Troubled Teens Resources

When teen help has as it’s source other teenagers, it is often more effective than help rendered to teens by adults. After all, for troubled teens, adults are the enemies who block all of their efforts to live their own lives. Adults are accused of using scare tactics and bogus information in their fight against teen age drug abuse.

Somehow, the same messages when delivered by a fellow teen has more validity. The teens who serve as positive peer role models never get as much attention as their delinquent counterparts, but they undertake a valuable service in their work with their fellow students.

“Roper is a member of the Hamilton County Teen Drug Advisory Board and is one of 27 students throughout the state named to the Indiana Point of Youth program, part of the Indiana Criminal Justice’s Substance Abuse Services division.

The program is a teen-led advisory group that has the ear of the governor, Indiana General Assembly and other policy-makers who seek solutions to youth substance use from a peer perspective.

“We set up the different goals that SADD chapters will have across the state,” Roper explained. “This year we’re focusing mainly on alcohol abuse, over-the-counter drugs and meth abuse.”

Roper relishes the opportunity to make a statewide impact on youth drug and alcohol abuse, helping her peers understand there’s more to life than getting drunk or stoned.”

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Boot camps of a different sort, but none the less valuable, are fitness boot camps. A fitness boot camp directed at teens can benefit in numerous ways, but for the purposes of this post, we’ll focus on the emotional and psychological issues pertaining to body image.

Teen girls are very susceptible to the absurd and unreal images of waif-like creatures that the media parades in front of them. All troubled teenagers can suffer greatly from obesity and there are no end to the stories of overweight teens who have compensated for rejection and low self-esteem with drugs. Any teen help for getting fit is extremely beneficial.

Joyce Hoffmann has put together an excellent program directed at teen girls. Inspired by her own emotional eating as a teen, she has dedicated her life to working with overweight kids. She teaches teens to take control of their body and image via exercise, nutrition, yoga and counseling.

And all of that goes a long way towards circumventing the potential for teenage drug abuse. If you feel good physically, emotionally and mentally, getting “high” will bring you down. Not to mention the value of the physical and mental discipline that comes with exercise.

” Ms. Hoffmann customized a summer weight loss program for teen girls that was equal parts boot camp, phys-ed class and Dr. Phil therapy session…

“None of the girls missed a day, and they were never a minute late…After working out, the girls and Ms. Hofmann had group counseling, where they just talked — about themselves, dieting, body image, boys, whatever was on their minds….
[…]
Many of the girls realized they were emotional eaters, meaning they made a beeline for fattening foods, whether they were happy, sad or any mood in between.”

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Very frequently those who work in some form of teen crisis intervention come away from their experiences working with troubled teens with quite a few uplifting moments and stories.

Such is the case with one individual efforts to reach gang members. The result was a harmony of voices where once there was only discord. The most effective teen help there is, is the guidance that leads a teenager to successfully exploit and profit from their owns gifts, talents and skills.

“Three folk and blues musicians walked into a juvenile detention center full of young felons last year, armed with nothing but guitars and a repertoire they feared the teens would shout down.
[..]
The musicians were there to help the teens write a song.

Their song.

In their voices.

Voices that - until that moment - were lost in a cyclone of drug abuse, sexual abuse and crime that had defined their lives.

Ball, a syndicated humor columnist… first entered the W.J. Maxey Boys Training School in Green Oak Township in 2005.

He went in with a plan to crack open the tough shells of some young felons with a creative writing program. He came out, courtesy of a grant from the Michigan Humanities Council, with a 15-minute DVD showcasing an insightful young poet.

That success compelled Ball, a former Chicago garage band guitarist, to bring the roots musicians to Maxey Boys and the Adrian Training School for girls.

In the spring of 2006, they went in with a plan to expose the teens to roots music. They came out with Lost Voices, a new nonprofit.”

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America is not alone in developing teen crisis intervention measures to fight meth addiction. England now fears that the plague is crossing the water and that they shall soon find themselves needing addicted teen help to deal with their own epidemic.

You would think that the facts about meth would be enough to warn any sane person away. If not the facts, than the pictures of ravaged users that serve as evidence for the facts. The woman pictured here has used for 10 years. But teens still imagine that they really do know it all and consider warnings to be scare tactics. A few times won’t hurt, so they think.

