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THE SJ CHILDS SHOW
Looking for an inspiring podcast on education and parenting? Check out "The SJ Childs Show," ranked in the top 10% of podcasts globally. It covers diverse topics, including neurodiversity and inclusion, featuring interviews with experts and thought-provoking discussions. This show aims to challenge your beliefs and enhance your skills as a parent, educator, and global citizen. Tune in for unique insights and perspectives!
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THE SJ CHILDS SHOW
Episode 285- Protecting Teens Post-Pandemic: Fentanyl Risks, Parental Guidance, and Mental Health Support with Richard Capriola
Are you aware of the hidden dangers that could be lurking in your teenager's life post-pandemic? Tune in to this eye-opening episode of the SJ Child Show, where we welcome back our esteemed guest, Richard, a seasoned expert in education and mental health with a wealth of experience from the Menninger Clinic. We'll uncover the alarming rise of fentanyl and explore how parents can stay vigilant and informed about the substances their children might encounter today. Richard's insights will help demystify the decrease in substance abuse during the pandemic and the essential role of parental education in safeguarding our youth.
We'll also delve into the often-overlooked vulnerabilities that teenagers face during their middle and high school years. Richard shares a compelling neuroscience-based approach to educating kids about brain development and the consequences of substance use. By fostering a deeper understanding of how their brains work, teens can make more informed decisions about their health and behavior. This segment is designed to equip parents with the tools they need to observe changes in their children's behavior without judgment, creating an open dialogue about these critical issues.
Finally, we offer practical guidance for parents grappling with concerns about their child's mental health or potential substance abuse. Richard highlights the importance of psychological assessments to identify underlying problems and discusses a range of treatment options from outpatient to residential programs. We'll also address the critical need for parental support systems, especially for single parents, and provide actionable advice on creating a supportive home environment. From the dangers of fentanyl to the significance of addressing vaping, this episode is a comprehensive resource for any parent navigating these challenging waters.
Welcome to the SJ Child Show, where a little bit of knowledge can turn fear into understanding.
Speaker 1:Enjoy the show.
Speaker 2:Okay, I think we're live in all the places we should be. Hello and welcome to the SJ Child Show. It is so nice to be here. Hopefully, everyone looks like we are having one little issue on Facebook, but we're on Instagram and YouTube, so we'll just go with that book. But we're on Instagram and YouTube, so we'll just go with that. So great to have you here today. Thank you so much again for joining me. This is, you know, maybe our third or fourth time together and you've been a fantastic expert to have back on the show time and time again, because you have really great information that we need now to help our teens especially. So, yeah, how are you doing? Tell me what's been new and exciting for you, anything?
Speaker 1:Well, sarah, thank you for inviting me back to the program. It's always nice to have an opportunity to chat with you and to talk about this important topic of adolescent substance abuse. You know, I've been out there promoting my book and talking to people like yourself that have audiences that might be interested in this topic. I really believe that knowledge is power, so the more information that we can share with parents and others about this important topic, then perhaps we'll be able to help people not be so afraid of it. That's really my goal is to empower people with the information to help them feel more prepared and a little bit more confident about this topic.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it's a big one. I mean teen substance abuse and fentanyl we're going to talk about today too, which I don't really know a lot about. So I'm glad we'll touch on some subjects that I can learn more about myself and help my you know early preteen and teenagers kind of understand more as well. I think when I told my teenager this morning that I was doing this, she kind of looked at me like really I said, yeah, so we'll have things to talk about later when we're done. And yeah, for anyone that is joining us, if you want to jump over and say hello, let us know where you're listening or watching from. And also, please, if you have any comments or questions throughout the live, please go ahead and leave them in the comments as well. And, of course, after the show. If you're watching it afterwards and you have questions or comments, leave them and or reach out to either myself or Richard, and we'd be happy to get that, you know, answer questions for you or whatever it might be.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Let's start with a introduction, a kind of about yourself, and then we'll go from there. For people that might be new listeners or didn't know that you had been on the show a bunch of times previously, okay, All right.
