Your troubled teenager may be struggling with substance abuse if you’ve noticed him/her acting totally different lately. Check out these possible signs to look out for: - If your former A-student suddenly keeps on skipping school and starts bringing home barely passing grades.
- If you never noticed your teenager to have a temper before, but now seems to lash out at you when you attempt to lecture him/her.
- If he/she no longer keeps up with his/her chores around the house or never gets around to tutoring his/her younger siblings anymore.
- If your teenager adapts a whole new way of looking at the world, hardly anything one would call optimistic.
- If you notice that your son or daughter barely shows a bit of excitement when you mention going out the next day to do one of his/her favorite activities.
- If he/she seems to have difficulty listening to you and keeping his/her mind on the conversation you may be having.
- If your teen seems to be displaying signs of being very anxious most of the time.
- If he/she goes to great lengths to keep you guessing at whatever’s in his/her head, he or she may be on the defense most of the time you try and talk to him/her.
- It may seem like your teenager’s appearance is just getting worse. He or she may stop combing his/her hair, maybe not even paying attention if he/she showered or not that morning.
- You may catch your teenager wearing sunglasses even on a rainy day. Ask him or her to take them off, and if you catch red bloodshot eyes (which is a sign of the use of a number of different substances) then you may opt to inquire further.
- If you notice that your teen always appears to be wearing clothing that covers him or her up totally, even if it may be summer! This may be an attempt to hide signs of drug use or injections.
- If all of a sudden your teen owes/needs a lot of money, and you know it’s not for that cell phone he/she has been wanting since freshmen year.
- If your teenager gets caught stealing from a local department store or even from your own purse at home.
- If it appears that your teenager is hiding things, like making excuses to always go to the restroom or being very aware of his/her pockets, maybe keeping his/her room locked when he/she leaves the house.
- If you notice that your teen is having difficulty coordinating with his hands or other parts of the body, even without a recent physical accident.
- If you talk with your teen and he or she cannot answer you with clear speech, words may come out mangled.
If taken one by one, some of these signs may actually represent disorders like depression. It is most useful to look at the appearance of these signs collectively, rather than individually. The likelihood of substance abuse is greater if a number of the signs or noticed together. |
