Drug abuse is a huge problem in the US that is often overlooked. Many parents assume that there’s nothing that they can do to control the situation. Here are some solutions to help your teenager if they’re struggling with addiction.
Make It a Team Effort
Your spouse and you need to get on the same page for how to handle the situation. Pull in other members of the family that your teenager respects and trusts. You have to form a united front, otherwise, your teen will exploit your weaknesses. This will give them an out to continue down the road of addiction. If you’re able, get your teenager to admit that they have a problem. They have to realize that they need help in order for things to turn around. Your teen needs to be part of the solution for it to work.
Set Boundaries
Parenting involves setting boundaries and guidelines for your kids. This becomes even more important when your teen is suffering from addiction. Your word has to be the end all be all law. Develop consequences if your teen violates the boundaries that you establish. This is probably one of the hardest things that you’ll have to do. Be consistent if you want it to work out. Any deviation from your agreed upon rules could cause a relapse to occur. It will also need to be accompanied by consequences that you can enforce.
Keep an Eye on the Situation
Deal with things on a day to day basis. Don’t look the other way if your teen goes out partying when you told them it wasn’t allowed. This is what may have helped the problems to become so bad. Consider asking other members of the family to be at your house when you can’t be there. It may seem like overkill, but you have to keep tabs on the situation. Your teenager may not thank you for the added supervision, but you can’t continue to enable the situation.
Seek out Treatment
There may be instances in which seeking out treatment is the best course of action. Look into treatment facilities in your area. Addiction counseling centers like Lifeline may have the services that your teen requires. Do your research to make sure that the facility that you select will be the right fit. You want your teen to be able to become a functional adult. They can’t do this if they’re constantly battling addiction issues.
Managing addiction isn’t something that’s going to happen overnight. Become knowledgeable about the addiction in order to become a good resource for your teenager.