Troubled Teens Resources

“Prevention is always better than intervention after the fact,” she said. “I think some of the children were quite emotional to see students their own age go through this.”

Prevention in this case comes in the form of a play titled The Drug Store that dramatizes for elementary age school children the course of a young, troubled teen’s entanglement in robbery and drug abuse, culminating in his death.

“Law enforcement agencies presented The Drug Store to 1,200 students at the Chino Fairgrounds last week.

Nine stations were set up, each partitioned by curtains, representing a different scene in a play, which followed a student through the course of his life on drugs.

It began with a pharmacy stage in which students were educated by narcotics officers who identified the replicas of a variety of illegal drugs, such as black tar heroin and marijuana.

Unbeknownst to the audience, a fellow student acted the role of a thief by stealing a package of the drug Ecstasy.

Daniel Barnett, a fifth-grader at Liberty Elementary School, continued his acting through each scene, where he was arrested and sentenced to weekend jail time and probation.”

The play was all the more powerful because many of the actors were familiar faces;teachers,pastors and students that the young audience already knew. The final dramatization depicted the teenage drug addict, played by a classmate, laying in a casket.

“Deacon Marlin Filipek of Saint Mary Magdalene Catholic Church was robed as he led the funeral as one of many volunteers who used their real profession to make an impression on the students.

“We’re planting a seed,” he said. “A lot of kids have never seen a casket.”

At the end of the dramatization the children lined up to look inside of the casket, where two mirrors lay in place of a body.

“There have been a few a-ha moments where the students get it,” Filipek said.

Daniel Fleeup, also of Liberty Elementary, was one of them.

“If you were to be the ones to take the drugs, then you’d be the one in the casket,” he said after seeing his reflection in the mirrors.

As for Daniel Barnett, he said the acting experience taught him not to use drugs, “no matter what.”
(Source)

More and more police organizations and schools are implementing early crisis intervention tools such as this play. If you are concerned about your at-risk teen or if your teenager has been an increasingly bad influence on a younger sibling, check in your community for something similar.

You can’t get blood from a stone, can’ fill a cup from an empty pitcher, can’t find solace in an empty room. All of that to say that as a parent of a troubled teen , you must have a support system to sustain you in the battles ahead. Yes, parents need interventions too.

Given the conflicting advice parents of drug abusing teens are subject to,you need to compare your experiences and share solutions with parents undergoing the same traumas. Going it alone when dealing with a troubled teen is almost asking for trouble. Perspectives can become diminished to a type of tunnel vision where a parent feeds on nothing but research into teen drug abuse, teen treatment programs and fearful projections of a future of unresolved crisis.

Beset by guilt, worried about finances, perpetually on edge in anticipation of your troubled teens next rebellious act, parents can easily become crippled by anxiety and fear, setting themselves up for illness and depression. In time, not only will your troubled teen require crisis intervention, but you, the beleaguered parent, will need an intervention too.

Here is a partial list of support groups for parents.

• Parents & Company - The Online Community For Parents
  
• Tips for Parenting Teens With Addictions
  
• BECAUSE I LOVEYOU.ORG
  
• Open Directory - Home: Family: Parenting: Support Groups
  
• Babble
  

Have you ever wondered who you would be if you had never watched TV? If for your entire life you had developed opinions based on your own critical thinking as opposed to what some over paid pundit instructed you to think?

What if for every sit-com episode you’ve watched, you had read a book instead? Or gone biking. Or learned to dance. Why, I bet you’d be one knowledgeable, fit, entertaining person.

Now who would your teenager be if he had not absorbed the images, attitudes, violence and sensationalism he’s absorbed all of these years from the media. What ideas would he have imagined, what stories would he have written if for all these many years the media hadn’t supplied every idea and story, every song in his memory?

Wouldn’t we all, perhaps, be different people if we actually invested in who we are, if we explored our own lives instead of the lives of strangers in the latest reality show ? If we manufactured our own passions, dramas and hilarity.

According to a study out of England, published by the reputable Biologist magazine, media obsession is far more toxic than was ever suspected.

