Teen drug abuse and pain management can happen after teen’s are prescribed opioid pain medications for acute pain. Perhaps the teen had a fracture or serious dental work completed and were prescribed opioids for pain. When the time comes for the teen patient to stop using opioids, sometimes they don’t! It takes less than a week for an individual on opioids to become addicted to them.

Parents Need to Be Aware

If you have a son or daughter living in your home who are in their teen years, you must watch for signs of drug abuse.  We are in the middle of the worst drug epidemic in our nation’s history, and our children are dying at a rapid rate every few minutes of every hour of every day of every week of every month.  If your teen is using or abusing drugs, the signs will be so drastic; it will be as if there is a stranger living in your house. Once your child starts to use drugs, everything changes, the little boy or girl that you once knew, will never be quite the same again.

Acting Differently

You will notice that they act very different, they hang around with various friends, they become very secretive, they will act strangely, have all kinds of issues at school, relationships, at home, at work if they have a job, priorities will chance, appearance will chance, sleep habits, and much more. Below are some signs to watch for, if you see many of these issues happening in your home with your teen, you will want to contact professional help as soon as possible.

Teen Drug Abuse and Pain Management

Parents will notice some behavioral changes in addicted teens:

• Change in relationships at home and friends Loss of inhibitions.
• Mood changes, drastic swings Loud and obnoxious behavior Laughing for no reason Unusually clumsy, off balance Withdrawn, depressed.
• More tired than usual.
• Not communicating, silent Hostile, Secretive, Full of excuses.
• Talking rapid fire or slowly, slurred speech Lethargic, abnormal sleep patterns, can’t focus.

Help for Opioid Addiction

Should you see these signs happening with your teenager, there are professional addiction recovery coaches, family recovery coaches, interventionists, counselors, therapists, detoxification facilities, residential treatment facilities, outpatient programs, support groups, halfway houses, and many other forms of support for you and your family.Teen drug abuse and pain management are a very important issue for both doctors and parents to be aware of.