4 Troubled Teens Blog

The National Institute of Drug Abuse estimates that teenagers and young adults are the largest groups currently using prescription medication for recreational purposes. In NIDA's most recent survey on teens and drugs, 36 percent of high school seniors admitted to having used drugs at least once in the previous 12 months.

"Many adults.... may not realize that it could be poor judgment to leave those medications accessible around the home. For example, a teen's mother just returned home after having surgery. That teen knows her mother is taking a pain reliever called OxyContin. When no one is looking, the teen gets into the bottle and gets a couple of pills. No one is the wiser."

Pain relievers, stimulants, sedatives and tranquilizers are the most commonly misused and abused prescription drugs. Parents need to keep prescription medications locked up, and should observe their teens for common indicators of a drug or alcohol problem. Source: The Purell Register


Learn everything you want to know (and some things you might not want to know) about prescription drug abuse at http://www.teenoverthecounterdrugabuse.com.

Drug Rehab information

Labels: addictions, medications, prescription_drug_abuse

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St. Cloud, Minnesota, officials are trying to decide how to handle runaways and troubled youth now that a local youth shelter has closed. The OK House, which had been in operation since 1975, was a place where both runaway and troubled teenagers could get help.

"Law enforcement officials have voiced concern about where they will take youths who have run away or committed minor offenses that don't warrant placement in a juvenile detention facility. 'Right now we're kind of struggling with what to do with these kids,' [Police Chief Dennis] Ballantine said."

OK House closed its doors last month due to an operating deficit. Alternatives proposed by law enforcement and state officials include finding emergency foster homes or placing teens at the Sheriff's Youth Home in St. Cloud. Source: St. Cloud Times

Labels: runaways, community, shelters

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From 1997 through 2003, the number of teenage smokers in the United States dropped from 36.4 percent to 21.9 percent. But recent data shows that the percentage has remained largely unchanged over the past five years, prompting some to worry that anti-smoking campaigns are beginning to fail.

"[Terry] Pechacek [of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] blamed the trend in part on cuts on anti-smoking campaigns by states that had been funded by a nationwide 1998 settlement of a class-action lawsuit against the tobacco industry....At the same time, cigarette companies have continued to increase their spending on promotional activities...."

This data comes from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which is conducted every two years. The YRBS questions students in grades nine through 12 about various risky behaviors including the use of drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. Source: San Francisco Chronicle

Labels: prevention, teenagers, smoking

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A high school in Peoria, Illinois, has reached an agreement with a local health center to have the center begin random drug testing of the school's students in the upcoming academic year. Each week, Tazwood Mental Health Center will test a minimum of ten Morton High School students who are involved in extracurricular activities.

"Students are eligible for testing throughout their four years in high school. If they decline, they have to sit out extracurricular activities for one year. Police will not be notified of a positive drug test, but a student will be subject to the penalties imposed in the appropriate athletic or activity code."

Parents will also be notified and Tazwood will offer on-site substance abuse counseling services two to three days a week. Source: Peoria Journal Star

Labels: high_school, drug_testing, extracurricular_activities

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For decades, childhood depression has been linked to issues such as abuse, abandonment, brain injury, and chronic anxiety. But British Columbia Children's Hospital psychiatrist Jane Garland wants to add something to the list: "affluenza".

"Children who are overly indulged or who use a depressive coping style may develop what she calls 'learned helplessness' and can be heard saying things such as, 'Nothing ever works out for me,' or 'There's no use trying,' or 'Nothing I do ever makes a difference.'"

Affluenza is seen as an increasing problem among today's teenagers, many of whose parents are detached and uninvolved, and who rarely suffer consequences for their actions. The lack of attention and discipline creates a mindset in the children that they can get whatever they want with little or effort. Doses of reality - a low test score, or not being selected for a school sports team - can trigger depressive episodes. Source: Canwest News Service

Labels: depression, anxiety, abuse

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Emily is a high school senior at Wyoming Valley West. After she lost a friend to suicide earlier this year, the tragedy prompted her to hold a benefit concert to help support the non-profit organization To Write Love on Her Arms.

