Sue Scheff: Stop Medicine Abuse with Teens

I was asked by caring parents and individuals to give people encouraging news.  StopMedicineAbuse  is making a difference in creating awareness in parents and helping open up the lines of communication with their teens and tweens today.

Although almost two-thirds parents have talked to their teens about cough medicine abuse, a large number still have not had this critical conversation. To help alert these parents, many OTC cough medicines will now feature the Stop Medicine Abuse educational icon on the packaging. The icon, which also can be viewed online (see below), is a key reminder for parents that teen medicine abuse is an issue that they need to be aware of.  Here’s what it looks like, so you can keep your eyes peeled:

Look for them on Facebook and join their Fan Club Group to stay updated.

How can you help?

More Parents Talking with Their Teens about Cough Medicine Abuse

Posted by Five Mom, Christy Crandell , on Monday, May 11, 2009

Our efforts to educate parents about medicine abuse have reached thousands of families in the United States. With your help, more parents than ever are learning about this risky teen substance abuse behavior and are talking with their teens. According to the Partnership Attitude Tracking Study, released by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, 65 percent of parents have talked to their teens about the dangers of abusing OTC cold and cough medicine to get high-an 18 percent increase in the number of parents who talked to their teens in 2007.

My fellow Five Moms and I are excited to share this promising news with you, but there is still much work ahead. Although nearly two-thirds of parents have talked with their teens, 35 percent of parents said that they have not had this important conversation.

We know that when parents talk to their teens about the risks of substance abuse, their teens are up to fifty percent less likely to abuse substances. If you have not already talked with your teens about the dangers of cough medicine abuse, visit our talk page for some helpful ideas on how to have this discussion.

It is also critical that we share this information with our friends and communities as well. Too many parents are still unaware that some teens are abusing OTC cough medicine to get high, and it is important that we talk with them about this behavior. By talking with other parents, we can make sure that every family has the knowledge and tools to help keep teens safe and healthy.

Sharing information about cough medicine abuse is easy. It only takes a moment to start a conversation, and thanks to Stop Medicine Abuse, you can Tell-A-Friend through e-mail or post the Stop Medicine Abuse widget to your blog or web site. The more parents are aware of cough medicine abuse, the better we can prevent this behavior from happening in our communities.

Have you talked with other parents about cough medicine abuse? Share your advice about having this conversation at the Stop Medicine Abuse Fan page

 

Sue Scheff: Teen Help Programs

Are you a parent at your wit’s end?  Learn from my mistakes and all that I have learned over almost a decade of researching this very daunting industry of “teen help.”

It has been almost 10 years since I made the horrible mistake of choosing Carolina Springs Academy  for my daughter who was struggling. Good kid making some not so good choices? I felt she needed some sort of program to help her through her struggles – and sadly what we received was anything but help.

In the past 9+ years – I have successfully defeated WWASPS/Carolina Springs Academy through a jury trial as well as continuing to be a voice for parents that are at their wit’s end. I also won the landmark case ($11.3M Jury Verdict for Damages) for Internet Defamation and Invasion of Privacy done to my by a former WWASPS parent that defamed me online. Read more about that in my upcoming book.

If you are considering a Teen Help Program – take your time, do your homework – learn from my mistakes and gain from my knowledge.

Read Wit’s End  and hear my daughter’s firsthand experiences. This is my first book published by Health Communications, Inc. (HCI) – the original home of Chicken Soup for the Soul.

Don’t be a parent in denial – don’t be afraid to give your teen a second chance at a bright future – there are many good programs, just take your time and do your research.

Learn more at http://www.helpyourteens.com/.

 

Sue Scheff: The Choking Game and Teenagers

The Choking Game – a teen thing?  What is the Choking Game?  It is definitely not a game any parent want to learn about the hard way.  Learn more now about this horrific game through G.A.S.P. (Games Adolescents Shouldn’t Play).

I received an email from a mother that almost lost her son to this game.  She is now part of an advocacy group to help inform and educate others about this choking game.  She understands she almost lost her son, as a matter of fact, she thought she had.  Miraculously, her son survived after several days in a coma following this incident.  As a parent advocate, I always encourage others to share their stories, mistakes, experiences etc in an effort to help others.  This is one of the many parents that is hoping you will learn from her firsthand experiences.

Source: G.A.S.P.

It’s not a game at all—just an act of suffocating on purpose.

