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A study from Africa has found a link between difficult childhood experiences and alcohol consumption in adolescence.

• Caroline Kabiru and her colleagues from the African Population and Health Research Center studied 9,189 children ages 12 to 19 years old.
• The researchers asked the children whether they had been drunk in the past year.
• The 9% of participants who said they had been intoxicated were more likely to live with a problem drinker, to have been physically abused or coerced into having sex, and to dwell in households where food was scarce.
• These results are similar to other studies in other parts of the world.

The study appeared in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health.
 

Labels: alcohol abuse, family

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 1 Comment

It sounds like science fiction or an Internet hoax. Are teenagers really getting high and becoming addicted to certain kinds of sound waves?

"Digital drugs" could become a fad that won't go away. More than 1000 people a day are downloading free software to listen to the sounds, according to the Seattle Times.

The sounds are supposed to produce effects similar to certain drugs, including increased blood pressure, rapid pulse, and involuntary eye movements. The digital drugs are low hums, sometimes mixed with ocean sounds. Each ear hears a different frequency, producing an effect called "biaural beats." Some compare it to meditation.

People at the National Institute on Drug Abuse told the Times reporter that they had not heard of the phenomenon. Some experts say if your teen is downloading the digital drugs software, it may be a red flag that he is experimenting with real drugs.

A professor of pharmacy calls the whole thing "nonsense."
 

Labels: addiction

Posted By: Jane St. Clair 0 Comments

People in therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may benefit from the club drug Ecstasy, according to a small study published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.

• Researchers followed 20 patients who had suffered for an average of 19 years with posttraumatic stress syndrome.
• During two eight-hour therapy sessions, 12 participants took Ecstasy, and eight did not.
• Among those who took the drug, 80% improved, compared to only 20% in the placebo group.

The researchers noted that the long-term effects of Ecstasy are not completely understood, so other studies need to be performed before the drug is prescribed routinely for therapy sessions.
 

Labels: ecstasy, treatment, ptsd, trauma

Posted By: CRC Health Group 1 Comment

A study of emergency room records from 2007 found that mental health and drug abuse issues (also know as co-occurring disorders or dual diagnosis) are common in patients’ visits. Of the 95 million ER visits in 2007, about 12 million of the visitors had either mental health or substance abuse issues, or both.

“Of these visits, about two thirds involved patients with a mental disorder, one quarter was for patients with a substance abuse problem and the rest involved patients dealing with both a mental disorder and substance abuse.” [Source: Citizen-Times (Asheville, NC)]

About 23 percent of the patients had alcohol-related problems. The study also found that mental health and substance abuse issues dramatically increased the likelihood that a patient would be admitted to the hospital, rather than being treated and released.

Labels: substance use, dual diagnosis, mental health

Posted By: Stefanie Hamilton 0 Comments

People who have trouble sleeping, even teenagers, may turn to alcohol for help. And, while alcohol can help a person fall asleep, it causes other sleep problems.

Alcohol is known to interfere with the rapid eye movement (REM) stage of sleep, thus causing the sleeper to feel even less rested after awakening. ...

[Sara] Pieters and her team of researchers found that there was an association between earlier use of alcohol among the teens who tended to stay up later and who had problems such as difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, and who also perceived themselves as more tired.[Source: PsychCentral]

Though Pieters’ research showed a connection between sleep problems and alcohol, it wasn’t able to determine the causal relationship – whether sleep problems lead to alcohol use or alcohol use causes sleep problems.

Labels: alcohol abuse, sleep, teen

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

Sara Carlin had been taking anti-depressant medication for about a year before she committed suicide. Her parents asked for an investigation into what role – if any – her medication might have played in her death.

“A lawyer for Ms. Carlin’s family attempted to draw a strong link between her death and Paxil, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) medication that the young woman had been taking… Over the months after she began taking Paxil, he said, she told friends she was suicidal, wrote a note in which she said she was tired of life and later landed in hospital after a session of drinking and cocaine use.” [Source: The Globe and Mail (Canada)]

A lawyer for the pharmaceutical company, however, pointed to medical records in which doctors stated that Sara’s mood and sleep began to improve as a result of Paxil. The inquiry can’t place blame for Sara’s death, but it can request recommendations – including a requirement that doctors inform patients of possible side-effects associated with Paxil.

Labels: suicide, mental health, antidepressants

Posted By: Stefanie Hamilton 0 Comments

Abuse of prescription drugs among teenagers continues to rise, but resources for those who want to get help aren’t increasing at the same rate. The Director of Youth and Parenting Services Prevention Network in New York says people aren’t yet taking the problem seriously enough:

“While the Prevention Network has collected a thick book full of resources to share, there is only one section with in-patient information and two pieces of paper of adolescent counseling… Choices aren’t that much better or outpatient treatment. [”Source: WSYR-TV (Syracuse, NY)]

Adding to the challenge of finding treatment is the fact that most counseling services focus on older teenagers, even though younger ones are abusing prescription drugs, too.
 

