are with friends to try and act out to impress their friends. Drugs and alcohol have also always been a major concern to parents with adolescents only

During adolescence children tend to experiment new experiences and experimenting with alcohol and drugs is common. It is very unfortunate that the teenagers often don 't realize the consequences they are going to face in the future due to their actions today. They also have a tendency to feel indestructible and immune to the problems that others experience.

There are a lot of things that causes peer pressure. Starting with the individuals feeling like they need to be accepted or recognized by the “popular” people or people they admire. Some teens tend to be into peer pressure when others aren’t the same as them. Their peers usually bully, harass, and tease them just because they are different. Some other teens get into peer pressure because their peers around them are doing things they aren’t doing and they are tempted to try to do what they are doing. For example, why do underage teens drink alcohol even though they know that they are not allowed to do it? Teens drink alcohol mostly because of peer pressure and who they hang around are influencing it. They think that drinking at a young age is a cool thing to do

For many people stress is the reason that drives them to drink or do drugs. The alcohol or drug numbs them to the stress of school, work, family, money and relationships. Yes, the drugs and alcohol may numb you from the pain but in reality, it makes everything worse. You can become addicted, you mood changes and in the end, you may end up hurting others around you. As well, other reasons that cause people to make these bad decisions include, peer pressure which is a big issue for teens who feel the need to fit in or want to be viewed as cool, family issues, curiosity, and simply because it is accessible.