Speaker 1:Well, I actually started out in education, working at a state-level administrative job in Illinois, and I worked there for around 30-some years and then I retired from that area and started to work at a mental health crisis center and then, from there, moved on to accept a job at Menninger Clinic in Houston, texas, which is a large psychiatric hospital that serves both adolescents and adults diagnosed with mental health and substance abuse disorders. I was hired as an addictions counselor at Menninger Clinic. I worked on the adolescent treatment unit and the adult comprehensive psychiatric and stabilization unit, where I saw adults, and I worked for Menninger for a little over a decade. And then I retired from Menninger and that's when I set about to write my book the Addicted Child A Parent's Guide to Adolescent Substance Abuse.
Speaker 1:And I wrote the book because so many times I would sit across from parents and I would go over their child's history of using a substance and when I finished they would look at me and they would say I had no idea that this was going on. Or they might say I sort of suspected something was going on, but I didn't think it was this bad. And these are good parents. They were doing the best they could. They missed the warning signs because nobody told them what to look for. So that was the motivation to write my book was to help parents know the warning signs, to know what to look for, what assessments they should get done if they think their child is using a substance.
Speaker 1:A little bit about the street drugs that are out there. You know parents know about alcohol and marijuana, but they may not know about some of these other drugs that kids have access to. And then I wanted to include assessments that you might want to get done if you suspect your child is using a substance. What are the treatment options? And if your child has a treatment plan that is recommending a residential placement, how do you recognize what we know as an evidence-based treatment plan and what questions should you ask a potential treatment program? So I packed all those into a book that's about 100 pages, and my plan was hopefully to help people be better informed and better prepared to deal with this issue in the event that they have to. We hope they don't, but if they do, we hope they feel a little bit more confident and prepared.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and that's the best thing we can do as parents is be a little bit more prepared and oftentimes, like you said, there's so many things that are new or maybe weren't around when we were kids and now there's, you know, new things that are available to youth out there, and we need to stay diligent as parents to do our due diligence, basically in going out there and finding out the information, talking to our kids what are, what is maybe? Um, where should we start? Let's see. Let's talk about the last time you were on. We talked about how the pandemic had decreased numbers in a lot of areas.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:How does that look now? Let's start there, and then we can kind of go into greater details about things.
Speaker 1:Yes, absolutely. You know, we did notice that the data that came out of the pandemic year showed that adolescent substance abuse across the board was significantly reduced. And that made sense when you looked at it, because you know, kids were pulled away from their normal environments. Many of them were no longer attending school, they were being homeschooled, they were taking classes online, they weren't participating in extracurricular activities and they weren't having as much time with their peers. So we saw across the board that adolescent substance abuse significantly declined during that year of the pandemic.
Speaker 1:Now, what happened since the pandemic? We now have research that shows that there has been a slight rebound in adolescent substance abuse since the pandemic. The numbers have come up slightly. They're not as high as they were before the pandemic, but they are moving back up. So we'll have to keep a close eye on it to see if these percentages of adolescent substance abuse, if they get back to where they were before the pandemic. We hope they don't, but we need to keep a close eye on it because it does seem to be trending up on some of these substances.
Speaker 2:And what do you think? This might be kind of a general, but what is the most impacted age group?
Speaker 1:You know there is no totally protected age group. You know I've seen some kids get involved with inhalants, for example, at very young ages. That's typically when we see inhalant uses pre-teenage years. Fortunately, the numbers are not very high with that. I think the most vulnerable period of time is during the teenage years, especially the middle school years and the high school years. I think those are the more vulnerable periods of time and that's a period of time that I think is a challenge for any teenager and also it's a challenge for parents too. But I think if we were looking at a vulnerable period of time, it would be the years from middle school through high school.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and you know that's such a hard, like you said, a hard time for parents because we're really and kids, they're really wanting their autonomy, they want to learn their independence. You have to let them have independence to be able to learn how to be independent and I think that a lot of us, as parents, struggle with knowing where the boundaries lie with those types of letting goes, you know, and knowing maybe, what are their circles of friends that they're hanging out, what type of environments are they going with their friends? Probably some good things to think about when, especially now that school is out and summer is just starting, and summer is just starting, what's kind of a good something for parents to look out for now that school's out and teens are on the loose?
