Dual Diagnosis – What is it?
Many teenagers that use drugs these days are using them as a method of escape. Some of them are trying to escape their family, friends, school or many other things. Numerous teenagers are using drugs to help them escape a co-existing disorder that they do not even know they have.
Some parents and guidance counselors are quick to attribute poor grades in school to lack of effort or simple laziness. A lot of teenagers are sick of hearing “You have so much potential.”
What many people fail to notice is the number of undiagnosed learning disabilities that today’s youth has to quietly suffer with. A recent study at Columbia University suggests that 11.8 million American children have learning disabilities, but only just 3 million have actually been diagnosed. That leaves close to 9 million American children dealing with learning disabilities that they don’t know that they have.
Living with an undiagnosed learning disability can mimic unintelligence and social awkwardness. These individuals may also suffer from low self-esteem due to feeling like they cannot measure up to the rest. All of these factors contribute to the higher percentage of teenagers who have learning disabilities and use drugs than that of those who don’t have learning disabilities and use drugs. Drugs can offer them the social acceptance that they have been missing as well as helping them self-medicate depression.
Have you been told your Adolescent has Dual-Diagnosis?
