Alcohol/Drug Use Continuum for Adolescents
By Tim Noonan, CADC YSB Su bstance Abuse CounselorResearchers who have studied the impact of the use of alcohol and other drugs upon teenagers have determined that adolescents proceed along a continuum of alcohol/drug usage beginning with the experimental use of such mood-altering chemicals and ending with the adolescent being chemically dependent, have determined that adolescents move through this continuum at a greater rate of speed than does an adult. Dr. Vernon Johnson in his work Everything You Need To Know About Chemical Dependence (Johnson Institute 1990), states that while it can take between eight to ten years for an adult to travel from experimentation with alcohol and/or other drugs to becoming chemically dependent upon such drugs, it takes an adolescent anywhere from three months to fifteen months to travel from experimentation to chemical dependency. There are several factors which appear to have some bearing as to why an adolescent can become chemically dependent in such a short period of time.
One factor that seems to at play a role in the speed that adolescents travel from experimentation with mood altering chemicals to addiction has to do with their willingness to use a variety of mood altering chemicals as opposed to adults who generally tend to be loyal to one or perhaps two drugs. Teenagers are generally not very selective in determining which mood altering chemicals they will use. If a teenager's D.O.C. (Drug of Choice) is not available to him or her at any given time it is more than likely that the teen will chose to use whatever mood altering chemical is available at the moment that will provide the desired effect.
Another factor which appears to play a role in teenagers moving through the alcohol/drug continuum at a greater rate of speed than adults may be the reasons given by both age groups for their use of mood altering chemicals. Adults will tend to report that they use alcohol and/or other drugs to help them to cope with life stressors that they are encountering. Teenagers generally report that they chose to use alcohol and/or other drugs because to do so is fun. Teens will strongly deny that they use mood altering chemicals to assist them in coping with the stressors of life, allowing them to delude themselves into believing that alcohol or some other mood altering chemical is not having a physiological or psychological impact upon them.
Determining whether or not a teenager is abusing mood altering chemicals or is in the early stages of chemical addiction is difficult. Behaviors which are clearly symptoms of chemical dependence in adults may often be nothing more than typical teenage behavior for some adolescents. In Everything You Need to Know About Chemical Dependence, Dr. Johnson illustrates this point by focusing what is often considered to be an example of addictive behavior on the part of adults, that being using of alcohol or other drugs in the morning in order to stave off the withdrawal symptoms that often follow a night of indulging in the use of mood altering chemicals. Many teenagers at every level of use on the continuum will at some point in time chose to use mood altering chemicals in the morning. While this type of activity is clearly an indication of chemical dependency in an adult, it is sometimes, but not always a sign of chemical dependency in adolescents. Such behavior on the part of an adolescent may have more to do with a need to socialize with friends in the morning than with the need to stave off "withdrawal symptoms" following a night of abusing mood altering chemicals.
As noted previously, teenagers have a well developed delusional system. Teens, like adults are quite capable of denying, rationalizing, and minimizing their use of mood altering chemicals. One additional factor that works against teenagers happens to be their age. The common belief is that alcoholics and drug addicts are generally middle age adults. However, data provided by the National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that the disease of chemical dependency begins to take root between the ages of 15 and 25.
Another difference between teenagers and adults in regard to the use of mood altering chemicals has to do with the number of individuals who, by their action or lack thereof, will enable the teen to continue his or her dangerous trek into the world of chemical addiction. Parents will frequently be at the top of the list of those who enable addictive behavior on the part of their teenage son or daughter. Many parents despite all evidence to the contrary will continue to hold on to the notion that their child's use of alcohol and/or other drugs is a phase of growth that will pass with maturity. While for many adolescents that may be true, the parent or parents who are holding on to such a belief are taking a major gamble with their child's life. Vernon Johnson notes that the average chemically dependent adult may have as many as ten to twelve enablers in his or her life – family, friends, the family doctor are among those who may by their behavior "enable" the adult to continue his/her use of mood altering chemicals. In contrast according to Johnson a chemically dependent teenager may have as many as fifty to sixty enablers – immediate family, extended family, school personnel, church staff, law-enforcement officers, medical staff, friends and parents of friends.
One final distinction needs to be made between adults and adolescents in regard to the speed by which each group moves along the alcohol/drug use continuum. Barbara Strauch in her book The Primal Teen – What the New Discoveries About the Teenage Brian Tell Us About Our Kids (Random House – 2003), reports the latest research on the development of the human brain during adolescence. Strauch cites current research which demonstrates that the human brain is continuing to develop during the teen years and as a result the adolescent's brain is much more susceptible to the damage that alcohol and/or other drugs can cause in the brain.