Speaker 1:Well, I think in general, you just want to pay attention to any changes that you notice in your child. You know your child better than anyone, so you know, pay attention to any type of changes that you see, any type of behavioral changes, any type of routine changes that seem out of the ordinary. You know these can be simple signs like a child's behavior has become dramatically different. Perhaps the peers that they're hanging around with have changed, or they become very secretive about who they're hanging around with and very secretive about what they've been doing. So you want to pay attention to any changes that you notice in your child and be a little curious as to why those changes that you're seeing are occurring. They may be typically, you know, adolescent behaviors that are very normal. I think the concern is when you start to see more and more of these changes in your child and they tend to linger on and on and on. Then I think it's best to be a little curious about why you're seeing these changes in your child.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love the word curious too, because that doesn't give rise to like accusation or you should like paste judgment or shame or any of those things. Be curious, ask questions, start discussions, talk about what. What do they know about these types of substances? And you know one thing I've always, always loved that you taught that we talked about in our very first episode was the best way to start kind of opening that discussion is to talk about the neuroscience of the brain with your child. Tell them about their brain and how it's working. Talk to us a little bit about that and how we open up that discussion.
Speaker 1:Well, I think that's an important way in which we can get a child's attention, because my experience, especially working with teenagers, is it didn't do me any good to tell them that drugs are illegal, or tell them that drugs were bad for them, or tell them that if they continued using drugs, their grades would fall. They might not graduate or get into college or get a job. They didn't listen to any of that because they didn't believe it. But what I did notice captured their attention was when I turned the discussion to a neuroscience approach, In other words, when I talk to them about the brain. You know, kids are very curious, they want to learn things and they were very curious about their brain.
Speaker 1:So I tried to steer the discussion to a neuroscience approach, and what I mean is that in a neuroscience approach, I wanted to teach them about the brain. I wanted to teach them simple things like our brains don't become fully developed until age 24 or 25. So it's very important that we protect our brain. I wanted to teach them that there are different areas of the brain that are responsible for helping us walk and talk and reason and think through things just basic, elementary things. I have a chart in my book, for example, that has a picture of the brain and what the different areas of the brain are responsible for, and then I have another chart that shows where marijuana attaches itself in the brain. So when I showed those to the teenagers, they became very curious about it because they could see immediately how marijuana was working in their brain and what it was doing to the brain, and I think that that's a way in which we can capture a child's attention and have a road to begin discussions about adolescent substance abuse and the importance of protecting the brain.
Speaker 1:If your child is in elementary school, I would suggest that you talk to them about the brain. You don't have to talk to them about drugs. Talk to them about the brain, begin to educate them about the importance of the brain and what the brain does, and then, as they move into middle school, once they have this foundation of understanding the brain and how important it is, then you can introduce topics of how drugs work in the brain, and I think that approach might have a better impact on them than any discussion about how drugs are bad for them and how they shouldn't do drugs.
Speaker 2:I like that a lot because I think that, like you said, children are also curious.
Speaker 2:They do want to learn but they're not interested in hearing the you shouldn't do this, and you shouldn't do that because of my experience or because of my knowledge. They want their own experiences, they want to know for themselves, and I think that you're right about that. When you empower them with the knowledge of the health of their own bodies and brains, then it's more of a choice that they it for themselves, rather than say, oh, just something, mom and dad said something, my teacher said something, this you know. Counselor said but when they really can, you know, think, okay, well, gosh, do I want this to affect my ability to play sports? Or you know any of the number of things that can happen. Maybe those types of consequences learned in their own mind and kind of worked out with problem solving on their own, could also help navigate them and not going down those roads.
