Help for Families with Adolescent & Teen Addiction
Addiction is frightening, depressing, and isolating. Parents, you are not alone if you’re dealing with addiction to drugs or alcohol in your family. Reach out, learn more, and get help for your child and for yourself.
According to the Center for Disease Control, “Although drinking by persons under the age of 21 is illegal; people aged 12 to 20 years drink 11% of all alcohol consumed in the United States. More than 90% of this alcohol is consumed in the form of binge drinks. On average, underage drinkers consume more drinks per drinking occasion than adult drinkers.”
“By the twelfth grade, about half of adolescents have abused an illicit drug at least once. The most commonly used drug is marijuana but adolescents can find many abused substances, such as prescription medications, glues, and aerosols, in the home.” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Adolescent Health Illicit & Non-Illicit Drug Use)
You are not to blame. While parents are responsible for raising children well, kids are accountable for their own choices. A lot of growing up comes from learning the hard way through mistakes. Just as we cannot take the credit for our child’s successes, we cannot bear the weight of their mistakes.
Addiction is a disease, not a sin. God makes beauty from ashes. Please use these resources to find help for your family.
• Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation
• MN Adult & Teen Challenge
• American Academy of Pediatrics
• American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
• National Institute on Drug Abuse
• U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services
So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10
Related post: 9 Warning Signs of Drug & Alcohol Abuse in Tweens & Teens
© 2020 Becky Danielson. All rights reserved.
If this post is encouraging, please take a moment to subscribe to the Faith First Parent e-newsletter, join in the conversation on the Facebook page or share the post with a friend.
Photo by freestocks.org on Unsplash.