Quick Links: Troubled Teens
Many teens experiment with legal substances in an effort to get high. When they are successful they often pass the word on to other vulnerable teens. There’s plenty for parents of troubled teens to worry about when a teen participates in this behavior.
Why worry?
The Obvious Risks
News stories frequently report the latest legal substance teens are experimenting with to alter how they feel. Sometimes the substance a teen chooses to try is already available in our homes, such as nutmeg. Other times it can be easily obtained from stores or on the Internet, as with the substances K2 or Salvia.
The obvious risk to smoking or otherwise ingesting these substances is that there is no way to predict how the substance will affect a teens’ mind and body. For example, K2 is an unregulated substance sold as incense that has unknown products added to it. It’s not intended to be ingested but teens to do so anyway with no idea what the consequences will be.
Perhaps a teen will smoke the substance and nothing will happen. Perhaps they will get high from their efforts. Perhaps they will have an adverse physical or emotional response and end up having to be taken to the hospital, or worse.
The Less Obvious Risks
To really understand the most disturbing aspects of legal substance abuse, parents are encouraged to ask: Why does my teen want to participate in this type of risky behavior?
When a teen actively tries to change how they feel it is often because they are struggling to cope with feelings or situations they aren’t able to handle on their own. This behavior is sometimes referred to as self-medicating, it’s an effort to feel better or to just change the painful feelings. For example, a depressed teen may try to alter their painful experience of depression.
Teens who have undiagnosed mental health issues are often the most vulnerable to experimenting with substances, both legal and illegal. They are also at highest risk for having a negative reaction to the substance and in some cases, their disorder may worsen with continued abuse of the substance.
If you suspect your teen is abusing legal substances this could be a strong indicator that they are struggling to cope and may need professional help to successfully deal with the reasons behind this risky behavior.
Quick Links: Troubled Teens