While there isn’t one specific way that you can stop someone from abusing alcohol and/or drugs, October is National Substance Abuse Prevention Month, so it is a great time to explore tips on how you can lower the risk of addiction for teenagers.
Here, at ARIA FL, we strive to always help keep people safe from addiction. If you or someone else in your life has already started abusing harmful substances, know that we have professional treatment programs that can help you to overcome drug or alcohol addiction. We even have mental health programs to help you improve your mental health, too.
If you just need ways to lower the risk of addiction in your life or the life of someone you love, read more about these top tips to stop addiction today. While they aren’t guaranteed, they have been proven to be helpful in lowering the risk of teenage addiction and addiction in adulthood, as well.
Learn About Substance Abuse and Addiction During National Substance Abuse Prevention Month
If you want to help prevent addiction in teenagers during National Substance Abuse Prevention Month, the first thing you will want to do is to learn more about substance abuse and addiction. The more you can understand about how substance abuse happens, the more information and resources you can provide to the youth.
Some of the things you may need or want to know about substance abuse and addiction include:
- There are many risk factors for substance abuse and addiction (genetics, environment, peer pressure, mental health issues, etc.)
- Using alcohol and/or drugs recreationally can lead to an addiction
- Starting to abuse prescription medications is classified as substance abuse
- Those who try to get high or intoxicated when they use drugs or alcohol likely have a substance use disorder
- There are addiction treatment programs for teenagers
These are some of the most important things that you may want to know regarding substance abuse and addiction during National Substance Abuse Prevention Month.
Now that you are aware of these things, you can talk to the younger generations in your life to make sure they aren’t abusing alcohol and/or drugs. They may not come right out and tell you if they are, but if they do, make sure they know ARIA FL has treatments and services that can help to turn their life around.
Avoiding Peer Pressure, Temptations and Triggers
Unfortunately, there are many reasons why so many teenagers develop a substance use disorder. During National Substance Abuse Prevention Month, it is important to make sure we help our teens to avoid peer pressure, temptations and triggers. Each one of these things can cause them to abuse harmful substances.
For example, many teenagers are pressured by their friends or family members to use drugs or alcohol. Your teenager may have a friend who says. “Come on. Let’s just have one drink.” Your teenager may participate because they feel they won’t have any friends if they don’t drink or get high. It is important for adults to teach our kids and the youth how to avoid peer pressure. One way is to build their self-confidence levels and boundaries.
Your teenager may also have temptations to drink or use drugs. For instance, they may feel tempted to get drunk because they see their family members drinking and having a good time. It is important to make sure teenagers know that alcohol isn’t a way to have fun. It is a damaging substance that can cause a lot of problems in life. If you or someone in your family needs help to stop drinking, so you can help to prevent substance abuse in the younger generations within your family, please reach out to us here at ARIA FL today.
Last, but not least, it is crucial that teenagers know what their triggers are. This may take quite a few conversations and a lot of internal work. However, once they can identify their triggers, they can avoid those as best as possible, so they don’t feel triggered to drink or use drugs. Some of the common triggers are anxiety, depression, general stress, relationship issues and job-related stress.
Receiving Mental Health Treatment
Did you know that the majority of people who struggle with substance abuse issues do have some sort of mental health condition or symptoms of a mental health disorder? Studies have shown this to be true.
If you want to start helping the teenagers or kids in your life to prevent substance abuse, especially during National Substance Abuse Prevention Month, it is crucial that you assess the state of their mental health. This may take numerous conversations and listen to them attentively.
If your teenager or kid does have mental health symptoms, they can come to ARIA FL for an assessment and mental health condition treatments. If they get treatment for these symptoms and conditions, it can help to prevent them from turning to drugs and/or alcohol for solutions.
Take a Look at the Person’s Risk of Addiction
There are also various risk factors for substance abuse and addiction that you should take a look at, as well. Some of the common risk factors for teenagers include:
- School stressors
- Family history of addiction and/or mental health disorders
- Environment (do others around them drink or use drugs?)
- Physical and/or emotional pain or triggers
Talk to your teenager and kids about these risk factors. Find out if they are thinking about turning to alcohol and/or drugs to solve these problems. If so, let them know there are resources that can help to prevent substance abuse in their life.
Balance in Life is Key
It is important that our kids know how to balance things out in their life. For instance, if they are playing too many sports, this could cause a hit to their academics and it could cause a lot of stress in their life. Both these issues could cause them to abuse alcohol and/or drugs.
Balance in life is key. Make sure to talk to your kids about work-life-school-relationship balance. Help them to develop goals that best fit their future dreams. Continue to check in with them to see if they need help balancing things out in their life. This is one of the best ways to prevent substance abuse during National Substance Abuse Prevention Month and during the rest of the year, too.
Start Preventing Substance Abuse in Teenagers Today
Now that you know about these tips to prevent substance abuse in teenagers, you can start implementing these in the lives of your teenagers and kids.
Does one of your kids already have substance abuse issues? If so, contact us today here at ARIA FL, to get them the help they need right away