Adolescents cut off the flow of blood to the brain, in exchange for a few seconds of feeling lightheaded. Some strangle themselves with a belt, a rope or their bare hands; others push on their chest or hyperventilate.

When they release the pressure, blood that was blocked up floods the brain all at once. This sets off a warm and fuzzy feeling, which is just the brain dying, thousands of cells at a time.

From this parent:

Holding my son, as he took his first breath of life, for the second time took my breath away.  He got a second chance to make a better choice.  What I witnessed defies logic and reason.  I made a choice to quit trying to understand, and instead pour my passionate gratitude for his life into advocacy work –  to be a ripple in the wave of some much needed change. Stopping this behavior only starts with awareness.  Ed4Ed is a program of education for educators.  I consider all who possess knowledge, all upon acquiring it who connect with youth,  care for and/or guide them, are then in turn ambassadors of that truth – incumbent educators. 
 
When I am personally presenting from the materials of the program, I conclude by passing that torch to those with whom I speak.  This deadly activity, masquerading as a “game” is an international problem, with a simple solution, educate!  Give our kids the facts and they’ll make a better choice.  Once he became aware of what had happened, Levi just shook his head and said “I didn’t know, Mom.  People pass out all the time.  I didn’t know.”  Not one boy in the 500 that attended his boarding school knew the facts.  They studied physics, science, biology and anatomy.  None thought of it as anything more than a parlor trick, something new to try, not drugs, not alcohol – just a game.  When we know better, we do better.  When they know better, they will too.

 

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Sue Scheff: Teen Drinking and Binge Drinking

Source: Connect with Kids

Drinking Roommate

“It’s about toughening up and getting coping strategies to deal with the temptations and the problems with roommates.”

– John Lochridge, M.D., Psychiatrist

College freshman Max Bluestein has three roommates. Each spends their time very differently. “One doesn’t drink at all, one drinks a little bit and one drinks a lot,” he says.

And the one who drinks a lot is often coaxing him to skip his studies, and go out. “It’s a lot of peer pressure just to go out a lot,” explains Bluestein.

A study of more than 30,000 college freshman finds that 35 percent of students report spending more time drinking (ten hours a week) than they do studying (just eight hours).

And many say the problem is made worse by a roommate who drinks.

“When somebody’s having fun you don’t want to be sitting there reading and what not,” says freshman Parham Savadkoohi.

“Your mind will be focused on drinking,” says Sophomore Nikki Lee.

“And I know I have a paper due or something I might go and hang out for a little while.  It is kind of hard,” says freshman Kristen Collier.

Experts say the problem of underage drinking in college needs to be solved long before college.  In high school, parents need to allow kids just enough room to make small mistakes, followed by consequences.

“And if they make other mistakes they get consequences, and through the consequences they learn about decision and then when they get off to college, they’ve had experience at both decision making and consequences, and are perhaps better able to handle these things on their own in college,” explains psychiatrist, Dr. John Lochridge.

“I know what my priorities are, I’ll get my work done though… it is hard,” says Collier.

Tips for Parents

Research defines binge drinking as having five or more drinks in a row. Reasons adolescents give for binge drinking include: to get drunk, the status associated with drinking, the culture of drinking on campus, peer pressure and academic stress. Binge drinkers are 21 times more likely to: miss class, fall behind in schoolwork, damage property, injure themselves, engage in unplanned and/or unprotected sex, get in trouble with the police, and drink and drive.

Young people who binge drink could be risking serious damage to their brains now and increasing memory loss later in adulthood. Adolescents may be even more vulnerable to brain damage from excessive drinking than older drinkers. Consider the following:

• The average girl takes her first sip of alcohol at age 13. The average boy takes his first sip of alcohol at age 11.
• Underage drinking causes over $53 billion in criminal, social and health problems.
• Seventy-seven percent of young drinkers get their liquor at home, with or without permission.
• Students who are binge drinkers in high school are three times more likely to binge drink in college.
• Nearly 25 percent of college students report frequent binge drinking, that is, they binged three or more times in a two-week period.
• Autopsies show that patients with a history of chronic alcohol abuse have smaller, less massive and more shrunken brains.
• Alcohol abstinence can lead to functional and structural recovery of alcohol-damaged brains.

Alcohol is America’s biggest drug problem. Make sure your child understands that alcohol is a drug and that it can kill him/her. Binge drinking is far more pervasive and dangerous than boutique pills and other illicit substances in the news. About 1,400 students will die of alcohol-related causes this year. An additional 500,000 will suffer injuries.

