When a teenager says something like “I just wish I could disappear” or “I don’t see the point of anything,” it can be difficult to know how seriously to take it. These statements may sound like typical adolescent frustration—but they can also be expressions of passive suicidal ideation, a form of suicidal thinking that deserves […]
The problem of drug and alcohol abuse has always been an issue for college campuses. Freshly out from under the constant surveillance of parents, many kids decide to do whatever comes their way. Unfortunately, without parents there to advise them, many take the prescription medications prescribed to their roommates and friends with little understanding about […]
The result of lax parenting when it comes to drug and alcohol abuse in teens is obvious and obviously harmful to the child. But overprotective parenting can be damaging as well, and some experts are pointing to harm reduction as an option for some drug abusing teens – at least, initially. Will harm reduction efforts […]
The Partnership at Drugfree.org released the results of the Partnership Attitude Tracking Study (PATS) that revealed that prescription painkiller abuse is a huge problem among teens. In fact, 25 percent of teens say they have misused or abused a prescription drug in their lifetime. That marks a whopping 35-percent increase in the past five years. […]
A new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that just four years of heavy alcoholic drinking during the college years may be all it takes to increase an individual’s risk for the development of chronic and fatal health problems that include: Heart attacks Strokes Atherosclerosis So how do you […]
You’ve heard it said in a number of different forums and repeated in parenting magazines and public service announcements for years—and for good reason. Family dinners are of huge benefit to your children and one of those many benefits is a decreased rate of drug and alcohol abuse in their teen years, according to a […]
The drug testing of junior high students before they are allowed to play organized school sports is a new phenomenon in some parts of the country. Some parents welcome it while others are furious at what they perceive to be an intrusion upon their child’s civil rights. Who’s right? The Argument for Drug Testing in […]
For preteens and teens diagnosed with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), it’s common to get a doctor’s prescription for a stimulant medication like Vyvanse or Adderall. Increasingly common among teens who are not diagnosed with ADHD is a request for these and other stimulant medications for the purposes of neuroenhancement, according to American Medical […]
When junior high school students who lived in rural areas and small towns received a brief intervention on the topic of prescription drug abuse, a recent study found that they were less likely to engage in abuse of prescription medications, according to the National Institutes of Health. For parents, this means it’s worth it to […]
No matter how the laws change in terms of legalizing marijuana for medicinal or recreational purposes, it is always harmful to the development of teenager’s brain. No amount of experimentation with marijuana is harmless at this age, and if your son is using the drug for any purpose, don’t hesitate to put a stop to […]
Seizures were ostensibly the cause of the hospital admission and emergency medical treatment of Lil Wayne, a popular rap artist, a few months ago. TMZ reported that these seizures were drug related and may have been connected to a high amount of codeine in his system. He’s not taking the pills, however. If the lyrics of […]
Are drug-sniffing dogs an appropriate response to ferreting out drug use and abuse at home or is it overkill? Some parents have decided that no measure is too large when it comes to finding out whether or not their kids are hiding drugs at home. Some are exceedingly creative: hiding drugs in air-conditioning vents, pulling […]
It’s not just the rate of teen alcohol use but which alcoholic beverages and brands were most often used by teens that was the topic of a recent study published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. Researchers determined that: Half of underage drinkers drink one or more of the top 25 brands chosen […]