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Definition: The term self-medicating describes using drugs (including alcohol) in an attempt to cope with the symptoms of an underlying emotional or psychological disorder. This is a pattern often seen in teens who are abusing drugs.
In most cases the teen has no awareness this is what they are doing. They try drugs in a social context or out of curiosity and find they feel better. In order to keep feeling better they keep using drugs. When a teen gets into treatment for the problems associated with drug use, the symptoms of the underlying disorder often emerge.
The use of different drugs will have a different effect on how the teen feels. In fact the choice of what drug they use can provide useful information on what symptoms they are attempting to deal with. Self-medicating makes serious teen problems even worse. It takes more frequent use and larger amounts of the drug to keep working, which sets up the pattern of addiction.
Self-Medicating Example
At age 15 Susie started using marijuana with her friends at parties and found she felt happier. When experiencing the effects of the drug she felt less sad and hopeless. When the drug wore off she didn’t like how she felt and turned to the drugs again to feel better. She was eventually diagnosed as suffering from depression.
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