People Who Use Drugs at Young Ages More Likely to Develop Addictions
A lot of people experiment with drugs and alcohol during their teenage years. In most cases, the experimentation is harmless. They have a bit of fun, get some rebellion out of their systems, and learn that there’s nothing magical about using substances.
While most people make it through these rebellious years without getting hurt, others develop drug problems that haunt them throughout life. It’s important for adults to pay close attention to how teens use substances, especially if they are still quite young.
Research has shown that the earlier a person is when she first uses drugs has an influence on whether she will develop a drug problem later in life. Teens who start experimenting when they are 13 or 14 are much more likely to develop problems than those who use substances at 18 years old.
This knowledge should influence the way that parents react when they learn that their teenagers have been using drugs or alcohol. If you catch your 18-year-old son smoking pot on one occasion, then you might make a positive impact by having a discussion about the possible repercussions of using drugs.
If, however, you catch your 12-year-old smoking pot, you might need to make a firmer statement. That child, after all, has a much higher risk of developing a serious drug addiction than the 18-year-old who made a mistake.
In some cases, parents decide that their teens need professional assistance. The good news is that teens who get help early are much more likely to recover from drug abuse and avoid dependency than teens who continue to use drugs. Sunshine Summit Lodge works with teenagers so they can develop healthier choices that will improve all areas of their lives.
Even though it causes a lot of stress and pain, catching your teenager early could be the best scenario. But it’s important to understand the risks, respond appropriately, and seek help when it’s needed.
What is Addiction?
Drug and alcohol addiction has been defined many ways with some believing it is a disease while others realize that it is a problem connected to a person’s cognitive and emotional state as recognized by the Narconon Fresh Start program. While it is okay to enjoy a drink of alcohol now and again or take a prescribed medication to treat pain, it becomes an addiction when a person begins to rely on and use alcohol or drugs on a regular basis as a way to cope or handle problems.
Both drugs and alcohol are actually very highly addictive substances that remain in the bloodstream, body tissue, and organs for considerable time, which means that they can build-up and create a tolerance. It begins to take more alcohol or quantities of drugs to reach the same state of numbness or euphoria, driving a person to become more reliant on these substances.
Rehabilitation centers like the Narconon Fresh Start program recognize that it is not about will power or one’s moral compass because anyone can become physically, emotionally, and mentally attached to drugs or alcohol to the point of becoming addicted. It does not make someone a bad person to crave these substances but it can lead to physical problems that cannot be undone and it can break up families and friendships, especially when drugs or alcohol become more important.
Because such strong physical, mental, and emotional connections are formed when a person becomes dependent upon drugs and alcohol to function, it can be challenging to treat and help a person break their addiction. Relapse is common with many rehabilitation programs, but the Narconon Fresh Start approach recognizes that addiction requires more than just drugs to treat drugs; successful recovery and the achievement of a drug-free life comes from treating the cognitive and emotional issues that have led a person to seek drugs and alcohol in the first place while physical symptoms are cared for holistically.
The Narconon Fresh Start Program’s Keys to Success
When it comes to alcohol rehabilitation or drug addiction rehabilitation, there are many kinds of rehabilitation and recovery programs now available to help people get their lives back on track. Yet, while all may have the best of intentions, there are not many with significant success rates like the Narconon Fresh Start Program.
Typically, reports show that other types of rehabilitation programs only help between 10 and 25 percent of those that go through the program to successfully give up drugs and alcohol without any slips back into addiction. That is a somewhat low rate, considering the investment of time and money that people make into these programs in hopes of turning their life around. Then, there is also the measurements of completion rates and relapse rates, which also have indicated lower success rates than what might be otherwise be expected for the length and intensity of some of these programs.
Standing out in the crowd of drug and alcohol dependency programs is the Narconon Fresh Start Program with its 76% success rate. Behind this significantly higher success rate are a number of keys to the program’s success that are part of every program at Sunshine Summit Lodge.
These keys to success include:
- Not-for-Profit structure;
- Time variable program frameworks;
- Non-group, individualized approach to therapy;
- Secluded, distraction-free environments;
- Detoxification strategy;
- Life skills rehabilitation technology; and
- Program guarantees.
In future blog posts, we’ll discuss these keys to success in greater detail. These keys were established from the start of Narconon in 1966 and have been at the core of all drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers that use the Narconon Fresh Start Program as the focal point of their recovery programs. Not only are these keys to success proven to work, but they are also aligned with the driving mission of Narconon, which continues to be to help those with alcohol and drug addictions as well as their loved ones to stop living with these addictions and enjoy a life free of drug and alcohol forever.
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