Teenager Addiction History: Strong links between Teens’ friends and likelihood of addiction….. Teenager drug opiate and alcohol addiction treatment in Alberta and British Columbia – Drug Rehabs in Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer, Medicine Hat and other parts of Alberta by Options Okanagan Treatment Center in Kelowna, British Columbia treating heroin, fentanyl, opiate, drug, alcohol addiction and recovery.
Teenager Rehabs in Alberta and BC
Addiction can be a really complex thing, and there’s a good reason it is still frequently studied. Friendship matters a lot. Especially as a youth. While this sounds relatively simple or basic, understanding how deeply that’s true makes a difference. This goes before the high school years, as well. Friendships from all the way back to middle school can have a very strong influence on whether or not a teenager ends up becoming addicted or falling into the trap of substance abuse.
When it comes to serious decisions teenagers fall to peer pressure quite easily and that means that there is some strong evidence from research showing that friends are heavily influential when it comes to the decision of whether or not to use drugs.
Many times a friendship grows because people have similar interests. This makes sense, but many people don’t think about the fact that these similar interests also tend to keep friends together. This can end up very much feeding itself as a circle since friends stay together because they have the same interests but since they’re already friends when one person in that group picks up a habit, chances are all the others will too.
It is incredibly rare and unlikely that teenage friendships stay strong when the people have very different interests. If one really gets into drugs, chances (according to research) are pretty high that the rest will get to that point, as well.
This study was a joint one involving three different universities and the results came back consistently: friendships matter. This goes for those who end up using drugs, those who become heavily addicted, and those who aren’t addicted at all. The friends will almost always reflect the habits of the individual when it comes to drugs and alcohol.
So What Are The Influencing Factors?
While there are always some potential for outside influences that affect the individual, the focus on peer relations have joined many past studies to bring together a wealth of information.
Some of the main points to keep in mind:
- Drug using peers are one of the single biggest risk factors when it comes to teen addiction & substance abuse
- Various “good behavior” activities seem to discourage use while other “bad behavior” activities open the door
- The more support from drug using friends, the more likely the teen will use
- Levels of family dysfunction can directly affect the chances of drug use
- So can anxiety, depression, and lack of social acceptance
While this can sound like a cliched message from an after school special, the old bit of advice to parents is true: knowing who their children are friends with and spending time with is hugely important. Seeing the danger signs early will help parents know if they should be worried, and understanding the level of influence friends have both good and bad makes a huge difference.
Being involved with a child’s friends will give the parents several advantages, such as:
- Being able to understand potential exposure level to their own children
- Seeing which friendships are good and which ones are risky/potentially troubling
- Building a stronger relationship with a child is never a bad thing for a parent
- If issues arise a parent can react sooner for treatment in the early phases when it’s most important
Options Okanagan Drug And Alcohol Treatment Centers in Kelowna, Salmon Arm (Shuswap) and Vancouver, British Columbia – Men and Women are recovering and healing from Alcohol and Drug Abuse at our treatment center here in the Okanagan right now.
Our unique and distinctive drug treatment program allows men and women to come in from Calgary as well as Edmonton as we offer airport pickup.
Numerous clients come to us from Calgary and Edmonton and other locations in Alberta and even other provinces for Opiate addiction treatment, meth drug treatment, many other drug and alcohol addictions for rehabilitation because of the uniqueness of our treatment center.
Our (Kelowna ) Alcohol and Drug Treatment Program Location:
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Options Okanagan Opioid Treatment Center
551 Sherrydale Crescent, Kelowna, British Columbia, V1V 2E6
Toll Free Phone Number : 1-855-335-0331