+ Do's and Don'ts For Concerned Parents
+ Chemically Dependent Adolescent Defined
+ Stages of the Co-Dependent Family
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THE CHEMICALLY DEPENDENT ADOLESCENT
I. Chemical Dependency Defined
- The chemically dependent adolescent is that individual whose dependence upon mood altering substances has obtained such a degree as to disrupt academic performance, interfere with family and interpersonal relationships, social and economic functioning and impair the state of physical and mental health.
B. The concept of chemical dependency as a primary disease implies the following:
1. The illness can be described.
2. The course of the illness is predictable and
progressive.
3. The illness is primary. It is not just a symptom
of some other underlying disorder.
4. It is permanent.
5. If left untreated, it invariably results in premature
death.
II. The Extent of the Disease
A. In the adult population, alcoholism constitutes this nation’s
third health problem.
B. The National Institute on the Abuse of Alcohol and Alcoholism
estimates that 1.3 million Americans between the ages of 12
and 17 have serious drinking problems. This figure does not
take into account those using other mood altering drugs, nor
does it include children under 12 or those adolescents in the
18 – 20 age group.
C. Sixty percent of all people killed in drunk-driving accidents
are in their teens. Nearly 2,500 teenagers die on the road
annually as a result of drunken driving.
D. Chemical dependency accounts for more than one-half of all
suicides in this country annually. Figures do not include deaths
due to accident of drug overdose. Suicide rate for the
chemically dependent person is almost 60 times that for the
non-dependent individual.
E. By the time a young person reaches a problem stage in the
in the use of mood altering chemicals, family is a wreck,
operating out of fear, anger, disgust or all three. Parents are
confused and anxious. They have lost control of the household.
The home is a battleground, and the parents are getting the
worst of it because they are trying to control the situation on
the child’s terms.
In spite of these rather grim statistics, chemical dependency is a treatable disease. Between 50 percent and 75 percent of treated patients can and do recover if the disease is identified early and the patient is referred to appropriate counseling or in-patient treatment.
Also See:
Stages in the Development of Chemical Dependency
Observable Adolescent Behavior
