Category: Mental Health

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Addiction Alcoholism Mental Health

Teen Drinking Amongst Girls on the Rise

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Newsweek just reported new data released from a Partnership for a Drug Free America, suggesting girls are not only drinking more than boys, but they’re drinking for more “serious reasons.”  While boys are reported to drink so they can relax socially, it appears girls are drinking to deal with issues at home and/or at school. Additionally, the media is marketing to young girls, making alcohol even more enticing.  According to Newsweek:

“For years, boys were the focus of underage-drinking  interventions, but for the past decade, researchers have seen a close in the gender gap, and the media have jumped on the news. Researchers speculate that more products devoted to making  drinking easier and tastier—the sugar-laden beverages known as alco-pops—are a factor. ‘There’s a whole new raft of products that have come out in the last 10 to 12 years that were oriented to young females,’ says David Jerigan, executive director of the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth. ‘Alcohol now gets sold to girls as a functional food: it gets sold with calorie information, a drink of fitness, a drink with health benefits.’”

According to Leslie Walsh, MD, Director of Adolescent Medicine at Seattle Children’s Hospital, girls tend to be “more attuned to their feelings,” and more inclined to internalize issues rather than reach out.  Research on the adolescent brain also shows girls developing an earlier sensitivity to emotional stress than their male counterparts. Makes sense, then, that they would reach for something like alcohol, which purportedly subdues stressors and makes that stress easier to manage. It’s hard for adolescents today: The economy has tanked, many are watching their parents struggle from lost or reduced income, leaving them wondering what their future may hold. At the same time, they’re bombarded with images selling everything from thinness to beauty to the latest technology, while also learning to navigate school, social pressures, and their roles in society. Of course their worlds become stressful and confusing–picking up a drink will only make the stress worse in the long run.
So, what are some of the healthy ways you manage yourstress? We would love to hear from you!

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Mental Health

Mindfulness Is Good for Teens, Too

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          With so many distractions coming from various directions, teens are prime candidates for learning lessons in mindfulness. This generation and the one following close behind are prepped to multi-task from birth. As teens are expected to juggle and negotiate everything from school to social media to the latest technology, it’s not surprising they are also seeking a means of “escape” or a way to do more in less time, i.e., drugs and alcohol. So, why not provide them with the tools to manage the business of their lives mindfully? The fact is, doing too much at once has a higher probability of lowering one’s efficiency while also raising one’s stress level–and let’s not forget, it also portends one being less likely to pay attention to what’s important. How present can one actually be if they’re having a conversation with you while typing an email or texting someone else? Or better yet, how much academia is a teenager actually going to digest if texting, social media, and their iPhone take precedence?
          These days, with the buzz about “Eat, Pray, Love,” the accessibility of the Dalai Lama, and the edginess and cool factor of groups like Against the Stream or Insight LA, the path of mindfulness and meditation has become less of a stigmatized lifestyle choice and more of an accepted means of moving through one’s day. It is better to be present and engaged than disconnected and preoccupied with which one of the 14 tasks you should tackle first. It’s hard enough just being a teen–add the pressures of the current trends and haves and have nots, and we have the potential for someone seeking an “out” in one way or another.
         More and more academicians and psychiatrists are stating that mindfulness is a healthier means of meeting the world. Introducing teens in recovery to mindfulness and meditation provides and invaluable tool in their recovery process. Because it puts one in a space of quiet, one soon finds there’s nowhere to go but the present, and though sometimes that can be challenging, there’s really no other place to be.

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Addiction ADHD Mental Health

ADD and ADHD Prescription Drug Abuse

Just about anyone you talk to knows someone who has been diagnosed with ADHD. It makes you wonder how many people out there have it, but haven’t been diagnosed. I know that I have some of the textbook symptoms (ooh, look outside, the wind is blowing!). Recent research indicates that ADHD afflicts between eight and twelve percent of children and four percent of adults worldwide (August 27, 2009, Medscape Medical News). With an increase in diagnoses of ADHD there are increased prescriptions to treat ADHD. And yes, you guessed it; with increased prescriptions there are more cases of prescription-drug-abuse.

Prescription drug abuse as a whole is on the rise. It’s not surprising that ADHD meds, some of which are stimulant-based, are some of the most commonly abused. The same article from Medscape Medical News reported that 20-30% with a substance abuse diagnosis also have an ADHD diagnosis. It makes sense that adolescents with addictive traits would abuse their ADHD meds.

Teens are misusing their prescriptions in different ways. They take more than the indicated dose and many crush the pills up and snort them because that disables the time- release component in the pill. Some kids “cheek” or horde their meds for later use if their parents or a medical professional monitors their dose. Others trade their pills for other drugs, such as marijuana or cocaine. There are many stimulant-based meds for the treatment of ADHD out there, some of which are: Adderal, vivance, Dexadrine, Ritalin, and Concerta. Some psychiatrists prescribe Strattera as an alternative for teens that are prone to stimulant abuse.