A study by the Harvard School of Public Health showed that 51 percent of male college students and 40 percent of female college students engaged in binge drinking in the previous two weeks. Half of these drinkers binged frequently (more than three times per week). College students who binge drink report:

• Interruptions in sleep or study habits (71 percent).
• Caring for an intoxicated student (57 percent).
• Being insulted or humiliated (36 percent).
• An unwanted sexual experience (23 percent).
• A serious argument (23 percent).
• Damaging property (16 percent).
• Being pushed, hit or assaulted (11 percent).
• Being the victim of a sexual advance assault or date rape (1 percent).

Students must arrive on college campuses with the ability to resist peer pressure and knowing how to say no to alcohol. For many youngsters away from home for the first time, it is difficult to find the courage to resist peer pressure and the strength to answer peer pressure with resounding no. Parents should foster such ability in their child’s early years and nurture it throughout adolescence. Today’s youth needs constant care from parents and community support to make the best decisions for their wellbeing.

References

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Harvard School of Public Health
• National Youth Violence Prevention Center

 

Parents Universal Resource Experts – Sue Scheff – TEENSHEALTH

TEENSHEALTH answers and advice for parents of teens. Learn more about teen drug use, substance abuse, bullying, cyberbullying, peer pressure, sex education and more!

This comprehensive website offers parents valuable tips on parenting teens today.

 

Sue Scheff: ADHD and ODD – Parenting the Defiant Teen

As a mom of an ADHD son, I remember the adolescent years – they were not always the easiest.  ADDitude Magazine has some great parenting tips, ideas and answers to help parents today.  Years ago I don’t recall as much information was available to us. 

Source: ADDitude Magazine

ADHD behavior issues often partner with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) — making discipline a challenge. Try these strategies for parents of ADD kids.

Every parent of a child with attention deficit disorder knows what it’s like to deal with ADHD behavior problems — sometimes a child lashes out or refuses to comply with even the most benign request. But about half of all parents who have children with live with severe behavior problems and discipline challenges on an almost daily basis.

That’s because 40 percent of children with ADHD also develop oppositional defiant disorder, a condition marked by chronic aggression, frequent outbursts, and a tendency to argue, ignore requests, and engage in intentionally annoying behavior.

How bad can it get? Consider these real-life children diagnosed with both ADHD and ODD:

• A 4-year-old who gleefully annoys her parents by blasting the TV at top volume as soon she wakes up.

• A 7-year-old who shouts “No” to every request and who showers his parents with verbal abuse.

• An 11-year-old who punches a hole in the wall and then physically assaults his mother.

“I call them tiny terrors,” says Douglas Riley, Ph.D., author of The Defiant Child and a child psychologist in Newport News, Virginia. “These children are most comfortable when they’re in the middle of a conflict. As soon as you begin arguing with them, you’re on their turf. They keep throwing out the bait, and their parents keep taking it — until finally the parents end up with the kid in family therapy, wondering where they’ve gone wrong.”

The strain of dealing with an oppositional child affects the entire family. The toll on the marital relationship can be especially severe. In part, this is because friends and relatives tend to blame the behavior on ‘bad parenting.’ Inconsistent discipline may play a role in the development of ODD, but is rarely the sole cause. The unfortunate reality is that discipline strategies that work with normal children simply don’t work with ODD kids.

Fortunately, psychologists have developed effective behavior therapy for reining in even the most defiant child. It’s not always easy, but it can be done — typically with the help of specialized psychotherapy.

Looking for links

No one knows why so many kids with ADHD exhibit oppositional behavior. In many cases, however, oppositional behavior seems to be a manifestation of ADHD-related impulsivity.

“Many ADHD kids who are diagnosed with ODD are really showing oppositional characteristics by default,” says Houston-based child psychologist Carol Brady, Ph.D. “They misbehave not because they’re intentionally oppositional, but because they can’t control their impulses.”

Another view is that oppositional behavior is simply a way for kids to cope with the frustration and emotional pain associated with having ADHD.

“When under stress — whether it’s because they have ADHD or their parents are getting divorced — a certain percentage of kids externalize the anxiety and depression they’re feeling,” says Larry Silver, M.D., a psychiatrist at Georgetown University Medical School in Washington, D.C. “Everything becomes everyone else’s fault, and the child doesn’t take responsibility for anything that goes wrong.”

