As a parent, one of the most challenging and painful things to do is to put your teen in a teen rehab facility. But if you are sure that your child needs help with addiction, it’s the right decision. If you ever ask yourself, “Does my teen need rehab?,” then chances are the answer is yes.
In California, 50% of Grade 11 and above students have used an illicit or dangerous substance, particularly marijuana and alcohol. The rapid increase in California teenage addiction cases is not easy to solve. Many parents are not sure if they should place their teens in rehab. So, if you need more information to help you decide, here are some red flags that you may have already noticed.
THE RED FLAGS
Teenage years are rife with curiosity and experimentation, but you might not be sure if what they are doing is safe. Maybe you have this gut feeling that something is wrong but are hesitant because you don’t want to make the situation worse or affect your relationship with your child. Whatever the case may be, making the right decision as soon as possible may save them from severe negative consequences. Your teens probably need rehab if you see the following signs:
They are using an illicit substance
If your teens are using a substance, mainly if it is not prescribed, they are already having trouble. This is your first and foremost reason to put them in rehab. Whether they are still hiding it from you or not, act as soon as possible. Chances are they need immediate help with their substance issues.
Their academic performance has declined
The first thing that’ll be affected if your teenager is taking substances is their academics. If they start to get failing or significantly low grades, they need help. If you can catch the issue in time, undergoing rehabilitation treatment is the best option.
Their physical appearance is changing
If your teens have sudden physical changes, like gaining or losing weight, something is probably going on with them. Some of the changes that may indicate that your teen is having trouble with a substance are the following:
- Unexpected weight loss, weight gain, or weight fluctuations.
- Tired-looking or red eyes.
- Trembling hands.
- Hyperactivity.
- Random nosebleeds.
They show negative behavioral shifts
Changes in your teen’s behavior, being dishonest, overly secretive, having too many late-night plans, and sudden changes in hobbies might be considered red flags.
You play a crucial role in the wellness of your children. When they are troubled and incapable of making good decisions, your decisions are crucial for their safety. If your instincts tell you that your teen needs help, immediately seek teen rehabilitation in Los Angeles.
Factors Influencing the Decision for Teenage Rehabilitation
Identifying your teenager’s need to be enrolled in a treatment program is just as important as knowing when to enroll them. Early interventions have been known to be more proactive; they help in addressing your teenager’s addiction before it gets out of hand. But how do you know when it is right to get your teen into rehab? Several factors determine their enrollment, ranging from how severe the substance abuse is to its influence on their daily lives.
Severity of Substance Abuse
One of the ways of assessing teenage substance severity is through drug test screening. Screening tests are questionnaires specifically designed to understand an individual’s drug usage. Mental health providers do the tests, and they aim to know how low, medium, or high is the drug abuse. There are several screening processes:
Drug Abuse Screen Test (DAST)
This questionnaire has ten questions that ask how often you take drugs, how they have affected your life, and if you have any drug-related health problems. The test may take 5 minutes or less and is usually easy to administer. They are yes or no questions with a test score, and the higher the score, the higher the drug dependency.
Car, Relax, Alone, Forget, Friends, Trouble (CRAFFT)
This screening test is specifically designed for teens. Some of the questions asked are whether they forget things when they abuse drugs or if their families have ever asked them to cut down on their drug use. If most of the answers are yes, then the teen has a drug use problem.
National Institute on Drug Abuse ( NIDA) Quick Screen
This test has multiple-choice questions for every substance abused, and the questions revolve around how often an individual abuses drugs: prescription drugs, illegal drugs, and opioids. The answers range from never to daily, and if your answers lean more on the daily, then you have a drug abuse problem.
NIDA Modified Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Involvement Screening (NM ASSIST)
This is the most comprehensive and in-depth screening test, as it asks about the types of drugs used and the frequency of their usage. It also has a score point system; the higher the score, the sooner you should enroll in rehab.
Cut-down Annoyed, Guilty, Eye-opener (CAGE)
This type of screening is mostly used to gauge the severity of alcohol abuse. It has yes or no questions, and some of the questions asked are how you feel after substance abuse or if you have ever felt guilty about your drug usage. Eye-opener questions are meant to shed more light on drug usage. Questions like if you have woken up to use drugs in the dead of the night help you understand how severe the drug use is. If the score has a high number of yes answers, then you may have a problem.