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Body Image Eating Disorders Mental Health Recovery

Help With My Eating Disorder

I began to address my eating disorder when I was in adolescent treatment in Malibu. It has been a very difficult journey and sometimes it has been very hard not to lapse into old behaviors. In the last year, I have really dedicated myself to staying committed to recovery and have recently seen a big change- I’ve gained weight! In the past, this would have destroyed me, but since I have been working so hard to get healthy, I feel pretty good about it. Mostly. Honestly, this week I had a bit of an emotional meltdown when I went to try on a bathing suit I hadn’t worn for three years. It didn’t fit. Later that night I went to put on a favorite summer dress. It didn’t fit. My jeans didn’t fit. Like, overnight my clothes stopped fitting. It’s one thing to talk about the work, to write about the work, to intellectualize the work- and an entirely different thing to actually have it happen. In my brain, I am very pleased to have some success in this very difficult area of my life. In my eating disorder’s brain, I am losing my mind. It’s horrifying. I feel like I shouldn’t be so upset, but of course I am. This old way of thinking has dominated my life for years and years. Of course I will grieve.
My sponsor and my best friend both suggested that I get rid of my old clothes. They will never fit me again as long as I am healthy. I took their advice and began to bag up my eating disorder clothes and cried the whole time. It was intensely symbolic for me to say goodbye to them, and to my eating disorder– to acknowledge that I’m not going to be that underweight again. That I’m going to stay healthy. I felt like I could almost hear my eating disorder yelling “Noooooo!” as if it was a villain being shoved off of a cliff in a movie. Sometimes those ceremonial gestures are important, like I’m showing myself what is really happening.
This week has been kind of heavy for me, but now that it’s over I feel a certain levity. I know that there is still a lot of work to do so that I don’t lapse in behavior. I have to power through this challenging time. It was hard to say goodbye, and I know that this is part of my grieving process. It may sound weird to grieve something that hurt me so much, but it was my greatest comfort for many years, and it’s scary to let go of it. I know that I have a lot of love and support around me, and that I don’t have to go through this alone. And hey, I get to go shopping.

Adolescent Eating Disorder Treatment In Malibu

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Mental Health

Welcome to Visions Adolescent Treatment Center

Adolescent substance abusers differ from adults in many ways. Their drug and alcohol use often stems from different causes, and they have even more trouble projecting the consequences of their use into the future. In addiction treatment, adolescents must be approached differently than adults because of their unique developmental issues, differences in their values and belief systems, and environmental considerations (e.g., strong peer influences). The use of substances may also compromise an adolescent’s mental and emotional development from youth to adulthood because substance use interferes with how people approach and experience interactions.

It is the philosophy of Visions that the effective treatment of adolescents with substance abuse and behavioral disorders involves a holistic approach that includes attention to adolescents’ emotional growth and development of:

  • Physical health
  • Psychological health
  • Family relations
  • Social supports
  • Cultural factors

Every person who enters our facility is an individual with varied needs and problems. We avoid “pigeon-holing” anyone. We see each resident as a whole being, thus all aspects of recovery are addressed including psychological, environmental and physical. While the primary focus is on the need to maintain sobriety, other issues such as eating disorders, cross-addictions, low self-esteem, anger management, and family dysfunction will be assessed and addressed for the greatest success of our residents.

Visions believes teen recovery from chemical dependency, addictive behaviors and psychological disorders is a lifelong process. Visions teaches their residents the necessary skills required for on-going self-care and recovery including direct involvement in 12-Step community based programs. Following the initial recovery/stabilization period, each individual is encouraged to integrate a series of new living skills which focus on the development and nurturing of one’s mind, body and spirit and utilize the vast resources of adjunct therapies available. Such therapies include nutritional, meditation, yoga and experiential therapies.

The focus at Visions also accounts for age, gender, ethnicity, cultural background, family structure, cognitive and social development, and readiness for change. Younger adolescents have different developmental needs than older adolescents, and teen addiction treatment approaches are developed appropriately for different age groups.

Teen Program Goals and Objectives

  • Encourage and motivate the adolescent to achieve and sustain abstinence.
  • Assist the adolescent in identifying situations where drugs and alcohol were used to cope with life’s problems and in understanding that using drugs and alcohol to cope with or solve problems does not work.
  • Help the adolescent to develop new, more effective problem-solving strategies.
  • Introduce the adolescent to the 12-step philosophy and strongly encourages participation in Narcotics Anonymous (NA), Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), and/or Cocaine Anonymous (CA).
  • Assist the adolescent to recognize and acknowledge the existence of destructive behaviors and mental health issues in their lives and the impact they have on their family, friends and future.
  • Help the adolescent to recognize and change problematic attitudes and behaviors which that may that may stimulate a relapse.
  • Involve family and/or significant others in the rehabilitation process and reduce dysfunction within the family.
  • Assess and meet the psychological and psychiatric needs of the adolescent.
  • Assess and meet the medical needs of the resident, by referral.
  • Establish a referral network system for services not rendered in our program.
  • Assist the adolescent to resolve any legal issues, which may have involved criminal activity.
  • Teach the adolescent to seek out and actively become involved in community-based resources including healthy peer groups.

If you or someone you know needs help, contact us today.

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