Teens Using Drugs and Alcohol to Cope with the Stress of an Ailing Economy

By Meghan Vivo

In the midst of a financial crisis, parents often feel, “I’m the one who has to pay the bills, what does my teen have to worry about?”

A whole lot, according to the addiction experts at Phoenix Outdoor, a therapeutic wilderness program for teens struggling with substance abuse and co-occurring disorders.

“Teens are already balancing school and relationship stress, media influences, and pressures to fit in and succeed,” says Eric Belsterling, an adolescent therapist at Phoenix Outdoor. “When you add worries about getting jobs and affording college in a difficult economy, a number of teens begin self-medicating their stresses with drugs and alcohol.”

Why Are Teens So Stressed?

Teens are stressed by the economic crisis for many of the same reasons as their parents. After all, adolescents are only a few short years away from going away to college, entering the workforce, and taking on more adult responsibilities.

More Distracted at School. When teens are busy worrying about whether they’ll be able to find a job, whether their parents’ marriage can withstand the stress of the recession, and whether they’ll be able to afford a dinner out this week or a dress for prom, school can fall down on the list of priorities. Feeling distracted in class can lead to lower grades, less motivation to succeed, and more emotional and behavioral issues.

Ability to Afford College. Those teens who continue to excel academically despite the added economic stress aren’t sure if their efforts will be rewarded. In a survey by Junior Achievement, more than half of teens said that they have had to change their plans for college as a result of the economy. For some, that means staying close to home rather than going away to college, working more to help pay for tuition, or going to a community college instead of a four-year university. Others fear that college may no longer be an option at all.

Ability to Get a Job. Economists estimate that the job market for teenagers is the weakest it has been in 50 years, according to an article published in The New York Times. Teens are struggling to find summer jobs to cover basic expenses and entertainment, and many are dealing with layoffs of their own. In addition to hiring cutbacks and layoffs, minimum-wage jobs that used to be occupied almost exclusively by teenagers (retail and service jobs) are now being taken by older workers who have been laid off or need a second job to support their families.

According to the recent survey by Junior Achievement, 33 percent of teens said there seemed to be fewer jobs available, 29 percent said the economy was causing them anxiety, 18 percent say they’ve lost a job due to the economy, and 15 percent said they’ve reduced extracurricular activities as a result of the economy.

For teens who are about to graduate, a weak and ultra-competitive job market is even more threatening. With little practical experience, many employers are passing up teenage workers in favor of older, more experienced workers who are flooding the labor force in record numbers. Without jobs, experts fear that teens will face setbacks in skill development and earning power that may impact their careers for years to come.

Concerns about the Welfare of the Family. Adolescents tend to absorb the worries of their parents, meaning the more worried a parent is about the economy, the more worried their children will be. And with many families cutting back on clothes, gifts, allowances, and family travel, teens are certainly aware of the impact of this financial crisis.

The recent Junior Achievement survey found that 77 percent of teens said their parents talk about the economy more than they used to, with close to 50 percent saying that their parents had discussed family finances with them as a result of the downturn.

Most teens don’t know what all of this stress and anxiety might mean for their families. Sadly, when economic troubles hit home, studies show the incidence of abuse between parents rises, as does the incidence of child abuse. Because children model their parents’ behavior, the incidence of teen dating violence also increases in difficult economic times.

According to a poll by the Family Violence Prevention Fund and Liz Claiborne Inc., nearly half of teens surveyed whose families had experienced financial troubles said that they have witnessed their parents abusing each other. Of those, 67 percent said they had experienced violence in their own relationships.

When Stress Leads to Addiction

All of this added stress is taking its toll. A stressed teen is more likely to experiment with drugs and alcohol, according to an annual back-to-school survey conducted by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University. The survey revealed that high stress teens are twice as likely as low stress teens to smoke, drink, and use illegal drugs.

A study by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America echoed these findings, revealing that though 73 percent of teens say that school stress is the primary reason for drug use, only 7 percent of parents believe that teens might use drugs to cope with stress.

In individual and group therapy sessions at Phoenix Outdoor, more teens are expressing concerns about how the economy is impacting their families, says Eric Janoski, a head field instructor at the wilderness rehab program. “We used to hear a lot of teens talking about using drugs or alcohol to have fun or to fit in. Now, we hear many more teens describing substance abuse as a way to escape their problems or take a break from their worries,” he explains.

The addiction experts at Phoenix Outdoor have also observed a trend toward greater abuse of downers like Xanax, alcohol, and benzodiazepines – a trend the staff believes is a strong indication that teens are trying to cope with a great deal of stress and anxiety.

How Parents Can Help

In order to combat teen substance abuse and teen stress, experts recommend that parents talk openly and honestly with their children about the recession and its impact on their family. While teens shouldn’t feel scared or be forced to bear the responsibility of taking care of the family, parents can ease their children’s concerns by specifically addressing the things that will change at home and the things that won’t change.

Engaged parents who are sensitive to the stress in their children’s lives can make all the difference. Some signs of teen stress to watch for include sleeping problems, depression, moodiness, anxiety or panic attacks, and use of drugs or alcohol. If your teen is displaying any of these signs, speak to a mental health professional right away.

Delaying substance abuse treatment or avoiding it altogether to conserve financial resources is a tactic that will likely backfire when an adolescent later enters treatment in critical condition. Even though the recession has made it more challenging for parents to invest in drug rehab, wilderness programs, or therapeutic boarding schools for their teens, getting help right away can mean the difference between a passing struggle and a lifelong cycle of addiction and relapse.

A Back to Basics Approach

At Phoenix Outdoor, teens get a rare opportunity to slow down and re-evaluate their choices. In a simple, peaceful environment with few distractions, teens are able to take a sober inventory of their lives and re-assess who they are and where they are going. They form strong bonds with peers and staff who are in recovery themselves and can offer the type of support and understanding teens in early recovery need.

The adolescents also participate in NA meetings on campus, which gives them a chance to hear the stories of other addicts and understand that recovery is bigger than their experience in wilderness rehab. In the field, old, negative rituals of drug abuse get replaced with positive rituals like making fire with a bow drill or building a small trap. “They are learning to work with their hands and building on successes that they can feel good about,” says Janoski.

In a wilderness program like Phoenix Outdoor, there is no power differential between the adolescent and his therapist or field instructor. Rather than getting lectured at in an office, teens are hiking, cooking meals, and learning to make fire right alongside their field instructors and therapists. Working side by side with positive, relatable role models and peers, teens overcome challenges, build self-confidence, and discover the rewards of sobriety.

“Some teens feel so discouraged by the world around them. They have no idea how much beauty is out there,” says Janoski. “Once they arrive in the forests of North Carolina, they see waterfalls, trees, and wilderness all around them, which opens them up to a new way of looking at the world. The woods speak for themselves in bringing about a shift in mentality that can’t be replicated anywhere else.”