"To Write Love On Her Arms [is] an international organization that provides counseling and assistance to teenagers suffering with depression, addiction or self-mutilation issues."

The benefit was scheduled to be held at an area jazz café, and Emily said she hoped that at least 150 attendees would be on hand to support the bands and the organization. Source: Times Leader News

Labels: suicide, prevention, counseling

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Yoga and troubled youth are two terms that few people would put together. But the Denver (Colorado) Children's Home has, and it's getting great results.

"Thirteen-year-old Jatay Phillips had never tried yoga before. She's dealing with anger issues while at the Denver Children's Home. Phillips says yoga helps her control her temper. 'Yoga, it relaxes me and there's not so many things rushing through my mind,' said Phillips."

Chris Bradford, a 17-year-old former gang member, said yoga had helped him learn how to handle stress. Dr. Ann Bortz, a psychologist with the Denver Children's Home, said students in the home have been more relaxed, and facility has experienced fewer discipline problems, since the yoga program was started. Source: 9News

Mount Bachelor Academy, a private boarding school for troubled teens in Oregon, offers mindful meditation to support attention and executive function/brain development. Learn more at http://www.mtba.com/yoga.html.

Labels: exercise, yoga, peace

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A young girl recently wrote to a local advice column seeking guidance about her friend. "Emma," as the friend was referred to, is 14 years old and like a little sister to the writer. But Emma had recently begun hanging out with 18- and 19-year-old boys who let her drink and smoke pot. "What should 'big sis' do?" the writer asked.

"Tell Emma's mother now. Because Emma's father is an alcoholic, she already has the predisposition to become one. The longer you procrastinate, the greater her chances of getting into serious trouble - and face it, she's already well on her way."

It's not always easy to do what's best for friends, but making difficult decisions such as this is an important part of friendship. Sometimes teens have to act in a manner that will make a friend mad now, but will benefit her in the long run. Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Labels: addictions, peers, girls

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Seattle has long had a problem with teenage prostitution, as have many other cities across the United States. But a recent report has shown that the Washington city provides little or no help to girls who want to get off the streets and into a better life.

"Safe housing for girls to escape violent and domineering pimps: nonexistent. Outreach programs: understaffed. Substance abuse and mental health counselors: untrained to address these teens. 'I don't even know how to ask them these questions,' one social worker admitted."

The report's author, Debra Boyer, held a forum in Seattle in which she revealed the results that were gathered from case studies and police reports. Boyer emphasized the importance of developing programs and other forms of assistance that will treat teenage prostitutes as victims rather than criminals. Source: Seattle Post-Intellingencer

Labels: prevention, girls, prostitution

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A 40-year study that began when participants were eight years old has produced some surprising predictors of alcoholism in adults:

" Aggressive, impulsive children - regardless of sex - were more likely to develop adult alcoholism.

" Family conflicts and limited parental education did not predict adult alcoholism.

" Popularity during childhood and adolescence was linked to drinking in amounts greater than average in early adulthood, and problem drinking later in life.

" Children with high IQs and who had attained educational status before age 18 were more likely to drink in above-average amounts as adults.

This fourth finding is the so-called "wine effect," according to Professor Rowell Huesman, who co-authored the study with Professor Eric Dubow of Michigan's Institute for Social Research. "Higher education is associated with greater wine consumption, and that produces the correlation," Huesman said.

The study was published in the May 2008 issue of the journal Addiction

Labels: aggression, alcoholism, adulthood

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Tristen Hurt was just 15 when his girlfriend became pregnant. After his son was born, he started attending a program called "Young Men in Transition" that teaches teenage boys how to be dads.

"Since 1994 it has helped about 450 very young fathers - more than 90 percent of whom started in the program - complete high school, get jobs and establish relationships with their children."