Speaker 1:I think you're right. I think enabling them to have the information and to understand the information allows them to feel as if they're in control and if they're making decisions, and the goal is for them to make a decision, not you as the parent. The goal is for them to make healthy choices, healthy decisions. What you're doing as a parent is you're giving them the information upon which to base those decisions, Information that they might not get anywhere else. They're probably not going to get it in school. You know schools don't teach about the neuroscience of addiction. You know so as a parent, it's an important role that you can take and you know it doesn't require you to have a formal education in neuroscience or a degree in neuroscience, because it really is very basic stuff. We want to protect our brain. Our brain does this and this and this, and you can keep it really simple but yet understandable for the child.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you know, while you were saying that, I was considering, you know, if you are an adult who smokes or drinks and you are afraid that you know the child be making those decisions as adults, but how can and not me personally, but how can we as parents have that discussion if that's what our children are seeing, and let them know that, like these are kind of choices like okay, child, you're 12, you wouldn't go out and start the car because that's not appropriate for you to do. Can you, in the same way, have maybe a discussion where, yes, you know I have a cocktail with my friends or with your dad when he comes home from work, but these are the reasons you maybe shouldn't do it. What do you think about that? Maybe shouldn't do it. What do you think about that? And how do we kind of as parents, be responsible but then be able to be adults if we want to make those choices?
Speaker 1:Well, and a teenager may very well say you know, well, it's okay for adults to drink. It's okay, it's legal for adults in some states to smoke marijuana. So you know, if it's legal, how bad can it be? Well, the response to that is yes, you're absolutely correct. It is legal for adults, and the reason that it's legal for adults and not for marijuana is going to harm their brain. But there is the risk that an adolescent, because they have a developing brain, could do some damage to that brain. So again it gets back to the neuroscience. When they question well, why is it okay for you to do this and I can't, the response is well, my brain's fully developed. The chances of me harming it are still there, but they're not as great as you doing something to your brain that's growing and developing. The risk for you is much higher than it is for me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely, and let's talk about maybe so you know people out there can understand what are some of the risks. What are the risks that these kids and adults well, we'll leave the adults out of it what are the risks that these kids are taking by using? And we can even discuss the individual substances and kind of how they really affect the body and go over some of those statistics while we're doing that in the function of society and how it's going up or down with that.
Speaker 1:Well, all of these substances, whether we're talking about alcohol, or we're talking about marijuana, or we're talking about the hardcore drugs like cocaine and meth and the rest of them, you know they all have the ability to distort how we comprehend, how we think, how we behave, and many times can lead us into engaging in risky or dangerous, even life-threatening behaviors, because they all impact our ability and our judgment to make sound decisions, rational decisions, and can become very dangerous for us. And then there is always the possibility that we could become reliant upon those drugs to function. And then it escalates and it gets out of control. We tend to see that more in the adult population than we do in the adolescent population, where adults will become dependent upon a substance, not so much in the adolescent population, upon a substance not so much in the adolescent population.
Speaker 1:But I have seen teenagers, for example, who are smoking marijuana on a fairly regular basis. When I see their psychological tests come back, I noticed that in many cases the processing speed of their brain is impacted, it's delayed, their short-term memory is impaired and their motivation is low. So some of these you might not see readily see in an adolescent smoking marijuana. We uncover them through psychological testing, but it's just an indication that how these drugs are operating sort of underneath the surface to affect a teenager's brain and sometimes do so in a way that can be very negative and sometimes have longer lasting impact on them. And yet the parent and the child's not even aware that these changes are occurring in the brain.
Speaker 2:So scary, plus all the you know other parts of the body that can be affected by these drugs. There's just so much that can be damaged and you know, just like with alcohol, the moment a drop of alcohol enters your body, like it's toxic, it's poison, and it does exactly what it's supposed to do. It, you know, inebriates the, the ideas that you have and things going on in your body which, yeah, we won't go over why, why it's legal, but but I think that it's. It's interesting. When we really like, if and if you want to dive deeper, do it.
Speaker 2:Go learn more about what the actual effects are on of all of these different substances. Like, get into, you know, your Google or on YouTube and look at some videos and watch and have some information to back up these conversations or discussions that you're going to have with your adolescents or your children. And then what happens? I guess, since that was good, that we covered that part. So then now let's kind of jump forward to I'm noticing my child is withdrawn. They're, you know, having trouble in school, they're staying up or not waking up or having trouble with their sleep, and so now we're starting to see problems. What do we do then? How do we get help?