“Among the most disturbing findings are the links he claims to have found between long hours of television viewing and cancer, autism and Alzheimer’s.
[..]
The stage for the harm Dr Sigman believes television is doing is being set, he claims, by the vast amounts of it we watch - by the age of six, a child will already have spent one year in front of the television. When time in front of a computer is added, the psychologist claims watching a screen of some kind is the dominant activity for older children - those aged 11 to 15 now spend 55 per cent of their waking lives, or seven and a half hours a day, watching television and computers. According to today’s report, that represents a 40 per cent rise in a decade.

Dr Sigman claims the battery of ill effects takes its toll on both body and mind. He claims the effect on the brain is not stimulating, but almost narcotic, numbing the areas of the brain stimulated by, for example, reading.

The influence of modern editing techniques - for example the rapid “jump cuts” - also plays its part. Attention spans fracture while at the same time, according to Dr Sigman, the brain is programmed to reward itself with the neurotransmitter dopamine for being able to cope with an onslaught of novelty on screen.”

It sounds perhaps odd to suggest, but an experimental intervention of sorts would be an interesting exercise for a parent to stage. An at-risk teen is not likely to profit much -physically or emotionally- by spending half of their waking lives abdicating control of their thinking and senses to an artificial medium.

A troubled teen does not reach a crisis stage in one fell swoop. They approach the danger zones of drug abuse or destructive behavior by increments. Excessive ingestion of media is yet another contributing factor in an at-risk teens decline. You could even coin a phrase; “media abuse.” No, not as dangerous as drugs or alcohol, but yet one more experience that fails to add value to our teenager’s lives.

So why not some type of intervention to test the results? A week off the tube. Better yet a month. I am betting the results of such an experiment would be surprising and beneficial to the entire family. It might make all the difference in the world.

“Can you tell you have depression without diagnosis? I can’t even begin to explain things in my life. I’m so stessed, from everything. In the back of my mind, even though I’m not actually thinking of killing myself or anything, I really honestly always, even when I’m happy, believe that I would be better off dead. It’s not unhappiness as much as it’s a wish to rather not be living. I mean, idk. I can be having the best time of my life, and I still wish I wasn’t alive, and I’d wish I didn’t have to go through it, because I have it in my head that it’ll eventually get worse, because it ALWAYS does. It’s where you come to this realization that you’ve worked so hard to get through so many bad things that have already happened in your life, and you just want it to be over and you want there to be happiness and you don’t want to have to worry for the rest of your life, but I know this is only the beginning, because I’m a teenager. I don’t want to go on. I really just wanna die and get it over with and idk how to deal with it. What do I do?”
(source)

This from a depressed teenager reaching out to other teens on a message board. If you take the time to read various teen boards, you will find that these type of inquiries, unfortunately, are not unusual.

Studies indicate there is typically a constellation of factors that will push a teen into a suicidal crisis. Interestingly enough, even though the internet has spawned such sites as Myspace and other virtual venues for communication, technology has been seen as an additional factor in a troubled teen’s sense of isolation and loneliness.

Combine that with the unrealistic images of the fabulous lives enjoyed by celebrity teens and movies celebrating out of control teenagers wrecking havoc with little consequences, the teens sense of unreality and marginalization increases.

Teenagers may commiserate with each other, assured of anonymity, on a teen board, but they are unlikely to approach an adult for comfort. It is the responsibility of the parent or teacher to recognize the signs of teen depression and devise an intervention.

Here is a partial summary of risk factors inherent in a possible suicidal teenager:

