Recent Posts
Feeding The Beast
May 10, 2012
Oops!
May 3, 2012
What If This Present Were The World's Last Night?
April 26, 2012
What are the emotional challenges that parents will face when their teen is recovering from an addictive disease?
Posted by: Dr. Drew Edwards
Tags:
Adolescence, Cocaine, Drug addiction, Health/Medical/Pharmaceuticals, Psychoactive drug, Substance abuse, Substance-related disorders
Posted date:
September 26, 2009 |
No comment
Part 3 of facing your teen’s addiction
Substance abuse hinders emotional development in teens. This is due to the psychoactive effects of drugs on the emotional center (limbic system) in the brain. All drugs of abuse change how this part of the brain functions. Teens learn that using drugs and alcohol will quickly change their mood. When a teen is bored, smoking marijuana makes the time pass. When they feel depressed, alcohol or cocaine works wonders—for a while.
We become emotionally mature by experiencing all of our feelings and learning how to cope with them. It may take several years of sobriety for some teens to catch up emotionally. Helping your teen talk about his feelings and express them appropriately is not easy. It will require patience and persistence and, most of all, a willingness to listen.
Share This
About the author
Dr. Drew Edwards
Dr. Drew Edwards is a behavioral health researcher, author, counselor, and the youth culture expert and consultant for the nationally syndicated reality television programs Ultimate Choice, and Real Girls-Real Life. In 2006 he founded ENNOBLE, Inc., a non profit educational foundation created to rescue teens and empower parents through the creative expression of Christian principles. His website, www.drdrewedwards.org, is a product of that mission. He has been working with families for twenty years. Dr. Drew was formerly Clinical Assistant Professor in the department of psychiatry and health behavior at the Medical College of Georgia. Previously he served as Associate Director of Psychiatry at the University of Florida. His appointment included program development, clinical practice and clinical instruction for psychiatric residents and postdoctoral fellows in the division of addiction medicine. Dr. Drew has published numerous peer reviewed and popular articles on parenting, behavioral health, addictions, depression/chronic illness and youth culture, as well handbooks for parents on childhood depression and self-esteem in children. He speaks at conferences and presents seminars throughout the United States on parenting, youth culture, teen sex, pornography, addictive disease and eating disorders. He also provides weekly parenting advice on 88.1 FM, The Promise, in Jacksonville and northeast Florida. He joined the staff of the PAYH in 2008.
Dr. Drew Edwards is a behavioral health researcher, author, counselor, and the youth culture expert and consultant for the nationally syndicated reality television programs Ultimate Choice, and Real Girls-Real Life. In 2006 he founded ENNOBLE, Inc., a non profit educational foundation created to rescue teens and empower parents through the creative expression of Christian principles. His website, www.drdrewedwards.org, is a product of that mission. He has been working with families for twenty years. Dr. Drew was formerly Clinical Assistant Professor in the department of psychiatry and health behavior at the Medical College of Georgia. Previously he served as Associate Director of Psychiatry at the University of Florida. His appointment included program development, clinical practice and clinical instruction for psychiatric residents and postdoctoral fellows in the division of addiction medicine. Dr. Drew has published numerous peer reviewed and popular articles on parenting, behavioral health, addictions, depression/chronic illness and youth culture, as well handbooks for parents on childhood depression and self-esteem in children. He speaks at conferences and presents seminars throughout the United States on parenting, youth culture, teen sex, pornography, addictive disease and eating disorders. He also provides weekly parenting advice on 88.1 FM, The Promise, in Jacksonville and northeast Florida. He joined the staff of the PAYH in 2008.
Related Posts
You must be logged in to post a comment.