How Addiction happpen?

How Addiction happpen?

young people are dying they're
overdosing on heroin and fentanyl you
wonder how did this young person get to
this horrible spot in life let's turn
back the clock go in time to
younger days to understand how addiction
starts to understand how to prevent it
from happening
while each addiction situation is
different there are generally three
ingredients first teens have a lot to
cope with many teenagers are trying to
figure out who am I what is my identity
and there is stress when teens were
asked they said the number one reason
they used drugs was to deal with the
pressures and stress of school and some
teens have to cope with stress at home
there could be emotional neglect abuse
divorce a family member with an illness
a family member who's addicted to the death
of a loved one money troubles or other
challenges many teens also need to cope
with depression or social anxiety in
addition to a lot to cope with some
teenagers through no fault of their own
have poor coping skills may be their
parent or parents have been caught up in
their work or other family crises and do
not even realize that their teenage
the child needs help maybe their parent or
parents are struggling themselves and
are simply not able to teach their kids
how to constructively cope with life and
teens who experience day-to-day
depression or social anxiety may develop
an unwarranted negative self-image this
can make it tougher to cope with the third
ingredient to addiction that may be
the present is certain brain chemistry some
people under how their brain
processes chemicals get hooked easier
you can attribute this to your family
the tree is otherwise known as genetics genetic
susceptibility doesn't have to be
present for a teen to develop an addiction
but it can increase their chances of all
three of these pieces do not have to be
present for a dick
to happen any one piece if strong enough
can lead a team down the addiction path
so how does addiction start here's what
happens a teen has a lot to cope with
and poor coping skills they try alcohol
and drugs maybe their brain chemistry
causes them to be more susceptible the
teen's brain learns that at least in the
short term the alcohol or drugs gives
them a way to temporarily neglect or
forget the stresses in their life which
is a flawed way of coping that can
become their identity the party friend
who is willing to try anything or the
the friend who can get you drugs it might
give them a way to fit in socially and
have fun it might help them for a moment
forget about their stress the teen
starts using alcohol or drugs more
frequently this is where things come
apart repeated use does three things the
teens' brain has learned that in the
short term alcohol and drugs can help
them cope with repeated use of this bad
learning loop becomes ingrained and
deeper the teenager gets to the point of
automatically reaching for our alcohol
or drugs when they're stressed without
even thinking about it with repeated use
the chemicals and alcohol and drugs also
change the brain making the teenager
even less self-aware of how they're
going off the rails and repeated use
makes life situations worse which just
increases stress and feed into the
negative loop without a change in this path
ends in addiction jail or death one out
of ten adults struggle with addiction
addiction leads to broken families
broken promises and broken hearts and
currently an increasing number of deaths
so how do we prevent this from happening
how do we prevent addiction here's how
first, a message for parents spend
concentrated one-on-one time with your
kids particularly when they get into
middle school and all through high
school and college truly listen to them
with love and without judgment
understand what they are coping with
help them get through if you need help
talk to an experienced four
No, do not wait to act now, and remember your
the child could simply be experimenting and
have a brain more susceptible to alcohol
and drugs it could be that simple and
scary or your child could be going
through something that you're not fully
aware of there is inevitably a lot going
through their head when you get in the
car accident in the wintertime the
accident doesn't happen when you hit the
telephone pole it happens 200 feet
before that when you start skidding on
the ice your child may be skidding right
now and neither they nor you even
recognize it
act now do not assume they can self
correct they need an established support
system listen to them and help them
immediately now a message for teenagers
you are not alone it may feel that way
who else could be going through this or
having these thoughts but whatever
you're experiencing many others who have
experienced this too and they've come
out happy on the other end
do not take on the identity of the party
friend, it will kill you you can find an
identity without drug and alcohol
dependency your true identity a better
identity finally be open to receiving
help from your family a friend or a
professional wherever it comes from when
your body has an illness you see a
doctor when your body has an injury you
see a physical therapist but what about
your brain when you're on a bad path a
a therapist can help you get on the
positive one the therapist can help you
step back gain perspective and develop
strong coping skills no matter what life
throws your way like a personal trainer
for the brain getting help is a strength
not a weakness you deserve to be truly
happy you deserve to be comfortable with
your thoughts you can be at peace and
love in memory of our oldest son
Alex.
Thanks for Reading!!!