Understanding and Preventing
Adolescent Drug Use
Page Four
Peer pressure: Another cause of adolescent drug abuse is the negative influence of friends. It is extremely rare for a teenager to start using drugs by himself. There is nearly always some peer pressure or the desire to fit in with a certain crowd. This susceptibility to peer pressure grows out of one of two dynamics. First is the normal desire of adolescents to find a place to belong. As teenagers grow up and away from their childhood emotional attachment to their parents, they look for new sources of acceptance. In much the same way that they used to try to please their parents, they now try to please their peers. If their choice of peers are among those using drugs, they can feel incredible pressure to do the same.
Other teens give in to negative peer pressure because they have poor self-concepts or lack a healthy, nurturing relationship with their parents. Research indicates that children who feel very loved and emotionally well-connected with their parents are much less likely to give in to negative peer influences. Since they have better self concepts, they are more likely to have the courage to stand up and say no.
The search for a change of mood: One of the most important causes of all drug abuse is the desire to change the user’s emotions. Drugs have varying effects, but they all impact the user’s psychological state. Some dull the mood. Others lift it. But they all alter emotions. This tells us a great deal about drug users. For some reason, they are emotionally unsatisfied or unhappy. They are depressed and looking for relief. They are anxious and uncomfortable and trying to relax. Or they are emotionally cut off and are trying to gain some excitement or feeling in their lives. Nearly two–thirds of the adolescents who enter substance abuse treatment programs have a diagnosable psychological disorder such as depression, attention deficit disorder, or control disorder. This fact is the single most important thing to understand if you want to prevent adolescents from turning to drugs or help them stop using.
As the Bible says, “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones” (Proverbs 17:22). Depression and other forms of emotional unhappiness make teenagers susceptible to drug abuse. In fact, using illicit drugs can be understood as an effort to medicate oneself. As one young boy said to me when he was brought to me for counseling after a failed suicide attempt: “I knocked at my brother’s bedroom door, but he was on the phone. I looked in my sister’s room, and she was asleep. My younger brother was watching TV, and he’s too young anyway. My parents were out and there was no one left to talk to. I felt so lonely and hopeless. The booze made me feel spaced out and indifferent. Taking pills after that was easy—and stupid!” Unfortunately, as this young man found out, the “medications” only work for a very brief time and make matters incredibly worse.
Family dynamics: Without placing blame on parents, we do need to understand that practically all drug usage has something to do with the user’s family dynamics. Sometimes it is as simple as a child who always felt different or never quite “fit in” with his or her family. Sometimes having a very successful sibling puts incredible pressure on a child. And sometimes there are communication and emotional problems like anger, abuse, overprotection, perfectionism, bickering and criticism, parental fights, and absent or drug-abusing parents.
 Whenever family dynamics create
unhappiness, resentfulness, anxiety,
depression, or extreme stress,
they increase the likelihood
of a teenager using drugs.
Peter, a conscientious, hard-working college student, began taking drugs in high school in order to stay awake and study. His family is very achievement-oriented and his goals are unrealistically high. He seems constantly to need to prove himself. He communicates reasonably well with his parents on most subjects, but they do not know he takes pills to get his grades and hold his jobs. I would not have known either if Peter had not reached out for help. At school he got along well, both academically and socially. He was not the “type” most people would have suspected of drug abuse. Nor was his family the stereotypic type to produce the kind of problems which lead to drugs.
Whenever family dynamics create unhappiness, resentfulness, anxiety, depression, or extreme stress, they increase the likelihood of a teenager using drugs. The reason is this. If a teenager is unhappy, he will want to change his emotional mood. Drugs offer an instant, easy way to temporarily change emotions. Since teenagers are prone to impulsivity and typically are not concerned about the long-term consequences of their actions, they may choose a temporary mood change in spite of the potential long-term negative results.
The desire to defy authority or to hurt parents: Closely related to painful family dynamics is the desire to defy authority or hurt one’s parents. Emotional pain creates anger which in turn looks for a “solution” that will both temporarily relieve the emotional unhappiness and vent one’s anger in a disguised way. Drugs seem like a perfect way to accomplish these twin goals. Few things are more upsetting to a parent than finding out that their teenage son or daughter is using drugs.
School pressures: At the same time that teenagers are spending less time with their parents, they are facing greater challenges in the world outside our homes. The main place, of course, is the school. Schools bring wonderful opportunities for healthy teens to learn and grow and make new friends. But adolescence is a notoriously difficult time of life. Teens who are seriously lacking in self-confidence or already overstressed can get under incredible pressure at school. Their attempts to make friends and find a place to belong are compounded by fears of failing and worry over the approaching responsibilities of adulthood. All these can create a desire to blot it all out. Once again, drugs offer a tempting, quick solution.
Lack of hope and spiritual commitment: Many teenagers turn to drugs because they do not think they have any meaningful future. They have no hope for a successful life, good education, or marriage. They also lack any sense of purpose or spiritual direction in life. Proverbs says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick” (Proverbs 13:12). Without hope, our personalities are warped and empty. Many teens try to fill the void created by a lack of hope with drugs.
Statistics show that teenagers who are active in church and other religious activities are less likely to use drugs than those who aren’t. Just as drugs are designed to alter the user’s psychological mood, they can also be used to try to blot out a spiritual void. Since today’s teenagers often feel displaced and lonely and have no spiritual center, they are especially susceptible. Coupled with a supportive family and friends, a meaningful, personal experience with Jesus Christ as Friend, Comforter, Father, and, above all, Savior, can make all the difference in the world.
 Continued on Page Five
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