Impact on Daily Functioning
Substance abuse can disrupt various aspects of daily functioning, including academic performance, social interactions, and family dynamics. It can impair cognitive abilities, memory, and decision-making skills, making it challenging for teenagers to concentrate in school and perform well academically. Substance abuse can also lead to a strain on teenagers’ social relationships. The more withdrawn a teenager is from his friends or the activities they used to engage in, the more severe their drug abuse may be.
Influence on Mental Health
Taking substances have a vast impact on an individual’s health. Different substances have different complications, but the most common effect is they are detrimental to the psychological well-being of a teenager. One of the mental health consequences of drug abuse is it may lead to ideation of self-harm and suicide. Most individuals who abuse drugs are often paranoid and stressed, and it could also lead to drug-related psychosis. One of the ways of gauging the severity of your teenager’s substance abuse is if they appear more stressed or more paranoid than they were initially. If they are finding it hard to differentiate reality from hallucinations, then it may be the right time to enroll them in rehab.
Involvement of Support System
Effective interventions for teenage substance abuse strongly rely on their support systems. Families offer a safe space where individuals undergoing substance abuse voice their opinions and struggles. Peer influences also have their unique way of shaping an individual’s behavior and their stance on substance abuse. If your teenager is surrounded by individuals who abuse drugs frequently, your teenager may end up experimenting on drugs, which could eventually lead to an addiction problem.
However, when your teen has a positive peer influence, it becomes easy to foster healthy choices and discourage bad behavior like indulging in drugs.
Integrating these support systems into interventions helps in cultivating a healthy environment conducive to comprehensively addressing teenage substance abuse issues. It also nurtures sobriety, prevents a relapse from occurring, and may also help you in promoting your teenager’s well-being and long-term sobriety success.
More To Know About Rehab
The word rehab might be unsettling to hear, but you must understand exactly what it entails when the situation calls for it. Your knowledge is crucial when deciding which center to choose.
What is Rehab?
Rehabilitation, commonly known as rehab, is a care program that helps patients get back to their regular and healthy lives through treatments, training, mentoring, and therapy. Teen rehab helps children dealing with addiction get sober, regain or hone their skills, and improve their quality of life.
Who Needs Rehab?
Anyone with addiction issues needs to undergo rehab, regardless of age. In addition, people in the withdrawal process might also need professional rehab to reduce the risk of relapsing.
What are the Stages of Rehab?
Admitting that your teen is into drugs is a difficult task. However, you should accept that there are things that you cannot control or solve. Drug addiction, for example, is a disease that affects the brain and other physical functions. Treating this condition requires the help of health professionals and the newest technologies available.
Individual experiences may vary depending on the severity of the situation. However, your teen will usually go through four phases: assessment, detox, rehabilitation, and aftercare.
1. Assessment
Every rehab process starts with an assessment. Your teen will undergo an intensive medical examination, as well as a psychological and a psychosocial assessment, to identify the treatment option that best suits their needs. In addition, information on your teen’s substance use will be collected. This assessment allows the specialist to create a custom-tailored treatment plan to ensure a smooth recovery process. Moreover, your teen will also undergo a medical check-up to determine the possible withdrawal risks they might experience and the medication they might need to take.
2. Detox
After the assessment, your teen will detoxify (whether it’s detox from alcohol or other substances) or detox. It is the process of safely removing the drugs in your teen’s system. They might need to take medication to reduce the risk of withdrawal complications. This medication will depend on your child’s health condition and the substance they use. Medical detox is the safest and most effective method of managing withdrawal.
3. Rehabilitation
At this phase, your teen will be provided with the extensive treatment program that was decided after the assessment. Its main goal is to make your teen abstinent from drug use for good. In addition, your teens are expected to open up and find out the deeper reasons for their addiction. They will also be involved in various therapy sessions that will help them cope with their substance-free lifestyle. Rehab can be in the form of residential teen treatment, inpatient, or outpatient. Learn about the different teen addiction treatment programs offers in Los Angeles at Key Healthcare.
You and your teen need to be familiar with the different treatment options in this process.
