By Yamini

The teenage years are an age when young people try to form an identity and fit in with their companions.

There comes a time in a teen’s life where he/she is faced with an individual decision to take a drug there are 90% of all grown-ups who are addicted to alcoholic had their first drink or drug were consumed between the ages of 13-18.

This percentage is very high and it exposes that as much as we attempt to prevent teenagers from drinking or using drugs we are terribly failing in that section.

Let us discuss the top reasons why teens try alcohol and drugs.

1. Boredom

One of the most common reasons that teenagers begin experimenting with drugs and alcohol is that they can’t tolerate being alone.

Alcohol keeps people occupied so that they won’t get bored or crave excitement are prime candidates for substance use.

Adolescents who are not participating in extracurricular activities are more apt to consume drugs and alcohol because it aids to pass the time and helps them to create a friendship, with other drug using youngsters, that they are dropping due to their lack of activity.

2. Witnessing Others Using Drug and Alcohol

This is probably the number one cause that teens will begin drinking or using drugs.

Youngsters see lots of people consuming various substances. They will either see their parents or their companions or celebrities engaging in the practices like drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes and, sometimes, trying other substances which will spark interest and a tempted to try it out.

Friends may ask one another to have a glass of drink or marijuana, but it’s just as simple for teens to try a drug and alcohol because it’s easily available and they see a group of their friends enjoying it.

In their minds, drug use is a part of the common adolescent experience.

 3. Rebellion

During teens, adults are endeavoring to find a sense of self apart from the family member and this many times indicates that they are going to rebel.

A drink is the drug of choice for the angry youth because it frees him to perform aggressively.

Marijuana, also encourage aggressive, violent behavior, and can be far more dangerous and potent than alcohol. 

Methamphetamine, or meth, on the other hand, often seems to also encourage aggressive, violent behavior, and can be far more dangerous and potent than alcohol.

For some youngsters, this indicates that they are going to change their hair color or something similarly harmless. These are the reasons for adolescent drug-use are as complicated themselves.

4. Genetics

Genetics play a vital role in the growth of an addiction. If there are family members who are addicted to drug and alcohol addiction, youngsters may be genetically influenced to experiment with substance and become addicted.

But genes are not the only factor. To changing degrees, they work in concert with outside factors to change a person’s response to substances along with his behavior. we can’t be blamed for our genes, particularly if we haven’t been educated.

If there is a family story of addiction, be honest and open a conversation about the real hazards of addiction.

5. Depression

This is probably the most underreported cause that many teens begin to practice drugs or alcohol.

When they are sad or depressed they see these substances as a way to forget all their depression and feel happier.

When this occurs they start to equate pot with an ability to rest and have only dealt with the sign and not the cause of that sign is that they proceed to consume drugs to medicate themselves.

You may see a silent attitude as “just being a youngster”, but there may be a profound depression with them.

6. Stress

Adolescent stress can be dangerous. When a students move to high school, they may have felt extreme anxiety their whole life with a packed schedule of advanced classes and extracurricular activities and then when they smoked a joint they found that they could feel relax.

Nearly 73% of teens who use drugs began taking them primarily due to worry over school grades and 7% child became drug dependant due to stress, showing some possible lack of communication between child and parent.

So when they are given a chance to take something to make them feel better they feel happy to consume drug or alcohol.

7. Popular media

In 2015, many American teens, nearly 92% of youngsters in the age of  13 to 17 years reported going online regularly.

24% were online almost continually, and 71% addicted to  more than one social media site were at increased risk of smoking, drinking and drug use.

You can also find the alcoholism recovery statistics at a glance to see how people had been addicted to drug and alcohol.

Also we see how much advertising and movies celebrities will consume substances, seeing that many teens get spoilt and they begin to practice the drugs and alcohol.

The fact that there are organizations ready to spend more than $25 billion every year on promoting alcohol, tobacco, and prescription drugs.

The investigation has revealed that advertising may actually be responsible for up to 30% of teens consume tobacco and alcohol.

8. Lack of confidence

Lack of confidence represents a substandard evaluation or disappointing appraisal of one’s’ own self-worth.

Development of our confidence starts at the initial stages of adolescence and continues a part of our life forever. In teens, especially between the ages of 14 and 16, Reduction of confidence due to physical appearance or lack of friends can lead to self-destructive behavior.

When the family put pressure on youngsters to act and look a certain way, and they lose confidence in themselves if they don’t meet those high standards.

Alcohol and other drugs seem like an easy way to escape this reality. Not only having something in common with the other people around yourself, but there’s the mentality that if you do anything or speak anything funny, everyone will just assume that you had too many drugs and alcohol.

9. Misinformation

The most avoidable cause of substance abuse is incorrect information about drugs and alcohol.

About 40 % of teens don’t notice any major risk with trying a drug once or twice?

While misuse of dangerous drugs is steadily decreasing among adults, they are intended to abuse prescription and over-the-counter medications remains a serious concern and nearly one in five youths have already misused prescription medication or prescription painkiller in order to get high or deal with anxiety.

Educate your youngster about drug use, so they get the real facts about the dangers of drug use.

10. Weight Loss

When teens are very overweight, healthy changes to their diet, exercise, sleep, and other habits are the best ways for them to slim down, instead of that many female teenagers often turn to stronger drugs such as cocaine for a quick way to lose weight.

These young ladies may also be struggling with a co-occurring eating disorder, such as anorexia which often obsessed with not getting fat, starve themselves or Bulimia it revolves around a destructive cycle of bingeing and purging.

Bottom line

As a parent, grandparent or caregiver, if you think your child is starting to drink or use drugs talk to your kids about the dangers of experimenting with drugs and alcohol and check out these tips for stopping drug and alcohol usage.

The fact that the parental influences are more powerful than advertising and many other outside factors, do it anyway. Don’t let your child undergo at the hands of addiction any longer.

Visit an alcohol treatment center which is nearby your location.  Hopefully, this helped you to sprinkle some light on the problems and will aid you in your attempts to support your child in making good decisions.

Author Bio

Yamini is a content strategist at Bright Bridge Info tech, Addiction Recovery Center and she enjoys learning about the Addiction Recovery field. She specializes in guest blogging, blog publishing, and social media. She is an avid reader and loves writing impeccable contents pertaining to Addiction Recovery. She holds a bachelor degree in commerce.

The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect all or some of our beliefs and policy.  Any links on this page do not necessarily mean they have been endorsed by Defying Mental Illness.

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