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The American Psychiatric Association has revealed new guidelines under consideration for the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, including changes to the categories of adolescent substance abuse, learning disabilities, and many other issues that can effect teens, such as examining new diagnoses for adolescents. Many anticipate that more varied diagnoses will help clinicians focus more on treating individual symptoms rather than over-medicating the population.
Many teens use drugs and alcohol as an attempt to self-medicate. Dual Diagnosis teen drug and alcohol rehab is an effective way for teens to deal with potentially crippling substance abuse issues and accompanying factors, such as bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, ADHD, eating disorders, and depression. In a safe environment, teens learn valuable tools while dealing with drug and alcohol dependence and other challenges. Staff clinicians help to create personalized treatment programs to fit each teen’s needs, working to establish self-value and self-care to ensure lifelong success.

Adolescent intervention can be difficult because of the unpredictable nature of teenagers and their extreme investment in trying not to get caught. Kids minimize their drug use because they are constantly trying to fly below the radar of parents, teachers and other authority figures. Adolescent drug and alcohol experimentation can be common, but misuse, abuse and even addiction are not normal and need to be curbed before the problem becomes life-threatening. Drug or alcohol users that are teenagers often have a difficult time admitting to the fact that they have a problem and their denial can result in anger, rage, and a desire to do exactly the opposite of what their parents would want. Interventions are used as a last resort, this means often times there is no second chance. So when using an interventionist with an adolescent it is important to have a back up plan such as a transport service that consists of licensed and bonded individuals that can physically transport the teen to treatment safely if things get out of control.

Please contact us for help finding an interventionist or adolescent transport service.

Adolescent drug treatment occurs in four stages. The first stage is Treatment Initiation, where the teen first enters treatment. This can be a difficult process for the whole family, and it is not uncommon for teens to be angry, scared, and severely resistant to going to rehab. Early Abstinence is the second phase of recovery. During the first few days of treatment, teens must adjust to their new environment and the daunting prospect of living life without drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes. This is the phase when teens are introduced to the recovery tools they can carry into the next phases.
After 90 days, teens move into the Maintaining Abstinence phase of recovery. This often involves a transition from inpatient treatment to outpatient treatment, sober high school, and sober living facilities. Gradually, the levels of supervision recede as teens accept more responsibility and demonstrate a commitment to recovery. With maintenance, recovering teens grow into recovering adults, which is the final stage- Advanced Recovery. Long-term sobriety provides a life of freedom and choices. Teens who get the opportunity to arrest their addiction and alcoholism early in life have their whole lives ahead of them, and what seems like a gaping canyon now can only be a minor bump in the road in retrospect.

Please contact us for help finding adolescent addiction treatment.

Video game addiction, or more broadly video game overuse, is excessive and/or compulsive use of computer and video games that interferes with daily life. Reports have been made in which teens play compulsively, isolating themselves from, or from other forms of, social contact and focusing almost entirely on game achievements rather than broader life events. There is no diagnosis of video game addiction yet, although it has been proposed for inclusion in the next version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Clinicians are presently using a 2-hour-per-day limit to define “gaming overuse”, citing the American Academy of Pediatrics guideline of no more than 1 to 2 hours per day of “screen time”. Because research is still in the preliminary stages for gaming treatment. The most effective treatment for adolescents seems to be, as with addictions or other dependencies, a combination of psychotherapy and twelve-step programs.

Please contact us for help with online addiction.

It’s not uncommon for many of us coming into rehab to be dual diagnosed. For me, I was battling both addiction and alcoholism along with an eating disorder. Sometimes dealing with the secondary issues can be a lot trickier than dealing with addiction. For me, getting clean was a no-brainer. My life was insane and using drugs was not and is not an option. My recovery in regards to addiction has been very simple, very black and white. I just don’t use. Things with my eating disorder, however, have been a lot more challenging. It’s an issue I have had to deal with during and after adolescent treatment. I have often felt discouraged and frustrated when my E.D. issues resurface during challenging times in my adolescent recovery. I sometimes wonder if I will ever have a totally “normal” relationship to food. I haven’t actively binged and purged, and I haven’t actively restricted since I went to treatment, but I have certainly gotten “weird” with food from time to time. I think my friends and family have also been frustrated and made nervous by the fact that my progress has been much slower in this area of my life. There have been many more stops and starts but progress is being made, however slowly. In treatment, I learned the beginning tools to get on the road to recovery from my eating disorder, and I continue to use them years later. That strong foundation is what keeps me striving for freedom and happiness today. Every day isn’t perfect, but I am clean and sober and as long as I have that, I am free to keep growing.

