Signs That A Loved One Needs Troubled Youth Treatment

10 August 2021
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Your formative years can determine your failure or fortune depending on your support system. One can intervene and help a young person, thereby helping them get to a better station in life. However, you cannot help someone unless you realize their problem. So, how can you determine if your loved one is troubled or merely going through normal adolescence?

Defiance

Most young people endure the changes in their lives and struggle to adjust to physical and environmental issues. Adolescents challenge authority since they realize that the most authoritative people in their lives may have lied to them or maybe wrong about specific topics. This realization erodes the trust between the adolescent and the adult figure, leading to defiance by the young person. Similarly, the need for independence and the quest for a separated identity may push young people to defy. These habits are regular, but if they elevate to unacceptable and dangerous behavior, they signify that the young person is troubled and needs treatment. 

Substance Use

Did you go through a phase where harmless experimentation with drugs seemed fun? Well, the average young person experiments with medications for several reasons. The adolescent in your family may experiment with drugs to fit in with friends or as a way to seek new experiences. This habit stops once the phase is over but not for troubled youths. Troubled individuals use drugs persistently due to pressure. Athletic and academic pressure can push the young person into consistent drug abuse. Therefore, the troubled youth experiments with a prescription or illegal stimulants to deal with the pressure. Another pattern of drug abuse is where the young person uses drugs to escape depression, anxiety, physical pain, and stress disorders. The final sign of a troubled youth using the drug abuse criteria is experimentation with one's neurochemistry. The pleasure is addictive, and the euphoria that ensues is pleasant for troubled individuals. If you detect any of the above drug use patterns, you should seek treatment for your loved one. 

Poor Physical And Mental Health

Your health announces to the world more details than you think. Therefore, a troubled person will often show signs of mental and physical health problems. For example, mood disorders impair the response of the immune system and trigger allergies such as asthma. It would help to question whether those frequent asthma attacks are regular or signs of deeper issues. Similarly, some behaviors such as indiscriminate sex, consistent drug abuse, and physical violence may cause acute physical illnesses. Some of the habits above may occur once in a while, but you should be ready to respond to their persistence by seeking treatment. 

Sudden Changes in Physical and Academic Performance

Not everyone scores straight A's or comes first in athletics. Everyone is uniquely gifted, but a sudden decline in performance standards is a clear red flag. You might condone the mild defiance or episodes of range but always limit your tolerance to decreased performance. The low performance shows that one problem has peaked or the young person faces numerous issues. Therefore, an intervention is necessary in such a case. 

The availability and cost friendliness of treatments for troubled youths encourage parents and other interested people to seek help for their young loved ones. Troubled young people are defiant and use drugs for reasons beyond mere experimentation. Poor physical or mental health and a decline in academic and physical performance also show that the person needs help.  

Contact a facility like LifeLine For Youth for more information.