Youth and Substance Abuse Essay

There is no doubt that there is a prevalence of substance abuse throughout several age groups. To a certain extent, a society is faced with the reality of controlling substance abuse. Or allow it run rampant throughout the community. Often times, we hear and read about the level of substance abuse among teen, young adults and mid-aged

Years ago, the common image of an adolescent drug abuser was a teen trying to escape from reality on illegal substances like cocaine, heroin, or marijuana. Today, there is a great discrepancy between that perception and the reality of who is likely to abuse drugs. A teenage drug abuser might not have to look any further than his or her parent’s medicine chest to ‘score.’ Prescription drug abuse by teens is on the rise. Also, teens are looking to prescription drugs to fulfill different needs other than to feel good or escape the pressures of adulthood. Teens may be just as likely to resort to drugs with ‘speedy’ side effects, like Ritalin to help them study longer, as they are to use prescription

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

Research reveals that self-esteem is the most consistent predictor of the likelihood and extent of substance abuse (Uba et al., 2013). The client is a 15- year old female who was court ordered to Inspirations for Youth and Families treatment center. Client was arrested for shop lifting but was also charged with the possession of Heroin. For the past couple weeks, the client presented with low self-esteem of self that may have played a role in her poor choice in substance abuse. On top of Detox and group therapy, the client will receive Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in hopes to improve self-esteem to alter the substance abuse behavior.

A drug is a substance that alters the mind, body or both. Drug use is an increasing problem among teenagers in colleges today. Most drug use begins in the preteen and teenage years, the years most crucial in the maturation process (Shiromoto 5). During these years adolescents are faced with difficult tasks of discovering their self identity, clarifying their sexual roles, assenting independence, learning to cope with authority and searching for goals that would give their lives meaning. Drugs are readily available, adolescents are curious and venerable, and there is peer pressure to experiment, and there is a temptation to escape from conflicts. The use of drugs by teenagers is the result of a combination of factors such as peer

According to current statistics released by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, “In the United States in 2011, there were an estimated 25.1 million adolescents aged 12 to 17. In the past year, more than one quarter of adolescents drank alcohol, approximately one fifth used an illicit drug, and almost one eighth smoked cigarettes” ("A Day in the Life of American Adolescents," 2013, para. 1). Substance abuse is major problem amongst adolescents. Some are experimenting, but some adolescents may become dependent on a particular substance. If one becomes dependent on a substance as an adolescent it could be detrimental to their future health and success as an adult. Spear (2003) stated in an article titled Alcohol’s

Does only the juvenile drinking or drugging up suffer, or do others get involved? The answer is, not only do the users suffer, but so do their family, friends, and the community. However, due to the rise of juvenile's becoming involved in substance abuse, the juvenile justice system has resulted in an increased burden. Over the past fifteen years, the fad of drug use among kids has steadily been increasing.

*** was founded with a mission to be an alternative to incarceration. The organization is a private, free-standing, non-profit agency which is accessible to all, regardless of economic, ethnic or religious backgrounds. Since 1971, ***. has provided a highly successful, comprehensive, continuum of behavioral health services. Our formal treatment services have helped over 20,000 young people and their families. Under the *** umbrella, broad arrays of evidence-based prevention services have also been implemented in the treatment of substance use and co-occurring disorders. With their focus on identifying risk and protective factors, these programs have helped to educate and support

Stevens, P., & Smith, R. L. (2013). Substance abuse counseling: Theory and practice (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

The Minnesota Model is primarily an inpatient treatment program similar to the 12-step model of Alcoholics Anonymous. Teams of professional therapists create individualized treatment programs lasting around a month to treat chemical dependencies and promote lifelong abstinence from drugs that clients are dependent on. It can also be an outpatient treatment in the form of self-help groups, where recovering addicts meet multiple times a week to evaluate and discuss their issues with dependency or relapse.

Substance abuse addictions are multifactorial disorders that not only leads to directly destroying the individual, but also effects the families and the community of the abuser. By having one centralized facility, using a team approach that requires collaboration, and offers multiple options for treatment will benefit not only the individual, but the community as a whole. For treatment to be successful it requires a multifaceted approach that is offered in many different settings, using evidence based, and therapeutic approaches, with medication-assisted treatments as an option.

Scientific research shows that treatment can help many drug using offenders change their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors; avoid relapse; and successfully remove themselves from a life of substance use and crime. Treatment can cut drug use in half, decrease criminal activity, and reduce arrests. It is true that legal pressure might be needed to get a person into treatment and help them stay there. Once in a treatment program, however, even those who are not initially motivated to change can become engaged in a continuing treatment process. In fact, research suggests that mandated treatment can be just as effective as voluntary admission to rehab centers.

Prevention methods for substance abuse are taught to children as early in their kindergarten years and follow throughout their lifetime. Current programs available are school-based programs, parent and family, work programs and community and public media campaigns.

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.

to govern much of the individual’s behavior. The most extreme case of drug use is the