This is a sponsored guest post.
Finding that your child is a drug abuser is one of the most painful things for parents. And many parents undergo this pain every day because drug usage is seeping in our society at a tremendous rate. According to a report published by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), 24 million people are using drugs, and the ratio is high in teenagers.
Social issues, environment, and social company play a major role in enticing youngsters to start using drugs, but whatever is the case, the effects of drugs abuse are same: deteriorating health, poor socializing, lost mind, and rotting emotional status. And parents have to witness all this in their drug addict children – painful, right?
This pain can be lessened if parents will identify the symptoms of drug abuse in their children before they become severe addicts. But most of the parents fail to do so.
Here are given the signs which can help you to identify if your child is using drugs:
Physical Changes:
Drug addicts are not like normal people. Yes, you have to admit that drug addicts are not normal and their physical changes are its proof. Drug abuse initiates physical changes:
- They lose sleep and appetite
- Their body starts wilting
- Their eyes seem unfocused and shaky
- There is incoordination in their body movement
- There can also be cases of seizures
Though there can be medical reasons for all these signs, but the important thing is all these signs are not normal. Either they are due to any medical problem or cause of drug use, you should take them seriously and take action accordingly.
Behavioral Changes:
Just like physical changes, drug abusers also undergo severe behavioral changes, and they are easy to identify for parents. You have raised your child, you know your child since childhood, so it is not difficult for parents to identify the behavioral changes.
In case, if you haven’t spent much time with your children, even then it is not difficult to identify the behavioral changes because drug addicts undergo drastic behavioral changes.
- Happy children become angry birds
- Smart children turn in dumpsters
- Friendly children become loners
- Mannered children seem ill-mannered
Another behavioral change which drug addicts show is that they become more secretive. They mostly keep their doors closed, don’t like others to enter their room, don’t give their cell phones to others, and do their laundry by themselves.
Such changes are hard to ignore, and if you are witnessing any such change in your child, then it means you should not ignore such changes.
Emotional Changes:
Along with physical and behavioral changes, emotional changes are also evident in drug addicts. Drugs directly affect the brain, hormonal system, and nervous system, which affect the emotional wellbeing of the drug addicts.
They become emotionally weak and lose control of their actions and emotions. They might start weeping without any reasons, or laugh hysterically and seem sad.
Well, all these reasons can also be due to depression, which is another growing problem in society, but these reasons can also be due to drug usage. In either of the case, parents should not ignore these changes as this situation can end up in serious issues.
Conclusion:
Teenagers are in that phase of life when they are naturally going hormonal, behavioral, and mental changes. The mid-teenage crisis is a thing, and any teenager can undergo through it. So it is hard to predict the mood swings of the teenagers.
But this is still the responsibility of parents to understand their children, spend time with them, and ensure their healthy living. Remember? Prevention is always better than cure!
