JastaPlace Drug Rehab

A large number of teenagers in the United States use prescription drugs as a way to self medicate and/or get high. This has led to widespread concern over a type of drug addiction that used to be thought of as a problem that plagued only adults.

Children as young as 12 years of age are developing a prescription drug addiction. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the four kinds of prescription drugs that are most commonly abused by teenagers aged 12 to 17 include pain relievers, sedatives, stimulants and tranquilizers. Of these, painkillers are most commonly abused by younger teenagers while stimulants are taken more by older teenagers and young adults in college. Girls have been found to be more likely than boys (4.3 % as compared to 3.6 %) to abuse prescription drugs. (Source: 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health).

Addiction treatment seeks to not only help the teen with his or her prescription drug addiction but also to uncover why the problem took hold in the first place. Drug rehab will not only work on the physical manifestations of the addiction but will also work on the psychosocial aspects.

What Parents Can Do

In order to prevent the start of prescription drug abuse by your teenager, keep all of your prescription medicine away from your children. Do not keep it in the medicine cabinet. Always keep all of your medication out of reach of your teens at all times.

Talk with your teenager about the dangers of taking prescription medication without a physician’s supervision. It is important to make sure your teen understands the seriousness of what a drug addiction can do to impact their life. Prescription drug addiction can be as dangerous as a drug addiction to other types of illicit drugs. To use an example, painkillers derive from opioids and opioids are also what heroin is made from.