Ty Howard
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Have you ever heard of Happy Pills, Oxy, Hammer or China White? These are some of the numerous street names for opioids available in North America, drugs that act on the nervous system to relieve pain. However, the users should be aware that these drugs are highly addictive.
Today, the term Opioid covers the diverse class of opiates including natural, semi-synthetic and synthetic opiates. Opioid analgesic has been used to treat both acute and chronic, moderate to severe pain in patients. They come in capsules, tablets, and liquid. Some of the most common opioid drugs brand names include Vicodin®, OxyContin®, Tylox® Percocet®, Percodan®, and Demerol.
Extended use of these drugs can lead to physical addiction and withdrawal symptoms. Use of opioids in the United States and Canada has increased rapidly in the latest decades, so today we can talk about the opioid epidemic or crisis in the population. In the USA this takes the outlines of a national emergency, because of an increasing number of teens among opioid users.
Opioid Epidemic Impact on Teens - Gloomy Statistics
According to recent studies, most teenage users of opioids in the United States first received them prescribed by a doctor. Also, researches have shown that the highest percentage of teens taking the drugs for a medical cause later continues taking them for “nonmedical” reasons, that is to say, abusing them.
How Are Prescription Opioids Misused?
Documented date and experiences have proved that the greatest number of teens that misuse opioids usually get hold of them from a friend or family member. They generally take them in a way that is not intended, such as taking more than the prescribed dose, taking someone else's prescription or mixing them with alcohol or other drugs.
According to the American Society for Addiction Medicine, there were 276,000 adolescent nonmedical users of pain relievers in 2015. Furthermore, 122,000 teens 12 years and older had an addiction to prescription pain relievers. Opioids are the most frequently abused substances after alcohol and marijuana among American teenagers 12 to 19 years old.
According to the same source, the prescribing rates for opioids among teenagers and young adults almost doubled up from 1994 to 2007. Also, research has shown that girls and boys tend to use prescription drugs for different reasons. While girls usually take them to lose weight or increase performance at school, the boys typically misuse opioids to get high.
What Makes Teens Vulnerable?
What makes our teenagers more than ever prone to drugs abuse? Why is this occurrence taking on an epidemic form? There are some factors involved:
• Pressure
Most kids today are under huge academic performance pressure. They are expected to perform well at school while getting involved in more extracurricular activities than ever. Their parents expect them to get into the best colleges so they can obtain the most desirable jobs. At the same time, teenagers feel tremendous pressure to succeed socially, which doesn't help the overall picture.
• Stress, Anxiety, and Depression
The abovementioned leads to a high amount of stress in a teen's life. Young people who feel that they have failed in social relationships are most likely to feel insecure and anxious. They struggle with self-confidence and tend to feel like a disappointment to their parents if they don't succeed academically.
Research has also shown that today’s generation of teenagers is the most stressed, depressed and anxious generation ever.
• Unhelpful Parents
Parents who don't support their children and don't talk to them often are not helping the situation either. Teenagers need structure. They need rules to follow and positive role models in their parents to learn from. It's a parent's job to set the rules and share advice. Young people need to know what the limits are in any situation, so they are aware of the consequences.
Similarly, parents should be ready to praise and reward their kids appropriately by letting them know that they are loved and appreciated. This will boost their self-esteem and help them overcome possible life challenges constructively and healthily.
Opioids Misuse Impact on Daily Life in Teens
Continued opioid misuse leads to addiction. Some of the physical signs that your teen may be using an opioid include constricted pupils, loss of consciousness, evident euphoria, and noticeable drowsiness.
Equally important, other signs of opioid abuse may consist of dramatically changing moods, social isolation, lack of communication and unexpected financial problems. In the case of opioid withdrawal, the typical symptoms include a headache, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting. Moreover, teenagers may experience fatigue, sweating, anxiety and sleeping problems.
In terms of social implications, opioid abuse may result in social withdrawal and isolation and other social problems. Correspondingly, the failure to fulfill school assignments usually occur.
In addition, opioids have a sedative effect on the part of the brain that regulates breathing, which may cause respiratory failure and death.
Steps Towards Ending the Epidemic
Many teenagers become addicted to opioids unintentionally. They begin using them with a prescription but then develop the physical dependence that starts the opioid addiction.
As part of the urgent answer to the epidemic of deaths caused by opioids overdose, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) established new recommendations for prescribing opioid medications for chronic pain (The CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain, United States, 2016), which is intended to help primary care providers find the safest treatment for their patients.
As for the parents, encouraging the dialogue and open communication with children, plus providing support on a daily basis, is the best recipe for avoiding stumbling into drugs abuse and subsequently, opioid epidemic.
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About the Author: Ty Howard,
Founder, CEO and Editor in Chief of MOTIVATION magazine
Ty Howard is a nationally and internationally renowned success-habits development consultant, youth performance improvement expert, and motivational speaker who can connect with and inspire teens, young adults, and education professionals on all levels. He is the creator and lead facilitator of the trademarked Untie the Knots® Process, and the author of the best-selling book Untie the Knots® That Tie Up Your Life: A Practical Guide to Freeing Yourself from Toxic Habits, Choices, People, and Relationships, as well as dozens of published articles on relationships, healthy habits development, empowerment and peak performance worldwide.
For information on the author click on the following link: Ty Howard.
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