Top 5 Reasons Kids and Young Adults Do Drugs

While you might think your teen understands the dangers of drug use and would never take the risk of abusing drugs, chances are good your child is now or will experiment with drugs. Teen seek novelty and thrills, and their immature brains aren’t capable of fully regulating their behavior. In fact, researchers now understand that the behavior regulation part of the brain doesn’t finish developing until about 25 years of age. At our program for outpatient addiction treatment in Delray Beach, we’ve helped many young people who first began experimenting with drug use in their teens. Kids often use drugs for many of the same reasons adults do – to cope with stress or emotional pain, for example. Here are some of the common reasons teens use drugs – and what you can do to stop your kid’s drug use in its tracks before he or she winds up in our program for outpatient addiction treatment in Delray Beach.

1) To Cope with Mental or Emotional Issues

Teens struggle with emotional and psychological problems just as adults do, but unlike adults they often aren’t equipped to deal with them. Your teenager doesn’t have access to mental health care and doesn’t have the life experience to have developed coping skills. When teens begin struggling with mental health issues – depression, anxiety, eating disorders or bipolar disorder, for example – they may start self-medicating with drugs. Likewise, teens may use drugs to cope with low-self esteem, or even physical pain.

At least half of the people we help at our program for outpatient addiction treatment in Delray Beach are suffering from a concurrent mental health disorder. If you think your teen is depressed, anxious, or suffering from other mental health problems, seek professional treatment. Signs of a mental health problem include changes in behavior, mood or grades.

2) To Make Friends

If you remember anything about your own teen years, it’s probably your desire to be popular and well-liked and fit in. Teens are still developing emotional maturity, and as a result they base much of their sense of self-worth on the opinions of their peers. They struggle mightily with peer pressure, tough social situations and bullying. If the “popular” kids are doing drugs, or if “everyone is doing it,” your teen will do drugs just to fit in and avoid every teen’s worst nightmare, social ostracization.

To keep your teen’s misguided search for acceptance from landing him or her in our program for outpatient addiction treatment in Delray Beach, keep track of his or her friends. Invite your child’s friends to hang out at your house, where you can keep an eye on their activities (without being overbearing, of course). Keep the lines of communication open so that you will be aware of any social problems your child may be facing, and you can help him or her.

3) To Relax

Teens are just as prone to stress as anyone else, and they may use drugs to cope. One survey found that 73 percent of teens use drugs to cope with stress related to schoolwork, but teens can also get stressed about fights with friends, going through puberty, moving, changing schools, graduating, or coping with death and illness in the family or parental divorce.

Protect your teen from stress by staying involved with his or her life. When you nurture a good relationship with your teen, he or she will feel safe coming to you with his or her problems. You can help your child learn healthy ways to cope with stress that won’t lead him or her into our program for outpatient addiction treatment in Delray Beach. Help your child with his or her homework, share family meals, go to his or her performances and sporting events and make time for regular parent-child bonding.

4) Boredom

Teens seek novelty and get bored easily, as any parent knows. Your teen could turn to drugs and alcohol as a way to stave off boredom, especially if they don’t have access to entertaining or fun hobbies. Keep your kids entertained and occupied with volunteer work, sports and other extracurricular activities, community classes and other hobbies. Make it clear to your teen that you expect him or her to obey your rules regarding substance abuse, and he or she will be far less likely to someday wind up in our program for outpatient addiction treatment in Delray Beach.

5) Out of Curiosity

Kids want to see what doing drugs is like, especially if their friends have done them. Kids who learn from their parents about the dangers of drug use are 50 percent less likely to use them – but be realistic, because kids can tell when you’re exaggerating. Give your teen plenty of safe thrill-seeking opportunities like travel, adventure sports and experimenting with fashion.

Outpatient Addiction Treatment in Delray Beach

Our program for outpatient addiction treatment Delray Beach has to offer has helped thousands recover from addiction. Call us today at 888-699-5679 to learn more about our program.

How to Prepare Yourself for Outpatient Addiction Treatment in Delray Beach

So you’ve finally had enough – of drugs and alcohol, that is. You’ve come to realize that you have a problem, and that addiction is tearing apart your family, your career and your life. You’re ready to seek help. You’ve even chosen a program – our facility for outpatient addiction treatment in Delray Beach.

How you prepare yourself for this next crucial chapter of your life will make all the difference. Let’s take a look at what you can do to ready yourself to start your outpatient treatment program for addiction.

