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My Teen is Abusing Substances… What Do I Do?

<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">There are a few things more difficult than finding out that your child has developed an addiction to drugs&period; While many may attribute changes in adolescent behavior to moodiness or hormonal changes &lpar;which may often be the case&rpar;&comma; sometimes there are changes that come about due to drug use&period; But by the time you have figured this out&comma; you have to deal with the shock that accompanies this revelation&comma; as well as the damage and addiction that has occured as a result of the substance abuse&period; No matter what the severity of your child’s substance abuse is or what substance it is that they are currently using&comma; use some of the tips below to help guide you through the process of successfully addressing and tackling this issue&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><b>Calm yourself and evaluate the situation<&sol;b><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Discovering that your teen is using drugs can bring about a wide variety of emotions and acting on those immediately after learning about the drug use could do more harm than good&period; The most important step to take is to calm yourself down and to allow yourself to evaluate the situation and take everything in&period; While the matter is urgent&comma; you do not need to act nor react instantaneously&period; Sit down and think about some of the questions you have for your child and work through the emotions that you are feeling&period; Then&comma; create a game plan that will allow you to successfully start a conversation with your teen about their drug use so that you can learn more about why and how it started&period; Only once you are able to maintain a level head will you be better prepared to take on the responsibility of talking to your child&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><b>Sit them down and allow them to open up about the drug use<&sol;b><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Once you’ve figured out exactly what it is that you want to say and ask about the drug use and the situation in its entirety&comma; the next step is to go through with the talk&period; Sit your teen down when you both are available and let them know that you are aware of their drug use and start the conversation from there&period; Ask them the questions that you feel need to be addressed and then explore the initial drug use and the potential reasons behind it&period; No matter what&comma; try to keep the conversation non-confrontational&period; While you may have your own feelings and opinions about the topic&comma; creating a hostile environment will not allow your teen to fully open up&period; Create a safe space where your child feels okay with sharing their feelings and experiences and you will learn a bit more about the situation as a whole&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><b>Seek out the right help and resources<&sol;b><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Not every child who is using drugs is going to need the same kind of help&period; For example&comma; if your child is using drugs that aren’t problematic and you’ve determined that the reason behind the drug use is depression&comma; you can seek out counselors and therapists in your area who will be able to tackle that issue while you make sure that they aren’t still doing those drugs&period; If you have a teen who is using much heavier substances and has become addicted and is developing negative health effects as a result&comma; it is important to seek both counseling and considering bringing them to a teen rehab center where they can get the help that they need&period; No matter what you choose to do&comma; make sure that it is in the best interest of your child so that they can fully recover and thrive&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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