Opiates, Teens, and Addiction: A deadly mix.

 

Today’s teens are facing a crisis that seems to be getting worse every year: opioid addiction. While most of us may think of opioids as solely a problem for adults, teen-addiction to opioids has become increasingly common in recent years. Opioids, including both legal painkillers like Oxycontin and illegal drugs like heroin, have had a devastating effect on the lives of teens across the country. In this blog post, we’ll explore the dangers of opiates, how teen-addiction is affecting young lives, and what can be done to combat this growing crisis.

Teens are turning to opiates to cope with anxiety, depression, and stress.
One thing that Gen-X or Millenial parents often discount when considering the triggers of these complex behaviors is their very own teen years. If you were born in the 80’s or 90’s life was never really simple but there was one luxury we all had to some degree. No matter how stressful your problems were you could leave them, and your bullies behind after the last school bell rang. Once you got home, safe within the confines of your bedroom you could leave it all behind for the night, or even better the whole weekend. Now that we’ve fully entered the electronic age and our children are among the first generations to receive cell-phones and laptops fairly early in life they don’t have the same respite we did.

From the moment they wake up and check their social media accounts, they are subject to criticism. Whether it’s the photos they posted the night before or what have you, biting comments, most often from a classmate can spiral into a vortex of shaming while they sleep. Because of the inescapable dread, we have seen an increase in anxiety and depression. What’s more, we have also seen a huge spike in the usage of drugs, particularly pharmaceutical opioids. The problem with this trend is only aggravated by the fact that many teens don’t feel that trying them are all that dangerous because they were dispensed by a pharmacy.

Now, I’m not going to get into the pharmacodynamics of how addiction works and how they rewire the brain, instead, I’ll make it a load simpler by saying that once they do develop a taste for opiates it doesn’t take too long for them to realize that the street version costs much less. This decision will take them to some of the riskier parts of town with friends, but what’s more dangerous is the precedent it sets if they are successful. From there a dalliance with addiction and a stint in rehab is likely but even if they escape that they will always have the predisposition and their world of social media with all its stressors will never get easier. Throw a job, marriage and kids into the mix and it’s possible that a relapse might happen, except this time they might venture out to drug seek on their own, with less than spectacular results.

This is why I wrote The Prime and had it beta-read by doctors, nurses, and all the branches of EMS, because today’s teens just need a stronger understanding of the respect these drugs require and I believe it passes the test.

Opiate addiction is a serious problem that can lead to death.

Teens who are addicted to opiates need professional help to recover.