Speaker 1:Well, I think the first thing you want to do is have a discussion with your child, and by that I mean you don't want to criticize or threaten or punish the child. You want to have a conversation with the child and keep the focus on yourself. In other words, you want to come at this discussion from a standpoint of curiosity. For example, I'm curious about these changes that I see in you. Can you help me understand why I'm seeing them? Or I'm concerned that you might be smoking marijuana and that frightens me. Can you help me understand why I might be feeling that way and see if that might open up some discussion with your child when you take the focus off of them and you put the focus on you and you start to share with them how you're feeling about certain behaviors that you're seeing from your child. Regardless of how that discussion goes, if you're still concerned as a parent, then I would recommend that the next thing you would do is get a psychological assessment done so that you can rule in or rule out if there are any problems that perhaps warrant a treatment.
Speaker 1:You know it's always good to have a good psychological assessment done so that you can see if maybe your child is struggling with anxiety or depression or some type of trauma, maybe being bullied, that you weren't aware of, and then rule in or rule out if there is a diagnosis.
Speaker 1:And if there is a diagnosis, then what's the best treatment for your child? Because every child is different and every treatment plan is different and unique. So you want to get a good assessment, you want to rule in or rule out if there is an issue that needs to be treated and if there is, what's the best way to go about getting that treatment? Now you can start your assessment by talking to your school counselor, your school psychologist or your school social worker. Many of them are very capable at doing some of these assessments for you, free of charge, hopefully, and if not, they can refer you to professionals in the community. They can get those assessments done. So I think one of the first things you might want to do if you are concerned is have a discussion with your child's school counselor or social worker or psychologist and just express your concerns to them and see what their next step is, that they recommend.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. There's a little loss there. Yeah, I couldn't agree more. And if it's in the summertime like it is now, maybe reach out to your doctor or pediatrician, or maybe what about the local health departments? That seems like a place that maybe should hold some of those resources available to guide parents, definitely.
Speaker 1:If school's not in session, you still might call the school because some of the staff still are working over the summer and see if they have somebody that is working as counselor or psychologist or social worker. Chances are they may, and then, if not, as you suggested, you could always give your pediatrician a call and they can probably recommend somebody in the community that you can consult with as well. So there's a lot of options that you have as a parent.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. So you know when treatment begins, say that you do. You know, find out that your child needs some type of addiction treatment to help them overcome those types of things. What should you start to look at in your own environment at home to help make those changes with your child?
Speaker 1:Well, the first thing I would recommend is, as a parent, make sure that you have a support system for yourself.
Speaker 1:You know, sometimes we forget the parent in all of this drama and all of this crisis and the focus is on the child who's going through the struggle or having the issue, and we forget that the parent is struggling too. So you know, if you're a parent and you're confronted with this, my suggestion is make sure that you have a support system around you. Maybe it's family, maybe it's friends, maybe it's your church community, or maybe it's a community-based organization, a mental health association that offers support groups for parents, because you, as a parent, deserve to have support around you as well. And then, depending on the type of treatment that your child may be involved in because some kids will do very well in an outpatient program, others will need an intensive outpatient program where maybe they're seeing somebody you know several times a week or a couple of times a week.
Speaker 1:And then some children who have both what we call a mental health and a substance abuse diagnosis a dual diagnosis. Those children can do very well in a residential program where they're sent away and they have treatment seven days a week for sometimes weeks, if not months. So every treatment plan is unique to the child, but once you get an assessment done, there'll be a treatment plan that will make recommendations as to what level of treatment will best help your child. Um, if you're in an outpatient program, then there'll be some things that you want to do around the home to make sure that that environment is supportive of the uh of the of the treatment that your child is receiving an outpatient and you'll want to consult with the therapist who's doing the treatment to see what, if any things they recommend needs to be done around the home to support what they're doing in the office with their child.