Riley agrees. “Children with ADHD know from a young age that they’re different from other kids,” he says. “They see themselves as getting in more trouble, and in some cases may have more difficulty mastering academic work — often despite an above-average intellect. So instead of feeling stupid, their defense is to feel cool. They hone their oppositional attitude.”

About half of all preschoolers diagnosed with ODD outgrow the problem by age 8. Older kids with ODD are less likely to outgrow it. And left untreated, oppositional behavior can evolve into conduct disorder, an even more serious behavioral problem marked by physical violence, stealing, running away from home, fire-setting, and other highly destructive and often illegal behaviors.

Getting treatment

Any child with ADHD who exhibits signs of oppositional behavior needs appropriate treatment. The first step is to make sure that the child’s ADHD is under control. “Since oppositional behavior is often related to stress,” says Silver, “you have to address the source of the stress — the ADHD symptoms — before turning to behavioral issues.”

Says Riley, “If a kid is so impulsive or distracted that he can’t focus on the therapies we use to treat oppositional behavior,” he says, “he isn’t going to get very far. And for many ADHD kids with oppositional behavior, the stimulant medications are a kind of miracle. A lot of the bad behavior simply drops off.”

But ADHD medication is seldom all that’s needed to control oppositional behavior. If a child exhibits only mild or infrequent oppositional behavior, do-it-yourself behavior-modification techniques (see Getting Your Child to Behave) may well do the trick. But if the oppositional behavior is severe enough to disrupt life at home or school, it’s best to consult a family therapist trained in childhood behavioral problems.

Continue reading this article…

 

Sue Scheff Parenting Teens – Inhalant Abuse

As the new year has started, parents need to become more educated and informed about today’s teens and the issues they face.

Many parents know about substance abuse, and teach our kids to say no to drugs – but do you know about Inhalants? Ordinary household items that can be lethal to teens looking for a quick and inexpensive high? More importantly, sometimes deadly high.

 

Parent learn more about Inhalant Abuse.

 

Here is a great “talking tips” page from The Alliance for Consumer Education (ACE) – take the time to learn more today. You could save a child’s life.

 

Sue Scheff: Teens and Eating Disorders

As the holidays are here, parents should be aware of their teens and tweens concerns with body image.  Today’s peer pressure compounded with Internet Images of what a teen should look like, can add stress and frustration to a young teen (both girls and boys). 

Eating Disorders can sometimes be hard to recognize.  As a parent, it is important to be informed and know the warning signs.

Here is a great article from Connect with Kids  from this week’s parenting articles and tips:

“I would never want to look at one. I think that would be really depressing to tell you the truth.”

– Mary Hardin, 14 years old

What Mary doesn’t want to see, to millions others is just a few key words and mouse clicks away.

“Who’s the skinniest and how can they stay the skinniest (or) here’s how you can have only one thing to eat all day or how you can survive on water and gum,” explains Bryna Livingston, a licensed clinical social worker who specializes in eating disorders.

Livingston is referring to pro-anorexia websites – where girls are applauded for losing weight and surviving hunger – that are emerging on the Internet. On many such sites, anorexics journal thoughts and feelings and even post pictures of their thin celebrity idols.

“It’s a pseudo-support group, and the problem is you’re not really getting support,” says Livingston. “You’re feeding a competition. You’re feeding a disease, and you’re feeding what you want to hear so you don’t have to make any changes.”

For Mary Hardin, change was hard. She struggled with anorexia for three years. These websites, she says, spell danger. “I think (the websites) could have really made me worse and (made me) fall more into my eating disorder and encouraged me more,” she says. “That’s the last thing I needed was to be encouraged to be in an eating disorder.”

Experts say parents of anorexics have to show tough love, especially if their child is being enticed by these Internet sites. “I’d turn off the computer. I’d get it out of the house,” says Livingston.

Mary’s advice: “Listen to who you trust. Do you trust your family and your friends, or do you trust these people (on the Internet) that you don’t even know that are trying to give you lessons about your life?”

Luckily, Mary avoided the lure of anorexia websites when she was struggling with her illness. After years of therapy and family support, she says she is now healed. “It is possible to recover and to be a healthy girl with a happy life after it all,” she says. “There is hope to get through it.”

