Recognizing Adolescent Addiction

Studies show that the majority of addictions start in the early part of life. According to statistics data, people who are into substance addiction begun as early as 20 years of age.

Why are people at the younger age are easier influenced?

There is a difference between the brain of the young adult compared to the adult. The adult’s brain, specifically the frontal lobe considers the consequences of an action. Therefore, the adult thinks of the risks first before doing anything. This type of thinking helps put a stop to something when you know the result of an action is actually dangerous. For instance, an adult will think if a weight loss program such as BBG program is actually helpful or otherwise. So he thinks, weigh things, and make an action.  

The young adult has its frontal lobe still in its development stage, and thus not fully formed. It is this reason that a child or a teen’s reasoning abilities are not yet strong or capable of handling bigger decisions. This makes them more vulnerable to any type of addiction compared to adults.  Because the frontal lobe isn’t form until adulthood, teens’ reasoning abilities aren’t as strong .

As a result, teens are more vulnerable to addiction than adults. The teen years are still considered to be in the development stage, a discovering stage, they earn experience that later on banks up to be their wisdom as to the adult.  a time for discovering identity. As an example, a person who started smoking in their early teens have difficulty putting a stop to the addiction. But there is always hope even for the adults. 

Signs of Adolescent Addiction

Addiction at an early age is dangerous because this pattern follows through as they grow to be an adult. That is why it is important to know the early warning signs of adolescent addiction.

  • acting uncharacteristically isolated and withdrawn
  • angry or depressed
  • demanding more privacy
  • locking doors
  • avoiding eye contact
  • sneaking around
  • heavy bloodshot eyes, often using eye drops to clear their eyes
  • skipping class, failing grades
  • getting into trouble at school
  • missing money,valuables or prescription
  • dropping one group of friends for another
  • being secretive about new friends

If you notice these alarming signs, there are a few things that adult family members can do to help. Reach out, have positive interactions every day, bond with them. Small conversations can help a lot so it doesn’t necessarily have to be big conversations.

Adolescent Addiction – What, Why, How?

When conversing, it is helpful to ask open ended questions. Talk about your day so as they open up about their day. Listen when they talk. Also, set clear rules and expectations. Let them know what is accepted in and outside the home.  Teens subconsciously want rules to be clear , consistent , and enforced.

These things can help prevent addictions from happening in the first place. If necessary, there is a lot of help and hope on the road to recovery. If  know someone like you’re friends, family related or your love has a problem , help them , or give them advice so that they will not get depressed and try to do vices and even worse drugs.