- Teen Partial Hospitalization Program (Teen PHP) – Teen PHP is a systematic and comprehensive therapy program that runs for eight hours, five days a week. PHP for teenagers is typically 3–4 weeks long and provides a higher degree of care than Teen IOP. This program provides integrated, multidisciplinary clinical treatment to teenagers who can function at a minimally suitable level and do not pose a risk to themselves or others. This well-structured day program aims to heal your teen’s mental, emotional, physical, social, and spiritual well-being.
- Intensive Outpatient Teen Treatment Program (Teen IOP) – Instead of open-ended weekly therapy sessions, Teen IOP provides a structured environment. With support for nine hours per week to help your teens cope with their challenges in a more holistic way. Teen IOP is best for adolescents struggling to get back to their everyday lives, who have lack of motivation or who don’t listen.
- Group Teen Therapy – In group teen therapy, your teens will be involved in group sessions wherein they can discuss their situation and relate to others in the same situation. They can give and receive advice, and this lets them know that they are not alone in their troubles. A sense of community support is crucial to your teen’s recovery.
- Family Therapy – In this type of teenage family therapy, you and other family members will be encouraged to participate in your teen’s recovery. This program helps resolve domestic issues and establish a strong family relationship, which is crucial in the continued recovery of your child.
4. Aftercare
Finishing rehabilitation is not the end of the recovery treatment. Recovery is a life-long process. Aftercare for teens, like sober living for teens, seek to ensure the continued sobriety of your teen. In addition, these programs also help your teen acquire skills that they will need as they go return to their normal lives.
Common Questions Related to Rahab
How Long Does Rehab Take?
While this question is asked very often, the length of the rehab process depends entirely on the situation of your teen, its intensity, and the chosen treatment program. In terms of duration, there are two types of rehabs.
SHORT-TERM REHAB – This intensive drug rehab program lasts for three to six weeks only. It provides detox so that the patient can safely go through the withdrawal process. More extended aftercare programs typically follow this since addiction recovery takes time, and relapses are more likely to occur.
LONG-TERM REHAB – This extensive treatment, recommended for substance addiction, usually lasts more than 90 days. Your teen is more likely to see benefits with this type of rehab. It includes counseling to address the underlying mental, emotional and behavioral issues. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the longer the treatment, the greater the success.
How to Convince Your Teen to go to Rehab?
If your teen needs rehabilitation, the first thing you have to do is to convince them to accept help. Being calm is crucial to prevent making the situation worse. If your efforts do not work and they insist that they don’t need treatment, it might be time for an intervention.
Intervention is a comprehensive process done by family or friends in consultation with a specialist. It often involves you and other loved ones who care about your child. It shows your teen how their actions affect them and those they care about. An intervention goal is to have your teen agree to get into rehabilitation. This phase must be well-planned if it is to succeed. If you need help with an intervention for your teen, it is best to seek professional help available in Los Angeles.
How to Finding A Teen Treatment Center?
You want what’s best for your child, so you must choose the best treatment center to rehabilitate your teen. It’s always good to visit the centers and speak with the staff before committing to anything. We offer free and confidential phone consultations, and of course, you’re welcome to come by our facilities.
A study reveals that the key features of an effective treatment program involve an in-depth utilization of standardized assessment tools, a good way to build engagement among youths, a greater focus on cultural competence and gender, and more scientific-based investments.
But above all, what you should consider is the long-run benefit your teen can get from a treatment center.
At Key Healthcare, we not only help your child mentally recover, but our goal is to help set them on an abundant life path filled with passion, goals, and love to lead a full and happy life. We believe that everyone can change if given the proper structure and connections. We understand your teen. Most of us have been in the same situation at some point in our life. Our programs are custom-tailored to meet your teen’s needs. Our Teen Marijuana Treatment, Teen PHP, Teen IOP, and Teen Sober Living programs are proven to help struggling children get back to their regular lives, ensure their continued sobriety, and improve their well-being.
Contact Key Healthcare, and learn more about how we can help you and your teen struggling with mental issues with our experts help and our especially designed teen mental health treatment. You can also visit us at 1251 Westwood Blvd Suite 300, Los Angeles, to check out our facility.