Tips for Parents

Many dangerous places exist in cyberspace, especially for those with body image difficulties. A quick, easy Google search can produce a long list of pro-anorexia and pro-bulimia websites – places where those who suffer from eating disorders (ED) support each other and establish a sense of community. There are at least 100 active pro-anorexia and pro-bulimia sites. Some statistics state that several of these sites have accumulated tens of thousands of hits. Many sites treat eating disorders as lifestyle choices, rather than the illnesses they truly are. Most personify anorexia (“Ana”) and bulimia (“Mia”) into companions – individuals one can look to for guidance and strength.

The medical community classifies eating disorders as mental illnesses. Experts say girls with eating disorders focus on their bodies in a misguided bid to resolve deeper psychological issues, believing that they can fix their inner troubles by achieving a perfect outside. Eating disorder specialists say pro-anorexia sites are particularly dangerous since those suffering from the disease are usually in deep denial and cling to the illness to avoid dealing with its psychological underpinnings. Websites that glorify eating disorders make treatment increasingly difficult.

• Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness.
• There are an estimated 7 million females and 1 million males suffering from eating disorders in the United States.
• The Harvard Eating Disorders Center estimates that 3 percent of adolescent women and girls have anorexia, bulimia or binge-eating disorders.
• Four-of-five 13-year-old girls have attempted to lose weight.
• One study showed that 42 percent of first- through third-grade girls want to be thinner.

About 1 percent of females between 10 and 20 have anorexia nervosa. Between 2 percent and 3 percent of young women develop bulimia nervosa. Almost half of all anorexics will develop bulimia or bulimic patterns.
Without treatment, up to 20 percent of people with serious eating disorders die. With treatment, the mortality rate falls to 2 to 3 percent. The recovery rate with treatment is about 60 percent. Alas, only 10 percent of those with eating disorders receive treatment.

Pro-ED sites are just one reason why parents need to monitor children’s online behavior. In the web journals or logs (blogs) of these sites, users share near-starvation diets, offer tips for coping with hunger and detail ways to avoid the suspicions of family members. They post “thinspiration” – images from the media of their ideal celebrities, such as supermodel Kate Moss and the Olsen twins. They discuss extreme calorie restriction and weight loss through laxatives, diet pills and purging (self-induced vomiting).

• Between the ages of 8 and 14, females naturally gain at least 40 pounds.
• More than half of teenage girls are – or think they should be – on diets.
• Websites were changing the very culture surrounding eating disorders, making them more acceptable to girls on and off the Internet.
• Pro-ED sites thrive off the denial aspect of the illnesses while promoting the perceived benefits of having an eating disorder.

References

• Anorexia Nervosa and Related Eating Disorders, Inc.
• Harvard Eating Disorders Center
• The National Institute of Mental Health
• Reuters
• Socialist Voice of Women
• South Carolina Department of Mental Health

I also recommend you visit a survivor of Eating Disorders, Lori Hanson’s website at www.lori-hanson.com and check out her book, It All Started with Pop-Tarts.

 

Sue Scheff: Parenting Websites, Parenting Tips, Parenting Blogs and More

Parenting Blogs – Parenting Articles – Parenting Websites – Parent Advice – Parenting Tips and more!

When you visit www.suescheffbooks.blogspot.com  I keep an up-to-date listing of books, websites, blogs and other parenting information to help you help your child. Today’s generation of adolescents has become more challenging for parents. Be an educated parent – stay informed and learn more about today’s peer pressures.

 

Sue Scheff: Inhalant Abuse Information By New England Inhalant Abuse Prevention Coalition

Inhalant Information

Click on the links below for more information about inhalant abuse, prevention, and treatment.

Prevention Videos
Prevention Information
Treatment Information
Inhalant Web Sites

Our Prevention Approach Inhalants, more than any other drug, are readily available to children, and can be deadly on first use. Therefore, to do no harm, inhalant prevention messages for children should not teach them what products can be abused, how to abuse inhalants, or what their euphoric effects are. We do not want to engage their curiosity.

Today’s prevailing expert consensus about best practices recommends disconnecting inhalant abuse prevention from substance abuse prevention for children who do not already know about inhalants. Instead, education about inhalants should stress their poisonous, toxic, polluting, combustible and explosive nature and should emphasize product safety. When targeting young children who have had little or no exposure to the nature of inhalants, there is no reason to make the association for them, thereby giving them an easily accessible way to get high. When children already know about inhalants as a drug, we still teach about it as we would for a naïve child, but may add a substance abuse component. The materials in this section follow this approach.

www.inhalant.org

www.helpyourteens.com

www.inhalantprevention.org