Tristen and his girlfriend were married two years ago, and Tristen in on the road to becoming a surgical technician. He has great relationships with his kids and credits "Young Men in Transition" with teaching him what it means to be a dad. Source: Star-Tribune, Minneapolis, MN

Youth Care offers a residential treatment program for pregnant teens.

Labels: pregnancy, fathers, role_models

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Dr. Nora Volkow of the National Institute on Drug Abuse wants to know how exercise can help prevent drug or alcohol abuse. The possible connection was first brought to her attention through a study that reported that teens and tweens who exercised were half as likely to smoke and 40 percent less likely to try marijuana than were their sedentary peers.

"The best evidence: Brown University took smokers to the gym three times a week and found adding the exercise to a smoking-cessation program doubled women's chances of successfully kicking the habit."

Volkow invited 100 exercise and neurobiology experts to a two-day conference where she announced that a $4 million research grant was being made available for further research. Though it has yet to be proved, initial studies show that the benefits of exercise extend beyond physical health and appearance. Source: Associated Press

Labels: prevention, addictions, exercise

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A study conducted by researchers at the Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center found a connection between self-harm and sexual behavior among teenagers. The report appears in the June issue of the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics.

"...frequent self-cutters - teens who have cut themselves more than three times - used condoms less consistently, were more likely to share cutting instruments, and had less self-restraint. The study is the first to examine whether these teens engage in the same level of risk behaviors as those who've only experimented with cutting once or twice."

The study revealed important distinctions between teens who self-harm more regularly and teens who have only done so once or twice. Researchers hope the new information will help the medical community better identify and treat these two distinct groups of troubled teenagers. Source: Medical News Today

Labels: sex, risky_behaviors, self-harm

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More than 25 percent of British youth with body piercings developed infections, according to a new study from the British Health Protection Agency. Ear lobe piercings were not included in this study, in which BHPA scientists evaluated the association between body piercings and hepatitis infections.

The study found that 46 percent of girls between the ages of 16 to 24 had body piercings, but only 80 of that group had their piercings performed by specialists.

Labels: health, infections, piercings

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People who experience mental problems as children or teenagers have more career problems as adults, according to a study published in Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

Researchers used data from over 8,000 people all born during one week in March 1958. Those who had mental problems when they were young tended to end up in low-paying jobs. The authors believe that they may choose less demanding jobs to relieve stress. However, their jobs actually cause more stress in the form of low pay, little control over decisions, and job insecurity.

Labels: mental_health, jobs, careers

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Researchers with St. Louis' Washington University School of Medicine have determined that women who begin drinking at a younger age face an increased likelihood of becoming dependent upon alcohol later in life.

"An early age at the onset of drinking is a strong predictor of subsequent alcohol dependence," said Richard A. Grucza, Ph.D., who authored the study. "About one in three individuals who start drinking at age 17 or younger become alcohol dependent. For those who wait until age 21 or older, that number is one in ten."

Grucza, an assistant professor of psychiatry at WU, was quoted in a press release about the study that was posted on the school's website:

"In our previous work, we found that women born after 1944 had a substantially higher risk for alcohol dependence compared to those born prior to that. Now we have found that women born during this 'high risk' period also began drinking earlier than their predecessors, and this earlier drinking might explain the higher rates of alcoholism.


As the age of drinking onset got lower for women, the rates of alcohol dependence increased. ...There is a lot of discussion about whether the minimum drinking age should be lowered again. Our findings would suggest that from a public-health point of view, lowering the legal drinking age might lead to increased rates of alcohol dependence."

Grucza and his team analyzed data that had been compiled during the 1991-1992 National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey and the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions, which was completed in the early 1980s.

The results of the study are scheduled to be published in the August 2008 edition of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

Learn about The Value of Gender-Specific Addiction Programs.

Labels: girls, drinking, addicts

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