Understand What You’re About to Do

Our outpatient addiction treatment Delray Beach program is very effective, but it isn’t magic. It’s not going to change you unless you want to change. And change is hard – you have to overall your whole lifestyle, change your fundamental beliefs and perspectives, and keep moving forward even when it seems impossible.

Addiction relapse rates are high and it could happen to you. You’ll have to commit to putting a plan in place for that eventuality. If you suffer relapse, you’ll have to pick yourself back up, dust yourself off and start all over again. You could wind up back in outpatient drug rehab, or even in an inpatient drug rehab.

There are no short cuts to recovery, no magic tricks that will put you on the straight and narrow and keep you there. You have to work for it. It won’t be easy, or fun, and it will at times feel frightening, degrading and painful.

In order to successfully get clean in our program for outpatient addiction treatment in Delray Beach, you have to give up drugs and alcohol forever. You can’t get clean for a little bit and then go back to using. You can’t have just one drink. This isn’t a fad diet. It’s your life now – or it will be, soon.

The Program You Choose Matters

There’s a reason why so many people choose our program for outpatient addiction treatment in Delray Beach. It’s one of the best outpatient drug and alcohol rehabs in the country and it’s located in sunny South Florida, in Delray Beach, the Recovery Capital of the World. We’ve saved thousands of lives as people from all walks of life and all over the country have come here, hoping against hope for a recovery they haven’t found anywhere else. Many have stayed; the recovery community of Delray Beach provides a supportive atmosphere you just can’t get anywhere else.

Know Where You’re Going to Live

If you’re going to outpatient drug treatment, you’ll need a place to live. Unlike inpatient rehab programs, outpatient programs don’t provide lodging. You’ll need a stable, supportive and substance-free home environment.

If you don’t know where you’re going to stay while you attend our program for outpatient addiction treatment in Delray Beach, don’t worry. Delray Beach is home to more than 200 sober living homes and halfway houses for people in outpatient rehab programs like ours. You can live in a close and supportive family atmosphere while you’re attending our rehab program.

Get Help at Home with Outpatient Addiction Treatment in Delray Beach

One of the biggest advantages of outpatient addiction treatment Delray Beach programs like ours is that you can still hold down a job and spend time with your family while you’re in the program. You don’t have to disappear for weeks or months on end when you attend our program for outpatient addiction treatment in Delray Beach.

But you’ll still need to find time to attend group and individual therapy sessions and 12-Step support group meetings. If you don’t have good time management skills, you’re going to need to get some in a hurry, especially if you have kids at home. If you have a spouse or partner, maybe they can pick up some of the slack while you’re at meetings and therapy – but it might be a good idea to consider calling a parent or other relative to come and stay with you for a while, or hiring a nanny, or even finding out if friends or neighbors might be willing to lend a hand.

If you’re ready to get treatment for your substance abuse issues, our program for outpatient treatment in Delray Beach can help. Call us today at 888-699-5679 to learn more.

Outpatient Addiction Treatment Delray Beach Is Effective for Benzo Dependence

Benzodiazepines are highly addictive drugs that have a sedative effect. Sadly, many people wind up seeking out the help of our outpatient addiction treatment Delray Beach program because they’ve become addicted to benzodiazepines through overuse, either recreationally or for medical problems like insomnia or anxiety. With the help of our outpatient addiction treatment Delray Beach program, you can safely detox from benzodiazepines and eventually resume a normal life.

Is Our Outpatient Addiction Treatment Delray Beach Program Safe?

Our outpatient addiction treatment Delray Beach program is safe for most people. If you are a patient who presents special medical challenges, you may need to be hospitalized during some of your treatment program.

Detoxing from Benzos in Our Outpatient Addiction Treatment Delray Beach Program

You should know that know that when you detox from benzos in our outpatient addiction treatment Delray Beach program, you won’t be taken off the drugs right away. It’s dangerous to stop taking benzodiazepines all at once – it can cause prolonged withdrawal symptoms and dangerous medical complications. When you enter our outpatient addiction treatment Delray Beach for benzodiazepine detox, you’ll be stabilized, probably on a longer-acting benzo like Phenobarbital or Librium.

If you’re over a certain age, have liver problems or have other medical complications, you may not be able to take longer-acting benzos during your outpatient addiction treatment Delray Beach program because you may not be able to metabolize them properly. In this case, you’ll begin your outpatient addiction treatment Delray Beach program by being stabilized on shorter-acting benzos like oxazepam or lorazepam. Your dose will be slowly tapered off until you’re finally off of benzos completely.

