Advice from Parents of Teen Drug Addicts
By the time their teen has entered treatment for their drug addiction, most parents have been through some really horrible and trying times. Most parents worry about grades, or car, or college choices , but a parent of an addict constantly will worry if their child will even live long enough to be able to drive.
What did I do wrong? What could I have done differently? Although every situation is different, counselors have spoken with so many parents over time that they have learned some of the answers to many of the questions parents of addicts have.
“I tried to believe the things he would tell me” is a common thing heard from parents. Addicts often lie about many things, even small, trivial things. An example from one father was, “I would ask her, ‘Did you take the trash out?’ and she would even lie about that. ‘Did you clean your room?’ and she would lie to me again. ‘Who are you spending the night with?’ and she’d lie. ‘Are you using drugs again?’ and she would lie. I’m not an ignorant person, but she is my little girl, and I wanted to believe her.”
Parents reach a certain point where they can't handle it anymore. They will stop letting their kids run over them and they will assume the role, once again, of parent. This is when true healing begins.
“I should have had more rules and been more strict on him.” Parents will often regret not helping their teen make choices regarding sexual encounters, or drinking at parties. They may not have realized that their child was facing a totally different, more dangerous culture than the one of their own youths. They believed in giving children freedom and choices. Now they wish that they had given their child more guidance and information about the dangers of drug use. They wish they had implemented more rules and curfews.
If the parents are divorced, then they will often believe the divorce caused their teenager's drug problem. “She didn't have her mom at her school play” or “He did not have Dad to watch his football games” are some of the situations brought up to counselors during therapy.
“I didn't spend enough time with him when he was growing up.” Many parents feel that their job, or adult friendships took up too much time away from their children and this is what may have contributed to the teen's drug abuse. They regret that they were too busy to notice what was happening to their child.
“We let our child’s situation become desperate.” Parents of addicted teens, will often regret that they let the situation get out of control for fear of upsetting their child and making them either leave or rn away. By not taking control of the situation, this caused the child to get more out of control.
Parents of addicted teens all have different stories to tell. They all love their children very much and know what is it like to go through it. If your child is in need of substance abuse treatment, please contact us 1-800-513-5423 http://drugrehabservices.com/
