Teenage Drug And Alcohol Abuse: 10 Causes That Are Driving This Problem

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Introduction

Teenhood is the time to make irrational decisions and a lot of mistakes. Making mistakes does not matter too much till you are learning from those mistakes and are not repeating them. One of the most common mistakes a lot of teens make is developing an addiction to a substance.

You might be surprised to know that the average age of substance abuse initiatives is around 13 to 14 years.

Yes, most teenagers develop an addiction to drugs or alcohol when they are only 13 years old. As per the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics, around 47% of teenagers will develop an addiction by the time they graduate from high school.

Plus, around 863,000 adolescents do not get addiction treatment, although they really need it. In case you are searching for a recovery treatment program or a detox center, you can use this link to get some detailed information.

10 Causes That Are Driving Teenage Drug And Alcohol Abuse

Several reasons work together behind a teenager becoming dependent on some illegal substance. Knowing and understanding all those reasons is actually vital for helping the one who is struggling with substance abuse.

Here are some of the major reasons.

Cause 1: Peer-pressure

The most common cause of teenage drug and alcohol abuse is peer pressure. At first, they just go for trying it as almost all or some of their friends are doing it or forcing them to do that. Gradually they do not get to understand when they develop an addiction towards them.

Cause 2: Academic And Performance Pressure

Everyone wants to be the best, or at least our parents want to see us at the top position. There are some performance-boosting substances available. In order to enhance their academic performances, teens start to take those pills.

Eventually, when they start to see the results, they do not want to stop that and also develop a dependency on those addictive stimulating pills.

Cause 3: Coping With Trauma

All of us have different ways or methods to handle or cope with our trauma. It can be anything, such as a sudden demise of a close one, an unpleasant event, or an accident. All these traumas can take a teenager into the world of addiction.

As drugs and alcohol help them to relax for a while, and they also get the time to escape from reality, they start to like the feeling and repeat the usage.

Cause 4: Mental Health Issues

Mental health issues, such as anxiety and depression, are really common among teenagers. Instead of opting for a professional treatment program, they start taking medications on their own. Some of those medicines have addictive properties.

They might start the medications in order to get rid of the mental health issues and also might start to feel better. However, they gradually develop dependency and can not stop the use of those medications.

Cause 5: To Fit In

Alcohol is quite accessible, and almost every function and event serve alcohol. However, those are not for teens, but they are getting access after all. They want to fit in the parties and end up drinking alcohol; the continuation turns into an addiction.

Plus, teenagers also attend some secret parties, where they get access to different types of drugs, and in order to get high with others, they start taking them.

Cause 6: Experimentation

Teenage age is all about interests and curiosity. They want to get the answer to everything and also want to try anything. For this curiosity, they take a substance for the first time, and when they start to feel better by using the substance, they repeat the usage.

The cycle goes on and on. Those teenagers eventually become addicted to the substance they are using. Often they also experiment by combining alcohol and drugs, which is really dangerous.

Cause 7: To Feel Better

As we have mentioned earlier, teenagers want to escape from reality when they are experiencing something more intense than peer pressure or a failed school assignment. During these tough situations, they just want to replace all the negative feelings.

There is a fine gap between feeling good and feeling better. The usage of substances offers them the opportunity to feel better than they normally feel. It is indeed really addictive.

Cause 8: Attention

Teen is the age duration when a number of adolescents experience a lack of talent or purpose. They start to feel like they are lacking something to make them feel special, or they are not good enough to shine.

All these feelings can drive them towards different types of substance abuse. Some students also can not find a way to be the best, so they opt for a way to be the worst and choose substance abuse.

Cause 9: To Feel Good

Many teenagers abuse drugs and other substances in order to get high. They usually look for a thrill, an intensifying feeling, which they are not able to get through simple pleasures like exercise or food. This is the time when the addiction cycle starts to kick in.

Drugs interact with the way the human brain produces pleasure and the body experiences it. Using drugs makes the brain produce ten times more dopamine than it produces during normal activities.

Cause 10: Lack Of Education

Many teens and students grow up thinking that using alcohol and drugs is completely normal. It might be their favorite singers are writing and singing a song on those substances, or any film is showing the enjoyable side of substance abuse.

They take these as inspiration and also start doing it. Apart from that, social media is not influencing a huge part of teens and young adults.

Get Help, Stay Healthy

Whatever the reason working behind a teenager developed addiction towards a substance, the only thing they need is a complete recovery treatment program. Educating them is also a crucial part to reduce the number of teenagers into substance abuse.

In case you find out any of your loved ones have developed an addiction to drugs or alcohol, you should help them with a recovery program.

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