• Previous suicide attempts - If a youth has attempted suicide in the past, he or she is much more likely than other youths to attempt suicide again in the future. If a male teen has attempted suicide in the past, he is more than thirty times more likely to complete suicide, while a female with a past attempt has about three times the risk. Approximately a third of teenage suicide victims have made a previous suicide attempt.18
• Mental disorders or co-occurring mental and alcohol or substance abuse disorders - Research shows that over 90% of young people who complete suicide have a diagnosable mental or substance abuse disorder or both, and that the majority have depressive illness.19 In a 10- to 15-year followup study of 73 adolescents diagnosed with major depression, 7 percent of the adolescents had completed suicide sometime later. The depressed adolescents were five times more likely to have attempted suicide as well, compared with a control group of age peers without depression.20 Almost half of teenagers who complete suicide have had a previous contact with a mental health professional. In addition, aggressive, disruptive, and impulsive behavior is common in youth of both sexes who complete suicide.21
• Family history of suicide22 - A high proportion of suicides and attempters have had a close family member (sibling, parent, aunt, uncle, or grandparent) who attempted or completed suicide. Familial suicide can be a function of imitation or genetics. Many of the mental illnesses which contribute to suicide risk appear to have a genetic component.
• Stressful life event or loss - Stressful life events often precede a suicide and/or suicide attempt. Such stressful life events include getting into trouble at school or with a law enforcement agency; fighting or breaking up with a boyfriend or a girlfriend; and fighting with friends. They are rarely a sufficient cause of suicide, but they often act as precipitating factors in young people.23, 24
• Easy access to lethal methods, especially guns - As mentioned above, firearms are the most common method of suicide by youth. The most common location for the occurrence of firearm suicides by youth is in their homes, and there is a positive association between the accessibility and availability of firearms in the home and the risk for youth suicide. The risk conferred by guns in the home is proportional to the accessibility (e.g., loaded and unsecured firearms) and the number of guns in the home.25, 26
• Exposure to the suicidal behavior of others, whether that of a peer or in the media 27 - Suicide can be facilitated in vulnerable teens by exposure to real or fictional accounts of suicide, including media coverage of suicide, such as intensive reporting of the suicide of a celebrity, or the fictional representation of a suicide in a popular movie or TV show. In addition, there is evidence of suicide clusters, that is, local epidemics of suicide that have a contagious influence. Suicide clusters nearly always involve previously disturbed young people who knew about each other’s death but rarely knew the other victims personally.
• Incarceration28 - Although there are insufficient national data regarding the incidence of youth suicide in custody, information suggests a high prevalence of suicidal behavior in juvenile correctional facilities. One study found that suicide in juvenile detention and correctional facilities was more than four times greater than youth suicide overall. According to another recent study, more than 11,000 juveniles engage in more than 17,000 incidents of suicidal behavior in juvenile facilities each year.

(Source)

Also see Mental Health Sanctuary’s list of suicide hot lines and online communication resources. Crisis intervention includes being prepared before the crisis, in hopes of ultimately preventing one.

• Life isn’t worth living.
• My family would be better off without me.
• Next time I’ll take enough pills to do the job right.
• Take my (prized collection, valuables) I don’t need this stuff anymore.
• I won’t be around to deal with that.
• You’ll be sorry when I’m gone.
• I won’t be around much longer.
• I just can’t deal with everything; life’s too hard.
• Nobody understands me nobody feels the way I do.
• There’s nothing I can do to make it better.
• I’d be better off dead.
• I feel like there is no way out.

(Source)

Drama queens come in all sizes and teenagers seem to especially excel in the role. However, statements such as those listed above, in conjunction with other signs of depression or disorder in your teenager’s life, are far from the rantings of a drama queen. They can be quite clear indicators that your troubled teen is approaching or is in a psychological crisis sufficiently severe enough to consider intervention.

InCrisis provides an online clinical screening report that can help a parent determine if their depressed teenager is approaching a critical stage.

“The Clinical Screening Report is a tool for parents, appropriate family members and caregivers who want to screen a child’s behavior and compare the screening results to other children. The Clinical Screening Report is designed to identify problems and help guide you in your next steps.”

The report takes about 45 minutes to complete and is to serve only as a guide to assist the parent in determining if crisis intervention is the necessary next step.

“Sara allowed A&E to film her struggle with her methamphetamine addiction. Despite her pleading parents, Sara refused to seek meth treatment to help with her problem. Although she was a meth addict who had temporarily lost custody of her daughter, the negative effects of meth weren’t enough to stop her. When Sara’s parents noticed the signs of meth use in their house, they knew they had to take action. They held an intervention and convinced Sara that her methamphetamine addiction was out of control, and she finally accepted meth treatment.”
Sara’s Story

“They held an intervention…” What exactly does that look like? For the parent of a troubled teen, intervention can seem a rather intimidating concept and an overwhelming undertaking. Yet,things between you and your teen are deteriorating rapidly, past civility, past reasonable discussions. Now it is either silence or ugly words spit in anger. It may be wise to review what holding an intervention entails.

