Parents should never underestimate the effects of teen substance abuse. There are some who take the situation normally, telling themselves that it’s just a phase that every teen passes through. Most often than not, parents only act against their child’s substance abuse problem when everything is literally too late and treatment becomes a very challenging endeavor.
When an uncontrolled substance abuse situation occurs, it can greatly affect a teen’s behavior. Drugs and other dangerous substances are capable of controlling certain areas of the brain which affects an individual’s motor skills. All important processes and activities in the brain gets messed up, and hormones that regulate pleasure, memory, and learning as well as a teen’s alertness, judgment, attention, and movements get all mixed up leading to behavioral abnormalities.
When a child is under a certain type of drug addiction, there are a lot of consequences he may face, such as the following:
a. A teen could endanger his life by engaging in risky behaviors. Drugs and alcohol can easily alter a person’s disposition, making them the leading causes of fatal vehicular accidents among teen drivers. Teenagers can also become violent and suicidal tendencies come out.
b. He or she may also get into complicated situations, such as having unwanted pregnancies or acquiring sexually-transmitted diseases.
c. A teenager will lose his focus and encounter difficulties in school, which could lead for one to drop out of it.
d. He could get into other types of drug addictions. Chances are he won’t be satisfied with just one drug and he will find something new every now and then. This could mean very dangerous conditions that will destroy his health, or worse, cause mental problems due to brain damage.
e. Legal complications may also arise from his addictions.