A Parent’s Prayer: Navigating Chemical Dependency in Teens

The adolescent world has always been marked with challenges. Everything in a teen’s life is undergoing some sort of simultaneous change, both inside and out. This can be overwhelming for us as parents, but even to a greater degree, for our teens who are living through it, and can lead to chemical dependency in teens.

Today’s teens are navigating the unfamiliar territory between childhood and young adulthood, but they are also facing troubles that exceed what we would have imagined. The temptation to cope by experimenting with legal and illicit drugs ranks high among the many pressures that teens face.

While we may want to hover, the fact remains that parents cannot be present with them every moment. With all our safeguards in place, we may still miss areas that require our attention. As parents, we aren’t perfect, and will likely stumble across challenges that we didn’t anticipate in our vision for family.

Proactive parenting

We can look for opportunities to connect with our kids daily. Having honest conversations that allow them to feel safe and talk represents an investment in them and demonstrates our interest in their experiences. It’s unrealistic to believe that we will agree on everything, but listening allows for us to hear them and notice areas of concern.

We don’t have to judge but rather discern with the Holy Spirit’s help and engage them in ways that will permit honest conversations about chemical dependency and opportunities to facilitate positive interaction and influence.

Paying attention to chemical dependency in teens

We can pay attention to some of the salient signs, such as the smells associated with marijuana, alcohol, or cigarettes. These can be a gateway or a companion to the use of more illicit substances. Disheveled physical appearance such as poor hygiene and grooming, red and swollen eyes and cheeks, frequent nosebleeds, or unexplained burns around the mouth or fingers can indicate chemical dependency.

Sudden changes in friend groups and relationships with those at home, lack of attentiveness to interests, including homework, or multiple school absences can signal an issue that needs to be explored. While it may be difficult to address this, missing valuables or money can reveal a mounting substance abuse issue.

Pursuing support for chemical dependency in teens

We won’t know every area where our teens are struggling. If we believe they may have a chemical dependency, hope and help are available through a variety of resources. Talking with our teen’s physician and school-based services represent places to begin.

We can also secure behavioral health resources found in local hospitals, which often offer crisis units, generally accessible through dialing directly or dispatched through emergency services. Since many people who use drugs also attempt suicide, dialing ‘988’ will provide access to the nationwide Suicide and Crisis Lifeline where we can access targeted help in a crisis.

Next steps

As a parent, you are the first and best defense in supporting your teen son or daughter with challenges common to adolescence. The same is true for the modern landscape, peppered with drugs and the opioid crisis. If you sense that your teen may need to address a chemical dependency, you are in the right place.

Search this site for a counselor to support you and them with navigating this territory. You will find the help needed to answer questions, address concerns, and advocate for your teen in a way that only a loving and invested parent can.