Where Can Teens Get Help for Drug Addiction?

If your teen is addicted to illegal drugs or prescription medications, it’s time for them to get help. The longer they abuse drugs, the more permanent damage they’re doing to their bodies. Drug addiction is also likely to push them to do dangerous things and to do and say things that damage their relationships with friends and family. Drug addiction is nothing to take lightly, which is why it’s important to look for a good teenage drug rehab program as soon as you confirm that your teen is an addict.

Find Treatment Options Today

Does Rehab Work for Teens?

The first thing you may be wondering about is whether or not teen drug addiction treatment actually works. You’ve likely heard about people relapsing and needing to go to rehab several times. Doesn’t that mean it’s not always successful?

The problem is that a rehab facility isn’t a one-size-fits-all center. Every rehab does things a little bit differently. They may offer different types of treatment options for substance abuse or approach addiction in a different way. There are rehabs that focus on holistic healing, art therapy, group therapy, and much more. Your teen may go to one type of treatment and relapse, but they may go to a facility offering a different option and do much better.

Another factor that plays a part in how well rehab works is how willing your teen is to get clean. Teens, and any addict, regardless of their age, must want to live a sober life in order for rehab to truly be effective. Those who aren’t fully committed may later jump off the wagon instead of falling off it. Like many things in life, the more a person puts into rehab, the more they will get out of it.

Statistically speaking, anywhere from 40% to 60% of patients will relapse at some point, but that doesn’t mean that they have failed to be sober. Rehab and even relapse are learning tools. Sometimes, it takes a relapse to realize that the way your teen has approached their addiction is wrong. That doesn’t mean rehab failed them. It simply means they need additional help and more tools to combat addiction.

Is It Time for Your Teen to Go to Rehab?

When is it time to start researching teenage drug rehab centers? If you even suspect your teen is abusing drugs, start learning about your options right away. The longer your teen uses drugs, the harder it will be for them to quit and become sober. Drugs can fundamentally change how the brain operates, especially during the teen years when the brain is still developing. The sooner you can get your teen the help they need, the better.

However, again, your teen has to want to be sober. They have to want to go to rehab and get help. If they don’t, rehab isn’t going to be successful. This type of change must come from within. You can’t simply tell your teen to get off drugs. They have to see that it’s their best course of action.

This means you’ll be walking a very fine line in convincing them to get treatment for substance abuse. If you push too hard, they will refuse or will go to rehab, but not actively participate in their treatment. If you don’t push hard enough, they may not think it’s serious and refuse to go. As hard as it will be, this is one area where you need to take the time to research what addiction is and how it affects people. With this research, you can talk to your teen about their addiction. Show them all of the horrible things that can happen to them.

Take the time to listen, too. Your teen didn’t just decide one day to start using cocaine or heroin. There are almost always deeper root causes driving a drug addiction. There may be more at work in your teen’s life than you know about.