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16 A Special Advertising Section of Baltimore Sun Media Group | Sunday, September 15, 2024
Talking to Teens About Addiction
How to identify signs of use and abuse
By Linda L. Esterson, Contributing Writer
S
ubstance use in adolescents
varies according to age, occurring less in middle school
students and more often in
high school students. Data from the
Monitoring the Future Survey, funded in part by the National Institute
on Drug Abuse (NIDA), indicates
that alcohol is the drug of choice,
with around 45% of graduating
high school students reporting alcohol use within the past year. This is
a slight reduction from prior to the
pandemic, when the data showed
about 52% of 12th grade students
reporting use. Tenth grade students
reported use at 30% and eight graders at 15%. Other substances are
reported with lower use data, with
30% of 12th graders reporting use
of cannabis, 19% of 10th graders
and 8% of eighth graders.
According to Rishi Gautam,
M.D., chair of psychiatry, LifeBridge
Health, cannabis use has grown,
possibly as a result of legalization
and dispensary sales as well as the
social acceptance and attitudes surrounding its use, despite the legal
age for alcohol and cannabis use set
by the government at 21 years old. It
is normal for adolescents and young
adults to experiment with alcohol
and other substances.
“They’re very suggestible,” Gautam explains. “It is that age that is
characterized by impulsivity, the
need for thrill, the need to explore
the world around them.”
When use becomes chronic and
behavior compulsive, it can lead
to addiction. NIDA defines addic-
tion as a chronic, relapsing disorder
characterized by compulsive drug
seeking and use despite adverse
consequences. Addiction is considered a brain disorder as it involves
functional changes to the brain circuits involved in reward, stress and
self-control.
Signs of Misuse
The signs of addiction are similar
to those that point to beginning use,
according to Tara Pistorio, LCPC,
CAC-AD, director of clinical development at Maryland Addiction
Recovery Center, which provides
long-term extended care community
living treatment program, as well as
day and evening intensive outpatient
treatment programs.
“They’re going to be lying, manipulative, secretive, isolating,” she ex-
plains. “Secretive and isolating are
probably the bigger ones. They don’t
want mom and dad to find out. They
think they’re sly. They think they can
keep it together.”
The first things that are apparent,
Gautam notes, are a sudden, atypical
drop or disturbance in their grades,
social withdrawal and isolation,
closed doors, irritability, poor sleep,
decreased interest in family activities
or spending time in the household.
The child may also complain of
aches and pains, nausea, vomiting,
headaches, migraines and other reasons to avoid school.
Adolescents who are misusing
substances or addicted also find
someone else to blame. “They are
breaking rules and boundaries; gaslighting is a big one we talk about,”
Pistorio adds, noting they indicate
