Following is an excerpt from the latest installment in a series in Georgia’s Newnan Times-Herald. Clay Neely examines the “Psychology Of Addiction In The Family,” hitting on some points of special interest to the Cleveland area. Ohio is in the midst of a heroin epidemic. The underlying issues are varied, but the indications that your child is on the way to addiction might be less so. If you’re in the Cleveland area and you suspect that your child is using drugs or addicted to drugs, contact us today.
“When we talk about the growing number of teenagers using hard drugs, it all comes back to that initial willingness to take an unknown substance from a stranger or so-called friend,” (Natasha) Ryles said. “Smoke this, drink this – they don’t ask questions. They just want to fit in.”
In Ryles’ adolescent unit, she has spent time talking to many teenage patients who were given something and didn’t bother to ask what it was. When asked why they would ingest a substance from someone they barely know, their response was, “I thought it would be fun.”
“These kids simply aren’t aware of the end result – they just do not possess that awareness at this point in their lives,” Ryles said. “It’s always ‘this can’t happen to me,’ because at that age, they feel superhuman. When that feeling is combined with a need for acceptance, it can be very rough.”
Ryles also agrees that the rise of heroin abuse in suburban communities is a byproduct of the efforts by authorities to crack down on prescription pills. While law enforcement, emergency rooms and doctors are cracking down on the problem of prescription drug abuse, the availability, price and supply of heroin is the most common substitute.