Drug abuse and teens – The adolescent addiction challenge.

Guest author: Clint Stonebraker

Recovery from any addiction is a difficult process. It involves an individual’s willingness to take responsibility for his or her actions, a concrete decision to make significant lifestyle changes, and the courage to repair damaged relationships. The level of emotional maturity involved in taking these steps is usually somewhat foreign to an addict.

What about a person who is suffering from addiction and is, developmentally speaking, still a child? How does this person muster the emotional maturity needed to begin the recovery process?

I had the opportunity to work with a seventeen year old whose father had recently been treated for alcoholism. The father had suffered numerous consequences related to his alcohol problem including multiple D.U.I.’s and a divorce. By the time he sought treatment, the father was motivated to make a life change. He understood the root of his life problems revolved around alcohol abuse and had a desire to take responsibility for his actions.

When it came to the son, things weren’t that simple…

The seventeen year old had also suffered numerous consequences related to his drug abuse. He had already been arrested twice and had left home four months prior to seeing me. In fact, he clearly stated the only reason he agreed to the appointment was because his father had made it a part of the criteria for the boy to come home. He still believed the problems in his life were due to others not “leaving him alone.”