It is important that you not try to detox from benzodiazepines on your own or without medical supervision in the context of our outpatient addiction treatment Delray Beach program. Stopping benzos suddenly could create medical complications, not least of which include protracted withdrawal symptoms. Dr. Rodriguez of our outpatient addiction treatment Delray Beach program has more than 10 years of experience treating benzodiazepine dependence.

How Long Does the Outpatient Addiction Treatment Delray Beach Benzo Detox Last?

If you are an uncomplicated case, your period of benzo detox in our outpatient addiction treatment Delray Beach program will probably last for at least two weeks. You’ll be tapered off the drugs over the course of the first week of your participation in our outpatient addiction treatment Delray Beach program, and then over the course of the second week, you’ll be monitored to make sure the drugs clear your system without causing long-term side effects.

You will need addiction counseling through our outpatient addiction treatment Delray Beach program and this may need to continue for several months or longer. The point of the counseling you’ll receive as part of our outpatient addiction treatment Delray Beach program is to ensure that you’ve addressed the root causes of your addiction and developed the coping skills, life skills and emotional resiliency to carry on with your life without the need for drugs.

How to Prevent Relapse After Your Outpatient Addiction Treatment Delray Beach Program

Relapse is real threat for anyone finishing our outpatient addiction treatment Delray Beach program, whether for benzodiazepines, alcohol, opiates or other drugs. Addiction, as a general rule, has a high relapse rate comparable to the relapse rate for other chronic medical conditions. However, there are steps you can take to protect yourself from relapse after you finish our outpatient addiction treatment Delray Beach program.

First of all, it’s important to remove from your life any people, places or things that aren’t supportive of your recovery. This includes people who might encourage you to use drugs or drink. You should avoid all substances, not just your substance of choice; if you leave our outpatient addiction treatment Delray Beach program for benzodiazepine addiction but continue to drink, for example, you’ll more than likely just become an alcoholic. Surround yourself with people and things that support your recovery. Take care of yourself; eat well, get enough sleep and exercise often. Use the coping skills you learned in therapy.

With the help of our outpatient addiction treatment Delray Beach program, you can recover from benzodiazepine addiction. Call The Delray Center for Healing today at 1-888-699-5679 to learn more.

Make the Most of Outpatient Drug Treatment with Treatment Goals

The primary goal of any outpatient drug treatment program is to get people off drugs. But if you’re going through, or about to begin, outpatient treatment for addiction, you know it’s not that simple. Getting sober and staying that way is the result of a setting, and achieving, numerous small goals during treatment. Here are some goals you should consider setting to make the most of your outpatient drug treatment program.

Accept Permanent Abstinence from Drugs and Alcohol

If you’re going to maintain your recovery over the long-term, you’re going to need to accept – and be happy with – the fact that drugs and alcohol can form no part of your life. It’s not okay to drink beer just because your drug of choice was cocaine, or vice versa. As someone who has struggled with addiction, you’re vulnerable to relapse and full-blown addiction to every substance. Make coming to terms with this a priority during your outpatient drug treatment program.

Find Your Triggers

Each person who struggles with chemical dependency has triggers for substance abuse. During your outpatient drug treatment program, you need to work at figuring out what those triggers are. They could be related to past trauma, personal issues, or certain feelings or states of mind. Find them and work on disarming them.

Develop Coping Skills

Chances are that, as an addict, you used drugs and alcohol to cope with stress and bad feelings. Your outpatient drug treatment program should help you find new, healthy ways to cope when life hands you a raw deal. These could include exercise, hobbies you enjoy, time with friends or loved ones, or making art or music, for example.

Work on Your Relationships

Your relationships with your family and friends – that is, those who support your recovery and don’t use substances or try to pressure you to use substances – are crucial to your mental and emotional well-being. Your old addictive behaviors did nothing to nurture these relationships, and may in fact have damaged them. Now is the time, during your outpatient drug treatment program, to begin repairing these relationships and working on the interpersonal skills you need to keep your relationships with others healthy.

Grow Your Self-Esteem

Addiction can make you feel powerless and worthless. During your outpatient drug treatment, you’ll have the opportunity to begin building self-esteem and self-confidence by learning new things and becoming a better person. Don’t let it pass you by.

At The Delray Center for Healing, we combine traditional and alternative therapies into a new holistic model for addiction treatment. Call us today at 1-888-699-5679 to learn more about our treatment programs.