Speaker 2:Because it's so important to recognize. You know there's. I saw a quote the other day that said if a flower isn't growing, change the environment, not the flower. And I like that. You know we don't need to like we. We need to help. Obviously, if, if a child is struggling, we want to help change their struggles, but we don't want to change that child particularly. We just want to help them make better choices for themselves, and we do that by educating them with information that they can, um, make better choices for themselves. And we do that by educating them with information that they can make better choices for themselves Because, ultimately, we're not always going to be around. Especially as our teens get older and they're in more communities or bigger peer groups and there's more availability to them, then we need them to just have a strong sense of values and understanding, education behind them to make those choices.
Speaker 1:Yes, I agree. Our role is to help them to learn how to make healthy choices for themselves and to sort of mentor that as they grow up, and to be examples of how to do that as well, as best we can.
Speaker 2:Now, one thing we had talked about, or I had you know put in the notes that we were going to talk about today, is fentanyl, and I don't know a lot, so tell me more kind of a little bit the history of it or whatnot, and what is the most important thing we need to look for as parents, for our kids' safety.
Speaker 1:Well, fentanyl is a very powerful opiate. It is very, very powerful. It is legally prescribed by physicians many times to help after surgery or to help cancer patients with their pain. It is an FDA approved for those types of situations. But unfortunately it is becoming an illicit drug as well. That is spreading out throughout our country and sadly producing way too many overdose deaths, especially among the adult population. It is a drug that parents need to be aware of, not become paranoid about, but become aware of.
Speaker 1:The danger is not that a child is going to go out and look for fentanyl, because they're very unlikely to do that because they know of the dangers of that drug.
Speaker 1:The danger is that fentanyl is many times laced in with other drugs that teenagers are looking for, like Xanax, for example, or Adderall or some other drug that these kids are seeking, and they will take the drug like an Adderall or a Xanax, not knowing that it has been laced with fentanyl, and then they unfortunately can have a very bad outcome because they don't know you know that the drug has been laced with fentanyl and that's particularly dangerous when a kid goes out and he starts to buy drugs off the street because you never know what's in them.
Speaker 1:So the biggest danger and parents need to be aware of this the biggest danger among the adolescent population is that they will pick up a drug like an Adderall or a Xanax and not know that it has been laced with this very dangerous, very powerful fentanyl drug. So, again, it's just something that parents and kids need to be aware of and have a discussion with your child about fentanyl and the dangers that fentanyl produces by being laced within some of these other street drugs that are available to kids out there in the environment.
Speaker 2:It's just unreal to believe that those types of things happen. You know, in our societies yeah um, why, why?
Speaker 2:why are they doing that? Um, it's horrible. Like, do they want to kill kids? Like what is the purpose behind it? I'm not quite sure I I I understand, but um, I guess we'll have to never ask a drug lord because I won't be having him on the show. But yeah, it's too bad that that's has been what's come and you know it was interesting when I was looking, going over you know, the stats that you had sent me and all of the information, it's good to see that some of the more hard, harder drugs have really declined in their presence. When, like when I was a teen in the nineties, it was it's probably kind of the same similar effect as fentanyl that there were these other drugs that were just wildly exploding on, you know, everywhere, and now those have like gone down and are the less popular it looks like.
Speaker 1:Yes, that's true. I mean, the substances that are still the most popular among teenagers are alcohol. Okay, when we when we look at alcohol, you know almost half of high school seniors report drinking alcohol and we have about 15% of eighth graders reporting drinking alcohol. Aside from alcohol, there's marijuana, which continues to be very popular. We have about 29% of high school seniors smoking marijuana, we have about 8% of eighth graders smoking marijuana and we have about 18% of 10th graders smoking marijuana. So alcohol and marijuana are still very popular.