True of some drugs, but not of meth. More so, it may be decades later before a user finds out just how much an addiction will cost them.

“Young people who use crystal meth risk long-term damage to their brain cells similar to that caused by Parkinson’s disease.

The crystal drug destroys nerve cells that produce dopamine. These are directly related to movement control.

The Class A ‘party drug’ is an extremely powerful and addictive stimulant. It can cause a rapid heart rate, paranoia, confusion and violence. It also increases the risk of stroke, lung and kidney damage.

It was previously thought that crystal meth, known as methamphetamine, led to short-term psychotic behaviour but did not have an effect after users stopped using it.

But research leader Dr Jacqueline McGinty said the findings were worrying as the drug posed “long-term public health consequences.” She said the negative effects of the drug might not be apparent until decades after a person has used it.”

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(Image source/click to enlarge)

Treatment for teenagers diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder certainly comes down decisively in two camps. There are those parents who do not see medication to be ultimately effective, fearing that an addictive tendency might be activated. The opposing side welcomes the availability of medication, many families finding it to be the necessary corrective to get their teen back on track.

Those in the latter camp may be interested in a new test that is reported to be able facilitate an accurate diagnosis and the correct medication immediately.

“A Fullerton clinical psychologist is one of three in the nation using the new Qb test to identify attention deficit disorder linked to a database in Sweden.
[..]

He said the test, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, posts 99.9 percent accuracy.

“Usually, when a teacher suspects ADD, a written test is given to find out if the child is, for example, messy and forgetful,” Reicks said. “The child has no say.

“The new system relies on a child’s body movement and ability to concentrate simultaneously,” he said. “We can tell in one minute through the Internet if the child has ADD or attention deficit hyperactive disorder.”

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A diagnosis of ADHD can send parents reeling. Indeed it has precipitated any number of teen crisis intervention programs in an effort to be able to intervene early enough to provide corrective therapy - either medication or behavioral therapy - before harm is done to a teen’s school career. Hopefully this new test will prove to be a boon for parents struggling with this issue.

Teen crisis intervention in the form of more stringent penalties for the adults who supply underage teenagers with alcohol is the result of one set of parents’ anguish over the death of their son.

“Last year a tragic automobile accident took the lives of four Wakefield High School students: Baker Wood, Steven George, Anthony Bostic, and Timothy Steinberg. According to authorities, Wood was driving 100 miles per hour when the car that the teens were riding in slammed into a concrete barrier on the US 64/264 ramp of the Raleigh beltline, then jumped the barrier and fell to a fiery crash 60 feet below. Alcohol was a factor in the accident. Wood’s blood alcohol level was 0.21; George’s was 0.14.”

Not one of those teenagers had a chance. Teen help is all for naught - all of the warnings and admonishment that parents give their kids are all undone by one set of parents who think they are smart or “cool” by allowing their underage teens to drink. Now in North Carolina those parents are going to pay the price for their irresponsibility.

“Working closely with Rep. Ty Harrell (D-Wake), the Georges have vigorously pushed for the passage of HB 1277 – Drivers License Revocation for ABC Violation. The measure would suspend the driver’s license up to one year of anyone of age providing booze for underage drinkers.

“Many people don’t understand that the most common source of alcohol for minors is the home,” said Rev. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League. “Parents are under the assumption that if they allow parties where alcohol is served either in their house or backyard, youngsters will be safe. But the fact is if they serve alcohol to someone under 21 they are breaking the law and putting teens at risk. Laws that would really make these adults accountable are essential,” he said.”

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Teen help for anorexia usually includes treatment for yet another disorder that afflicts a number of troubled teenagers. Body Dysmorphic Disorder.(BDD) You’ll know it when you see it, however, you may not recognize the potential psychological problems that can accompany it.

A family member became alarmed last year when her daughter, Erin, took no interest in buying a summer wardrobe. As a child, Erin lived to swim at the club pool. Now she spent all her time inside the gym, in sweats, mercilessly pummeling a boxing bag or lifting weights.

Erin loathes her body. She spent an inordinate amount of time pre-occupied with studying her musculature in the mirror, looking for the first signs that her relentless weight lifting had begun to sculpt the dream body she desperately wanted to appear.

Erin was suffering from BDD. Left unattended, obsessions with physical appearance can precipitate teen age drug abuse via amphetamines - and more often in teen boys - steroids. Depression, self-harm and anger all can circle viciously around the troubled teenager unable to accept their appearance. What can parents do to help?

