Dual Diagnosis and Teen Addiction

Dual diagnosis defines a person who has both an alcohol and drug problem and who has emotional and psychiatric problems either as a result of the addiction or has been medicating existing psychiatric problems with drugs and alcohol to escape from the misery of them.
According to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association thirty-seven percent of alcohol abusers and fifty-three percent of drug abusers have at least one serious mental illness. This means that if your teen is a schizophrenic or has ADD he or she is more likely to be a drug or alcohol abuser.
There are all kinds of different psychiatric problems that are thought to occur in tandem with drug or alcohol dependency. These include:
• Anxiety disorders like panic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and phobias
• Depressive disorders like depression and bipolar disorder
• Other psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia and personality disorders
According to a study conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health study, f you have anti-social personality disorder you are 15.5% more likely to abuse a drug or alcohol. If you are a manic depressive you are 14.5 percent more likely to abuse it during a manic episode. Following that the person with schizophrenia is most likely to abuse alcohol or drugs at 10.1 percent.
In general dual diagnosis experts do seem to agree that recreational drinking and drug use may be an attempt on the part of the addict to try and medicate a preexisting psychiatric problem. Both drugs and alcohol can help release inhibitions, help a person feel more relaxed and confident and also help bury feelings of panic, nervousness or low self-consciousness.
To take care of a person with a dual diagnosis, treatment often entails figuring out what the primary condition is. Sometimes it is the substance abuse problem that is the fueling disorder and sometimes it is the psychiatric disorder. At any rate medication and a long stay in a rehab is often prescribed to get to the bottom of what is really triggering the dual diagnosis.
The upsetting thing about having to treat a teen with this is that often even more drugs are used to treat a drug addiction. It can be very difficult to find exactly the right drug to solve the problem. It is like finding the key to the absolutely right door to find what will restore the balance in your child's brain.

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Recovery for Teens On Ecstacy

Ecstasy is also known as the 'love drug' or 'thrill pill' but in reality it is a potentially lethal chemical compound that can create a drug addict. It is sold in powder, tablet or capsule form and can be inhaled, injected or swallowed. Unfortunately it is one of those drugs that teens tend to do most often.
It is also called 'E', 'X' and 'XTC'. Doctors and researchers refer to it as MDMA or N-methyl-3, 4-methylenedioxyamphet-amine. DMA itself is a member of a chemical family known as phenethylamines. It is chemically related to speed and the hallucinogen mescalin. The drug has actually been around since 1914 but it got its reputation as the 'love drug' in the seventies.
Ecstasy is said to boost insight, lower inhibitions and increase communications. On the other hand it is thought to deplete the brain of the neurotransmitter serotonin and damage the brain stem. It is the depletion of serotonin that creates the drug addict as she or he will do more and more 'E' to try and recapture a high they are no longer capable of feeling.
The drug starts acting within half an hour and the effects last up to six hours. Side effects are dilated pupils, dry mouth, and nervousness and muscle tension. However the most dangerous effect is disorientation and dissociation which can lead to taking other kinds of pills and drugs in order for the person to try and calm down.
Long term use has been shown to cause drug-addict related memory loss and learning problems. Attention deficit disorder, bi-polar mania and depression are also linked to XTC addiction.
If your teen does become addicted to this drug it is not the end of the world. Recovery from Ecstasy often requires a great deal of psychiatric or psychological counseling as it tends to only really be identified with the drug addict who is immature or toxic emotionally. The drug addict on ecstasy gets hooked because they are never able to find a way to feel good again thanks to the brain damage done by the drug. As a result, the drug addict that is unfortunate enough to be damaged by ecstasy often needs to be treated with several drug cocktails, including anti-depressants; it is best that this treatment take place in a rehab where the person can be observed as the recovering addict is more prone to suicidal depression in this case.

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