Speaker 1:What has sort of changed over the years and we started to notice this for about three years before the pandemic was a tremendous surge in vaping among adolescents, vaping nicotine and vaping marijuana. For three years prior to the pandemic, the percentages of kids who were vaping nicotine and marijuana was just climbing year after year after year. They're still pretty high. For example, 20% of high school seniors are vaping marijuana. So again, this is an issue that parents just need to be familiar with that vaping is very popular among the teenage population. They're vaping nicotine, they're vaping marijuana. It comes in all kinds of different flavors. There's different vaping pens that you can use that many parents might not even recognize. Many teachers wouldn't even recognize a vaping pen. They're very easy to conceal. Kids can take them off to school. They can go into the restroom and use them very briefly. They can go into the restroom and use them very briefly. So it's really something that I think parents and educators need to be aware of that this vaping epidemic is very popular among the teenage population.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, and I think that that's really important that you said that we as parents need to once again do a little bit of research, you know, bring up the different images so that you can be aware. If you're doing laundry and you find something that you're not sure what it is in your kid's pocket, um, then you can be more uh, you know, informed about that and be able to breach those conversations and maybe then talk about you know where it came from and those types of things. What kind of you know what kind of legal trouble are kids looking at for themselves if they get caught doing those types of things vaping and things?
Speaker 1:some suspensions or some other consequences as a result of being found in school with these substances or using them in school. And then, if they're not in school and they get caught out in the street with them because they are illegal, you know, they could get involved in the legal system and end up with some legal consequences that could potentially cause them some problems down the road too.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and those are important things for parents and kids to understand is that, once again, adults you know are allowed, are old enough to be, you know, allowed to do these things. But when you're out in public, I mean these kids like that, you see, sometimes I'm just so surprised that they're so blatantly brave enough to do things like that out in public. But what do you think, like are emergency responders? Are they looking for it more? Do they also understand that it's on the rise?
Speaker 1:Well, I think they do, Generally prepared with what's called Narcon, which is a quick-acting antidote for fentanyl overdoses. Parents might want to purchase one. It's available over the counter, it's called Narcon and you can just keep it, you know, at home, although you know it's generally something that a paramedic, an ambulance would have if needed. But I think it's important that parents recognize that these drugs are readily available to these teenagers.
Speaker 1:When we ask teenagers, how easy is it for you to get drugs? Overwhelmingly they tell us it's no big deal. We ask them how easy is it for you to get marijuana? 80% of them tell us it's no big deal. They can get it if they want it. We ask them how easy is it for you to get alcohol? Again, high percentages of them tell us it's not a big deal, I can get it if I want it. So they know that these drugs are readily available. And then we ask them well, how dangerous do you think these drugs are? And overwhelmingly they tell us they don't think these drugs are dangerous. They don't think smoking marijuana multiple times a week is very dangerous. They don't think drinking alcohol is very dangerous, very dangerous. They don't think drinking alcohol is very dangerous. So when you have a situation, an environment, where these substances are readily available to kids and they don't think they're dangerous, then you have an environment that becomes very risky for these kids getting involved in these substances, whether it's alcohol or drugs.
Speaker 2:Yeah, isn't that the truth? And we really just need to be responsible. If we're going to be responsible enough to bring these children into the world, we need to stay responsible enough to watch out for the environments that they are in, the groups they hang out with, the and you know it's really hard, because I think that it is so important to let your kid have a sense of autonomy and independence, to grow and make mistakes. You know kids need space to make mistakes and learn from those mistakes. Good time to go over those brain discussions and what kind of parts of the body they're impacting by having any of these issues going on. What can we do in the future? Let's talk about the workbook that you have, and I have a little banner that you can go to the website and go get this. What can parents look for in the workbook and how can they use it?
Speaker 1:Well, I wrote the workbook to be a companion to the education book, so to speak, that helped the addicted child the main book that has the material in it, the Addicted Child A Parent's Guide to Adolescent Substance Abuse. But I wrote the workbook and it's a very short workbook to be something that parents can use. So it has some exercises in there that helps parents sort of work through what they might be feeling about their child who's either in treatment or is using substances. It has some exercises on how to help with anxiety, because this can be really anxious times for parents. It has some discussion points in there, some tips on how to listen. So it's a very short workbook that the parents can use, sort of to jot down what they're going through, jot down how they're feeling, sort of to get it out. I think it can best be used in consultation with a friend or with a counselor, where you can do exercises in the workbook and then share them with a friend and get some feedback on them.