“There are several things parents can do to alleviate their child’s suffering. First, take the disorder seriously. Second, avoid reassuring your child that they look okay but instead encourage them to talk openly about their concerns. Third, encourage and support psychiatric treatment and discourage surgical treatment.”

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Follow the link above for more guidance.

Boot camps, military boarding schools, troubled teen boarding schools, local non-profit teen programs, mentoring; all of these various programs dedicated to teen help achieve success by inculcating in the troubled teen one lesson and giving back a couple gifts.

The lesson comes in teaching the teen how to harness the power of his or her own will by choosing the discipline of commitment, exercised by perseverance.

Independence and self-possession are the gifts. Independence from addiction, independence from the negative influence of popular culture and peer pressure, independence from the dependency of victimhood. And that delivers the troubled teen’s life back into their possession, free to make of it what they will.

And those gifts come by way of the teen committing to do what it takes, no matter what it takes, to gain mastery over their life. The simplest way to learn that is to get a job and develop a work ethic that will hold the teen in good stead the rest of their life. The basics are boring, initially unrewarding, but pave the way to life long habits of success.

Many communities have put together such programs, underwritten by non profits or the business community. Waco, in the story below, is one such town.

“Through the program, teen parents, dropouts, juvenile offenders, homeless youth and others learn fundamental trade skills that will land them high-demand jobs and — for some — a chance at a college education.

Over the course of six weeks, a dozen youths rebuild their lives with little more than self- discipline and simple carpenters’ tools.
[..]
Brandon turned it all around after being accepted into Summer Building Trades…“I was able to see the result (of my bad decisions) and correct things,” he said. “You can’t get a job if you’re behind bars.”
[..]
He recently scored a football scholarship to the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and said he’d like to become a teacher or a social worker.”

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Teens at risk seldom see themselves that way. The typical arrogance and sense of omnipotence that is characteristic of teens can easily lead them into making some down right idiotic decisions. Such as knowingly taking drugs that they are, indeed, convinced are harmful, but they choose to risk their health and lives anyway.

Especially noted for casual abuse are cough medicines. According to this young man’s account, they are the most easily obtained, and the easiest to conceal.

“The drug used to be completely legal for a 15-year-old to buy in the store. If not to buy, it was easy enough to steal… It was easy to tell my mother that I had a cough or that I felt like I was coming down with something, and she never asked about the empty bottles. The effects of the drug are mostly sensory: tunnel vision, hyper-sensitivity to touch and movement, etc. It takes the right circumstances and doses to produce hallucinations. In other words, it takes very little to act straight in front of authority types and there is little physical evidence of intoxication: No smell, you don’t slur your words. Your face gets red and your eyes dilate, but other than that…”

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Though it may weary a parent to continue to be made aware of all the subterfuge that they must see through when dealing with teen age drug abuse, teen help aids and information for this specific drug abuse are becoming increasingly available. We posted earlier on the efforts being expended by “Five Moms”, a group of mothers who organized to combat cough medicine abuse and were the source of inspiration for the young man above to write about his own experiences of as a teen.

Teen help comes in unexpected ways. Teen crisis intervention sometimes is a huge production with fund raising campaigns and monthly meetings and earnest, dedicated volunteers
Then sometimes intervention comes in a dream. That one clear and lucid moment when a troubled teen first realizes the possibilities of a world outside their pain or sorrow. A promise of hope.

Astronaut Don Lind supplies not only hope, but wisdom. He does so by teaching a very powerful lesson on consequences and exercising the power of choice. He begins by saying this:

“I don’t even know what beer tastes like, I’ve never had a drop of it,” Lind said…”

From a 77 year old man, that is a jolting statement for a teen to hear; the possibility of a great life lived without the need to “get high”. It probably is no mistake that he entitled his talk, “Getting Higher.”

More importantly, his story forces a teen to realize that “now” is important. That the decisions that he or she makes today will have repercussions that could change the course of their lives.

He goes on to explain….

“..Highschoolers today qualify or disqualify themselves for things in the future…somebody in a school system somewhere is going to be the first person to set foot on Mars,” Lind said, adding that whoever is chosen won’t have an alcohol-pickled brain or tobacco-shot lungs.

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