Labels: prescription drugs, treatment

Posted By: Stefanie Hamilton 0 Comments

A new study out of the Caron Treatment Center suggests that parents’ behavior may unintentionally influence their children's toward drinking.

“Nearly a third of the 12-18 year olds surveyed said they have observed one or both of their parents drinking alcohol to ‘relax’ or ‘relieve stress’ after a hard day (32%). ‘Parents need to talk about why it is acceptable for adults to drink alcohol in moderation. Otherwise, they may unknowingly be communicating a mixed message,’ said [David] Rotenberg.” [Source: Broward County Parenting Teens Examiner]

The same survey found that over 50 percent of teenagers think their parents are more concerned with their grades than whether or not they drink. Parents are encouraged to talk to their kids about expectations and rules surrounding drinking, and to be clear about the consequences if rules are broken.

Labels: alcohol abuse, parental drinking, parents

Posted By: CRC Health Group 0 Comments

When Caitlin’s brother was about to graduate from high school, the stress and uncertainty surrounding his future caused him to turn to drugs in a misguided effort to find relief. Caitlin saw her brother change right before her eyes.

“Money was disappearing from the house; her once cheerful brother was moody and did not look well, she said. At times, he could not keep his eyes open. ‘He was generally a nice person, easy going,’ Caitlin Reed said. ‘We noticed he was mean.’” [Source: The Gazette (MD)]

Caitlin’s brother eventually admitted his addiction and sought help, but Caitlin knew that other families weren’t so lucky. So she started a Facebook group aimed at raising awareness about OxyContin addiction. So far, the group has 1,100 members, most of whom are teenagers worried about friends, family members or themselves.
 

Labels: oxycodone, oxycontin, awareness

Posted By: Stefanie Hamilton 0 Comments

John Roe, Illinois State Attorney for Ogle County, has brought a new twist to his job. He’s gathered a team of legal and social work professional and, with funding from the MacArthur Foundation of Chicago, started a new program aimed at keeping juvenile offenders out of jail.

Every juvenile case police report is assessed promptly by mental health and counseling specialists. And if, for example, diversion from the court system is seen as the best course in a vandalism case, the ideal first step in the diversion process is victim-offender counseling. [Source: The Times (Ottawa, Illinois)]

And the end of the counseling session, a mediator helps determine an appropriate punishment – which is agreed upon by both the offender and the victim. In a vandalism case, the offender might have to fix what was broken, or pay to have it fixed. In the past two year, seventy percent of all minor-related cases in the county have been placed on this alternative track, keeping numerous kids out of jail and giving them a chance to turn over a new leaf.

Labels: prevention program, jail

Posted By: Stefanie Hamilton 1 Comment

Men and women in treatment for alcohol dependency respond in similar way to a certain drug. However, there are subtle differences in the ways that female alcoholics approach and respond to treatment programs, according to a new study funded by National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

• Researchers studied 378 women and 840 men in treatment for alcohol dependency.
• Some took the drug naltrexone while a control group took sugar pills.
• Both men and women in the study responded in similar ways to naltrexone.

The study found that women developed alcohol dependence approximately three years later than men in the same study. Women were less likely to have been in treatment before, and they consumed fewer alcoholic drinks per day. They were more likely to have consulted with their primary care physicians than to go into specialized treatment for alcoholism.

The study appeared in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.
 

Labels: alcoholism, treatment, naltrexone

Posted By: Teen Drug Help 0 Comments

A small study funded by the National Institute of Health found that teenagers who stopped using marijuana will regain some cognitive deficits; however, their attention deficits will persist.

The researchers recruited 19 marijuana user and 21 teenagers in the same age group (15 to 19 years old) from similar backgrounds who did not use marijuana. Every participant completed tests three days, two weeks, and three weeks after the users stopped smoking marijuana.

Teen marijuana users had lower scores on tests of verbal learning and verbal memory, as well as attention deficits. After abstaining from marijuana for a few weeks, they improved in verbal learning and verbal memory and not in attention deficits.

The study appeared in the journal Addictive Behaviors.
 

Labels: marijuana, teen drug abuse, brain chemistry

Posted By: CRC Health Group 0 Comments

Massachusetts now has three "sobriety-intensive" schools to help students who have drug or alcohol dependencies. Students not only take academic classes, they also attend counseling sessions and are required to be tested for drugs and alcohol once a week.

Will Luzier, director of the Governor's Interagency Council on Substance Abuse said the state needs more such schools, even though they are expensive.

Nationwide, there has been a 400% increase in the number of people over age 12 years old admitted to treatment programs for addiction to pain medications in the past few years. One study found that 26% of high school students in Massachusetts were offered, sold or given drugs on the grounds of their schools.

For students who don't have access to public-funded sober schools, a private residential boarding school for teens with drug and alcohol problems may be answer.
 

Labels: drug addiction, alcoholism, teens, schools

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 1 Comment