Most Kids who Abuse Drugs & Alcohol Come from Loving Homes!
Their bewildered parents are left wondering, "How did this happen?"
Guess what…this is nothing new!
Since Hippocrates we’ve been putting the majority of our money
and energy into damage control! Prevention is typically for youths at risk, intervention
for those already using drugs and alcohol, and earlier childhood prevention education for parents? Sadly lacking.
Doing more of the same just isn’t working!
Many youths still end up either incarcerated, dead, or on disability for the rest of their lives… some living in their poor parents basements!
What we’ve been missing is what CAUSES our children to grow up to WANT or NEED drugs and alcohol in the first place! … IN SPITE OF THEIR FAMILY BACKGROUND OR KNOWLEDGE OF THE DANGERS!
Let's draw a parallel:
We can try to help a teenager who has become a quadriplegic due to daredevil activity. But wouldn’t it be more powerful, less costly, less painful, for all concerned to address the often long-term underlying need driving his thrill seeking behavior, long before his accident? Doesn’t that make more sense?
The GOOD NEWS is that we can do a lot to prevent drug and alcohol abuse and addiction right NOW!
How? By recognizing, preventing, and addressing the many childhood often hidden vulnerabilities NOW, BEFORE they lead to teen drug and alcohol abuse (and all other risk taking behaviors).
To illustrate, let me tell you a story about my son Ryan when he was only two and a half, when no one understood this one risk factor. Even today few parents do.
We were at a family gathering on a beautiful summer day. The sundeck was missing its railing, awaiting a replacement, so we kept the kids indoors and sat guard on the deck as we visited.
Suddenly Ryan burst through the doors, turned and taunted the others to chase him. Before any of us could catch him off he went, landing nine feet below onto a pointed rock… smack in the middle of his forehead. (Note the jagged scar at his hairline.)
The mere thought of it still makes my heart sink. But in those days, a few stitches and an overnight in hospital confirmed to the doctor he was okay.
They’ve known differently for about 16 years that a “closed head” injury, a.k.a. "mild traumatic brain injury", without concussion or loss of consciousness, can cause permanent damage if left untreated. In fact, I'm told, even a fall out of a highchair can cause brain injury, depending on the nature of the fall!
Knowledge IS Power!
Had I known even 16 years ago that Ryan’s chronic troubles with decision making, self control, and stubbornness were rooted in this old brain injury (hidden disability) I could have found him effective treatment. That might have saved him from abusing drugs and alcohol to cope in adolescence, and from the drug that eventually took his life – crystal meth. Do you see how knowledge IS power?
Granted, there were other risk factors… some visible, some not. Regretfully, I didn’t recognize EARLY ENOUGH the many vulnerabilities, single and compounding, that were setting Ryan up for future drug and alcohol abuse.
AND THE OLDER HE GOT THE HARDER IT BECAME FOR HIM TO COOPERATE IN TREATING THEM!
This is normal childhood development! And why YOU MUST ACT TO INFORM YOURSELF NOW!