Finally some good news for Seattle’s Starbucks and all you coffee addicts out there!

No more store closings! Actually, the coffee giant’s fiscal first-quarter profit soared and topped Wall Street’s forecast Wednesday as the upscale coffee retailer boosted its outlook for 2010.

Visions Adolescent Treatment Centers

The most important thing I have had to accept since being in Dual diagnosis treatment is that I have to have a lot more patience with myself than I am used to. I have had to learn to forgive myself for not being perfect. I think going into treatment, both the teen and the families can fall into thinking that the teen will emerge “cured”. In my first few months home in Orange County, California, any time I felt weird or had an emotional day, all of us would get worried that everything was unraveling. What I have learned, is that that just isn’t true. I can have bad days, and I can have good days. A bad day doesn’t mean I’m not recovering.
I can feel discouraged from time to time but the most important thing is that I pick myself up and keep moving forward. This is recovery to me- to be able to keep making the effort regardless of how I feel. I have had to redefine my definition of success. In treatment, I learned how to believe in myself, even when the going gets rough, and to use the tools given to me. The tools aren’t there for perfect days- they’re there for challenges and for growth, and growth is sometimes awkward and uncomfortable. I made a commitment to myself to change my life, and thanks to that, regardless of how difficult the changes may be, I have maintained the willingness to keep growing. It’s not something I can really explain to my family, and in the beginning, that was really frustrating. I realized that I just had to show people my commitment to change, by continuing with the process long after treatment ended. That’s the neatest gift I’ve received: the ability to keep using these tools for years after I was introduced to them.if you have a loved one that needs to be introduced to these tools please contact us at adolescent dual diagnosis treatment.

Dual diagnosis residential treatment is often the last resort for parents of dual diagnosis teens, so it is important that you chose the right one. Residential treatment should be a safe place for teens to adjust to a new way of life without the use of drugs and alcohol, receive a proper diagnosis and medication management, continue with schoolwork to avoid falling behind, and explore group and individual therapy to treat all areas of a teen’s life.
Visions Adolescent Treatment Centers address all of these requirements and more, ensuring that teens experience exemplary care in a comfortable, homelike environment. At Visions, I went to group and individual therapy, and met with staff doctors, but I never felt like I was in a hospital. We had a good time, ate really good food, and went out and did exciting things like equine therapy and field trips to museums and recreational outings to the movies. As a dual diagnosis teen, it was helpful to address my borderline personality disorder and depression as well as my addiction and alcoholism issues. Being dual diagnosed can be challenging, but Visions helped me get some great tools to make my life fulfilling and awesome and my disorders manageable.

Michael Douglas’ son, Cameron, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to dealing mass quantities of meth and cocaine last year while holed up at the posh Hotel Gansevoort.

Cameron told the judge that after a New York City contact asked him to supply the drugs in 2006, he began supplying on a regular basis. And when asked by a judge if he knew what he was doing was wrong, he said, “Yes, your honor.”

He also pleaded guilty to heroin possession after his girlfriend tried to sneak the drug into an electric toothbrush while he was on house arrest.

Douglas signed a plea agreement, but the details are unknown. Although, he is facing minimum prison sentence of 10 years.

So privileged and he still couldn’t pull it together.

help for your son

Being a teen with Bipolar Disorder can sometimes feel like you will never be normal. On the roller coaster of sadness and mania, it is hard to get anything else accomplished. Sometimes drugs seem like the best solution, but they usually end up exacerbating the problem. Drugs and alcohol already cause mood swings in teenagers, and these can often be an indicator of drug and alcohol abuse.
For some teens, the roller coaster doesn’t stop when drugs and alcohol are taken away, and for those, teen dual diagnosis treatment centers can be the most constructive solution. Dual diagnosis rehabs treat both teen drug and alcohol abuse and teen bipolar disorder. Sober teens can obtain a clear diagnosis and receive the best treatment while learning to deal with a dual diagnosis in a safe, nurturing environment.