|
Community » Family Support Center » Drug and Alcohol abuse » Is your child using?
Is your child using?
Is your child using alcohol or other drugs?
Distinguishing between normal adolescent behavior and behavior that involves substance abuse is difficult. It makes sense that a child’s rebellion against rules or a change in attitude would seem like a normal part of growing up. But sometimes it is an indication that something is wrong.
Coupled with this is the natural denial that our children would make the decision to become involved with substance abuse. It is easy to miss signs of substance abuse if we don’t want to acknowledge it. We can convince ourselves that the guidance we have given our children and the information they have received at school through DARE programs and other anti-drug education is comprehensive and will be enough to prevent them from being tempted to try alcohol and other drugs. But sometimes kids will make bad decisions despite all they have been taught.
Trust your intuition
If you suspect that something is different about your child’s behavior, it is important to check it out immediately. Trust your intuition. Do not let your own denial, shame, or disbelief stop you child from getting help. Even if the signs are right in our faces, we sometimes don’t see them, because we don’t want to face the truth. By denying there may be a problem, you lose precious time getting your child help.
Don’t assume that you or your child can stop the problem by just dealing with it within the family. The only way to be sure if there is (or isn’t) a problem is by having a professional assessment. Again, act immediately. The longer a child uses, the more difficult it is for him or her to stop and the greater the long-term effects on his or her development and life.
Evidence of use
If you have noticed:
- change of friends/vague, hostile responses when questioned about new friends
- diminished motivation to pursue interests, activities
- change in grades or other problems in school
- vague health problems such as a change in sleep patterns, headache, stomach ache, change in eating patterns, red eyes, strange odors
- increased defiance, moodiness, irritability
- short-term memory loss
- isolated, withdrawn, unhappy, unreasonable
- lying; your own sense of being deceived or bargained with; you don’t feel you are getting the whole story, or things don’t add up
- excessive use of cologne, deodorant, mouth fresheners; anything to mask odors
- breaking or bending of rules, missing curfews, has constant excuses
- missing money from parents, siblings, or from your child’s bank in his or her room
- secretive; school backpack methodically taken up to room after school, kept out of your sight
- suspicious prescription medication you don’t recognize; Coricidin® or other cold remedies, small baggies (sometimes with printed bears or other images) containing crushed plant material or dried flower buds, or eye drops such as Visine®
- possession of drug paraphernalia, i.e., rolling papers, hollowed-out cigars, glass pipes/bongs (water pipes); homemade smoking devices or accessories: altered or cut-up soda cans or bottles, empty toilet paper rolls with dryer softener sheets attached at one end; small, circular pieces of screening, matches or lighters, dirty tissues, paper clips, or pens/pencils that smell of smoke (used to clean out pipes), straws, razor blades or spoons stashed in unusual places, used whipped cream canisters, compressed air canisters (“dusters”), incense/incense burners, empty alcohol bottles, gas-soaked rags found in bedroom or rec. room
- an interest in music, movies, posters, clothing and jewelry related to use of alcohol or other drugs; doodles in school binders or other artwork that depict marijuana leaves, mushrooms, or other drug-related images
- change in appetite; is hungrier, eats more high-fat or high-sugar content foods; or appetite has diminished
- the desire to be away from home a lot, anger when you change your child’s plans to be with his or her new friends; little or no desire to have these friends over to your house
- intoxication/acting high: slurred speech, walking unsteadily, dilated or pinpoint pupils, breath smells (like smoke, or alcohol, or if using cold medicines—sour and strong), acting unusually giddy/laughing about strange or trivial things, or excessively talkative, or paranoid/nervous
- excessive number of calls made on cell phone, many calls placed right before school, or when away from home; calls placed to unknown numbers
If you have observed some of these changes, use the Parent Observation Checklist to determine if you need to seek professional help for your child.
Information taken from the following sources:
www.drugfree.org
www.theantidrug.com
Mark A. Head, LCSW-R, CASAC; Rush Henrietta School District Prevention Coordinator
Teens Under the Influence by Katherine Ketcham and Nicholas A. Pace, M.D.
|
