HCHY List: Search Institute Press is looking for youropinion--abook on Substance Abuse

[Amy Mckinley -X (amckinle - Husted Communications at Cisco)]

I place children in the US foster care system with adoptive families and
work with a lot of substance and mental health issues. 
 
I'd add to that list the following:
 
1]  advise parents to look closely at their own behaviors and what they
might be modeling - particularly around substance use/abuse
 
2]  be aware that some mental health diagnoses [like ADD, bipolar] are
self-medicated by substance use.  Cocaine or excessive alcohol use can
be a way to achieve balance if a child has severe ADD, for example.  So
be open to the fact that a child could be self-medicating something that
could be better addressed in postive ways by diagnosing the issue,
getting the child in support groups so they can better understand how
their brain works and the positive ways they can modify their behaviors 
 
I'm not advocating for diagnosing kids with things they don't have but
if you have a kid heavily self-medicating, there could be something
going on biologically.  I see parents who are afraid of what it all
means and don't get kids the help they need.  It's hard to be the parent
of a child with mental illness but I think it's harder to look back 20
years later and realize help could have been accessed but wasn't -
particularly if a child commits suicide or does something else drastic
[which does happen].
 
Sorry for the downer ! 

________________________________

From: hchylist-bounces at lists.search-institute.org
[mailto:hchylist-bounces at lists.search-institute.org] On Behalf Of
ROSYPAT at aol.com
Sent: Wednesday, August 12, 2009 9:00 AM
To: Amy Mckinley -X (amckinle - Husted Communications at Cisco)
Cc: hchylist at lists.search-institute.org
Subject: Re: HCHY List: Search Institute Press is looking for
youropinion--abook on Substance Abuse


List Serve Friends,  
I recently had about the same conversation with my friend at the Council
for Alcohol and Drugs here in Houston.  When the question came out, I
was interested in the responses but didn't feel as qualified as my
friend Karen McWhorter to respond.  So I asked her what she thought.  I
would like to share her response.

Here it is. 

I agree with the most recent response - I think parents need to be aware
of ALL of the types of drugs kids are using....and WHY they are using
them. To numb pain, to fit in, stress, etc. While parents need to be
informed of what types of drugs there are out there that kids are using
(especially prescription drugs) the way I see the assets leading
prevention efforts is to link the assets to the information that is out
there and show how - when we build specific ones - they act as
protective factors. It's very clear that the most effective ways to
reduce your teens drug use are to do the following things:
 
1. set boundaries - COMMUNICATE with your kids what  your values are
about their using drugs
2. know where your kids ARE and WHAT they are doing - knowing who their
friends are is HUGE - birds of a feather really do flock together
3. limit access to misused substances (prescription drugs, alcohol,
cigarettes, aerosol sprays, etc.)
4. build a positive relationship with your children - EAT DINNER
TOGETHER!!!
5. get your kids involved in community activities - the less
unstructured, unsupervised time your kids have, the better
 
Those are the top 5. If you do these things, it covers all the
substances. But to be an informed parent of ALL the things that are out
there is extremely important.
 
Does that help?
 
:-) Karen
 

Karen P. McWhorter, LMSW, CPS
Director, Prevention Resources and Services
The Council on Alcohol and Drugs Houston
303 Jackson Hill St.
Houston, Tx 77007
(office) 281-200-9321 ~ (fax) 713-838-9351
www.council-houston.org 
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