Speaker 2:It's a fantastic idea, them it's a fantastic idea and you know I really like that. You know, again, it comes down to make sure that you have your own supports in place and your own community, and I think that it's that could be really hard for some single parents out there. You know, try to find, like you said, some maybe community organizations, church organizations, whatever's right for you so that you don't have to feel like you're going through something like that alone. And, of course, in that your child will also see that community supports you and that might give them that extra idea that they can get support someday too, if necessary, from their communities.
Speaker 1:So thank you so much.
Speaker 2:Yeah, go ahead. I'm so sorry.
Speaker 1:No, I agree with everything you just said. It is so important that parents get the support that they need, because sometimes you know we neglect them and they feel alone and they feel isolated and they feel embarrassed or ashamed and they feel as if nobody else is going through this. So it can be very powerful and very helpful for them to have a support system around themselves.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you know my husband has a great analogy and I think that you can take it or leave it. However, it may or may not work for you as a parent. And this was in regards to our oldest, when she left home and moved away, went to another state and we had to really let go. And we, you know, had a hard time wondering will her decisions affect us, like how will everything affect us in the future? And he said, you know, the parents are the bow and the children are the arrow, and it doesn't matter how beautifully crafted or how many years you'd been working as a bow or whatever. Once you shoot the arrow, that arrow can be changed in its trajectory by a number of factors, and that's not the fault or the problem, again, of the bow. It is just what it is. And they're on their own little arrow journey, um, to become their own Boho day.
Speaker 2:So it's kind of a.
Speaker 2:it just helped kind of relieve some of that, you know, anxiety and pressure and maybe expectations, and so yeah if if you are going through that, it's been so nice to have you back on and talk about all of these things and you know it's unfortunate that the numbers are increasing. However, it the pandemic. However, it was horrible that we all had to go through that. The fact that the numbers of substance abuse decreased is a great thing, so I hope that we can see you know some not as much increase in the future and really help kids understand the dangers of vaping, of fentanyl, being laced in a friend's you know, xanax or whatever, and just the importance of um not taking pills that you are don't know how they can affect your body.
Speaker 2:There's so many things that can go wrong in those scenarios. Um, and it's so scary for for kids that want to fit in with their peers and and and we're in these situations where they think that they're making a good choice. So, yeah, just make sure you're there for them. Thank you so so much again. Please go to helptheaddictedchildcom and get Richard's book and also the free workbook. I shouldn't have said that. I don't know if it's free or not, but go get the workbook, you know, and really really just helpful, valuable information to help you not feel so alone, isolated, confused, and give you some direction on how to help your kiddo if you have a feeling that they might be having some substance abuse issues.
Speaker 1:Thank you and hopefully the book will help you, as a parent, feel a little bit more confident about this topic, perhaps a little less paranoid, and hopefully feel that if you have to deal with this you hope you don't, but if you do have to deal with this, after having had the book, feel as if you're more in control and more confident to be able to deal with it. And if you don't read the book, perhaps you'll run across somebody that you feel could benefit from it and you can loan them your copy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely no. That's always the best thing to you know have a great book and be able to share it with a friend or family member. That could help them as well. So of course, this will be running on my podcast ASAP. So if you did miss it and you want to go back, you can, of course, watch the live stream again, probably. But if you want to go and listen to it in your car while you're driving or anything, head over to my podcast and you'll be able to pick it up there. There's also other episodes that Richard and I have done in the past. If you're interested in learning more about what we talked about and kind of discussing some more in-depth details about the book, go to some of our earlier discussions on the podcast. So thank you so much again. I love catching up with you. I'm so thankful for the work you're doing for the youth community. Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1:Thank you, Sarah. It's been a pleasure to be with you. Thank you for inviting me back.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and you know, just keep them coming. Next time you get those new statistics, send them out and we'll have you back on and we'll go over them again and keep everyone informed as possible.
Speaker 1:Thank you.