If submitting your teen’s crisis to A&E’s Intervention has been eliminated as an option, you need to consider whether a formal or informal intervention is appropriate at this stage for your teen..

The following two sites examine both options.

“Intervention does not have to be a formal confrontation of the afflicted person by a group of people. It can be any number of triggers that add up to move a person along a continuum toward help-seeking and wellness. A conversation can be a powerful tool.”
Ten Points for Parents to Intervene With Their Kids

A formal intervention means having a structured conversation with the person. This involves bringing
together a group of people with the substance user to explore how his or her use has affected all their
lives. The formal intervention is usually used when the person has repeatedly refused to get help.
Intervention Quick Guide

Sometimes an intervention can be a simple thing.
I ran into a  story about a simple kindness that resulted in saving the life of a depressed teenager.

It is a story that you may want to share with your own teenagers who may often feel powerless when they are witness to the cruelties of school yard bullies.

“One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school. His name was Kyle. It looked like he was carrying all of his books. I thought to myself, “Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday? He must really be a nerd.” I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on.

As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him. They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt. His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him. He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes. My heart went out to him. So, I jogged over to him and as he crawled around looking for his glasses, and I saw a tear in his eye. As I handed him his glasses, I said, “Those guys are jerks. They really should get lives.”

He looked at me and said, “Hey thanks!” There was a big smile on his face. It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude. I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived. As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before. He said he had gone to private school before now.

I would have never hung out with a private school kid before. We talked all the way home, and I carried his books. He turned out to be a pretty cool kid. I asked him if he wanted to play football on Saturday with me and my friends. He said yes.
[..]
Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends. When we were seniors, began to think about college. Kyle decided on Georgetown, and was going to Duke… Kyle was valedictorian of our class. I teased him all the time about being a nerd. He had to prepare a speech for graduation. I was so glad it wasn’t me having to get up there and speak.
[..]
As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began “Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years. Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach… but mostly your friends. I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best gift you can give them. I am going to tell you a story.”

I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met. He had planned to kill himself over the weekend. He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so his Mom wouldn’t have to do it later and was carrying his stuff home. He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile. “Thankfully, I was saved. My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable.”
from Jared’s Story.com

I don’t know if the events in this story actually occurred, but the lesson it demonstrates expresses a profound truth. One never knows which simple act of kindness will heal. Small interventions of kindness can circumvent a looming crisis in a struggling teenager’s life.

Merriam-Webster’s Medical Dictionary Defines intervention as “the act or fact of interfering with a condition to modify it or with a process to change its course”.

American Heritage Dictionary defines intervene as “To come, appear, or lie between two things.”

Most parents would not hesitate to throw themselves between their child and an oncoming car if they thought they could throw the child to safety. The combination of peer pressure, anger and emotional pain can set your child on a collision course every bit as fatal and a parent will have no choice but “to lie between two things.” To “interfere with a condition” of the heart and mind that is propelling their at-risk child far from life and safety, and to “change the course” of a self-destructive teen towards a new course of healing and productivity.

Because of popular media, for some parents, the term intervention itself suggests an ordeal involving coercion and trauma. A little investigation can assure the parent that interrupting the processes at work in your teen’s crisis can be an effective course to stop the momentum of a life out of control.

When is it time to make that choice? Crisis Counseling.com provides some valuable resources that the distressed parent can use to begin evaluating what is best for their teen.

“The choice of intervention, the duration and the competence of those involved are critical factors to insure success. More than anything, the intervention must be appropriate to the level of risk and responsive to the underlying problem or potential cause. The key is to determine the level of risk and likelihood that problems will continue or escalate.

The most reliable and systematic methods are the first and best approach in assessing risk. The “Adolescent Clinical Screening Questionaire” is am excellent tool.”