Support for families of Teen user?
 

Hi Everyone,
i am looking for help for a 15 year old boy who doesnt (yet) see the drawbacks of his substance abuse. Are there teens o this forum or families with teens in recovery who can share some insight?

This is a link for AlaTeen:

https://al-anon.org/for-members/grou...urces/alateen/

Hi anna, the teen is the drug user in his family. I think alateen would be for a younger sibling not the user. Are teens included in regular AA? He is currently thrilled with his lifestyle and social group but has also expressed suicidal thoughts. Several counselors have recommended dealing with the depression first, but his using is pretty extreme. Not sure how one could manage depression with all rhe subatances hijacking his brain.

I had to get sober before the I could effectively deal with my bipolar depression. Sometimes they are a viscious circle. Maybe a dual diagnosis setting? My outpatient treatment was at a university and trended young, and was a DD clinic.

​​​​​​My understanding is that antidepressants and teens can be a difficult treatment scenario, as teens are more likely to develop suicidal ideation. But I'm not a doctor.

Yes, a dual diagnosis facility who can treat teens is what I would be looking for, even if it's on an outpatient basis.

Thank you for your comments. Dual diagnosis seems like the right direction to go.