Drugs and addiction in young people: how to help control and prevent

Addictions are an alternative to young people who resort when they cannot or do not know how to handle problems or situations that make them feel harassed, and that seems increasingly more severe. The most common output for a problem that is unsolved is evasion. And drugs, alcohol, overeating, etc. are addictions that can be an easy way to escape from what causes them pain, insecurity, fear, etc.

What is an addiction?

They are shelters that give pleasure, freedom, security and power momentarily, but when the effect is gone, there is a strong relapse, and the young often feel worse than before. This creates a need for them, not to mention that many addictions such as drugs and alcohol, at the biological level, creates reactions that emphasize their need for consumption.

Why young people become addicted to something?

Although it seems hard to believe, it is not that a young man chooses to be addicted, but because the circumstances make him seek external stimulants because they are a support to avoid falling into confusion or emotional pain that may affect him. Young people look for these shelters because basically they do not know what to do with what they feel and live. Some examples that cause young people to reach this output are: constant rejection, judgments to what the young man is and feels, punishment and constant criticism, blame, emotional neglect, lack of emotional support or guidance, not setting limits since small (which creates much insecurity), parents demanding perfectionists, moral or physical abuse, lack of an atmosphere of safety and dignity.

Dependencies, crises and emotional culture

Many young people often have crises due in large part because the education has neglected emotional culture in most schools. Most parents and teachers drag this lag, do not understand how they feel, the culture teaches us to deny and disguise what we feel, to try to be what we are not to compare ourselves to be competing and create false positions, to give orders, judging, etc. People lack a deep understanding about the emotional world; you have a poor understanding of how to handle stress, fear, anger, etc. And no one knows what to do with it except shut it up, you get frustrated, so you avoid, and you give these insecurities and shortcomings to the children and students, who later also feel insecure and low ability to handle the amount of information and experiences that happen in modern life. So there is much to digest in these days, and very little time and culture to do it. Many parents have rushed all day, some arriving full of stress and problems; they are unable to listen to their children.

Teachers, on the other hand, have to care for many children in the classroom, the time for a child to participate in the classroom is very few, if teachers leave in a hurry to get to another room or go to sleep, dialogue increasingly absent. On the other hand, much of internet only pumps information not suitable for young and less for children, headlines (often very violent), pages that pump a view of sex and very poor love, there are some pages that are actually quality, but at this age, young people still do not distinguish very well what is that "quality" as they look for easy things and that don’t represent conflict or discomfort, and give them a pleasure as quickly as possible. And television, on the other hand, spends selling things and emphasizing consumer behavior to be accepted, like the Internet, many programs are actually very low cultural value. So where we want children and young people to take refuge?  

Types of dependencies

There are different types of dependencies; the most common are drug dependence, alcohol, food, etc. However, many young people are also dependent on other things like video games, internet, gambling, noise (turn up the volume to the music), the gym, looking good, etc. This type of dependencies looks more harmless but should not be neglected, as they are calling for youth care, a form of escape from what they feel they cannot control.

Addictions and Family

When there is an addict at home, the family may feel and react in different ways. But the most advisable when a youth is addicted to something is to avoid rejection, beatings, abuse or disregard, as it should be aware that the young do not understand their inner world, and has resorted to extra support because does not find it at home. With friends, they can share their addiction or moments of pleasure, but usually an addict is associated with people who do not know what to do with what they feel, so that they cannot support each other but just accompany.

Desperation often tends to reach the family. However, this can be a time to serve the whole family (not just the addict) to reconsider many things. We suggest seeking professional help when the case has worsened; however, there is much you can do at home to help an addict out of the dependency.

The family can start by getting stronger emotionally, as a well-built boat can take a person anywhere. We cannot do much if we are fragile, desperate, anxious or nervous, this will only worsen things and youth will feel that those around him are not people to trust. So it is best to begin, as a parent, relative, friend or person interested in helping, to get strengthened oneself.

Please read books that help you understand the situation from new perspectives, as the book of Louise L., titled You Can Heal Your Life. You can also invite the youth to take a session with a bio-energetic therapist, or someone to help resolve emotional pain.

Finally, we should mention that a lot of people say you must avoid drugs, but they are not attacking the real problem that makes young resort to such escapes. To make young people safe and strong, it is necessary that they find themselves, because if not, they won’t learn to understand.

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