Drugs in high school?!
Question: One of my good friends does all kinda of drugs. Ecstasy, pcp, lsd (etc), coke, weed, heroin (only a couple times) and drinks a lot. She is 16 and i'm really worried about her. She doesn't have a good family and she is already seeing a therapist. Her therapist knows everything and they are working on it, and she has stopped doing most of the bad stuff (like x and coke and heroin and it was basically only weed and alcohol) last june ish But she recently told me that she wants to go back to doing all the drugs again. I'm worried that if she keeps this up, she will get involved in some bad stuff and that her life will become consumed by these drugs as she gets older. I would understand if she only smoked weed, but i think once she got into the really hardcore stuff its getting out of hand. I want her to understand her limits. I have talked to her about this...is there any way to get through to her?? Any ideas? She is already seeing a therapist...what else can i do besides be there for her
Answers: One of my good friends does all kinda of drugs. Ecstasy, pcp, lsd (etc), coke, weed, heroin (only a couple times) and drinks a lot. She is 16 and i'm really worried about her. She doesn't have a good family and she is already seeing a therapist. Her therapist knows everything and they are working on it, and she has stopped doing most of the bad stuff (like x and coke and heroin and it was basically only weed and alcohol) last june ish But she recently told me that she wants to go back to doing all the drugs again. I'm worried that if she keeps this up, she will get involved in some bad stuff and that her life will become consumed by these drugs as she gets older. I would understand if she only smoked weed, but i think once she got into the really hardcore stuff its getting out of hand. I want her to understand her limits. I have talked to her about this...is there any way to get through to her?? Any ideas? She is already seeing a therapist...what else can i do besides be there for her
You can continue to encourage her to not take any illicit drugs. It sounds like your friend is chemically dependent and could benefit from an out-patient CD program, certainly from AA. I was taught that counseling doesn't help a person if they are "using" at the time.
Having a friend that is chemically dependent is very hard on you. There is a danger that you might get to feel responsible for solving your friends problems. With someone who is chemically dependent there is a fine line between helping and enabling.
There are groups like Ala teen that can be helpful for someone in your position. They can be a support to you and also give you some ideas on what may be helpful for your friend and what is not helpful.
When your friend says she wants to go back to using all the drugs again, she is having urges to use and thoughts that support that use. An adolescent CD program would be very good for her as she would learn so many things about her chemical dependency and how to gain sobriety.
It is not good for her to only smoke grass. Using any kind of mood altering substance (except psych meds) will only make it harder for her.
I fell sad for your friend. 16 y/o is so young to have this serious a problem. If she gets on top of it now, she can still have a normal life. Remember to take care of yourself too. God bless you.
It is difficult to "get through" to someone who doesn't want to hear what you have to say. If you care about her, probably the best thing to do is talk to her honestly about your concerns, and then no matter what happens, be there for her.
keep her busy to not think about it,think about getting her perfessional help, alnd just be a friend and tell her theres better things out there than to do drugs
-good luck
Your friend is very lucky to have someone like you!
I think since you've already got a therapist working on it, the most you can do is just do things with her. Show her that there is more to life than doing drugs. People that are persistent drug abusers are hard to change but it isn't that impossible. Maybe if you give her the love that her family hasn't, you can change her bad habits and also probably strengthen your friendship.
Good luck!
Have you actually observed her doing all of these drugs? or is it just what she tells you? I am now in my mid 20s, am a drug user myself, and work around/with high school aged kids. I'm not saying that 16 year olds don't use drugs, not at all saying that... but at some point you need to question how legit her story is. Where does she get the money? If she is using that long list of drugs so frequently, she probably looks like it, completely strung out, and if that is the case people must know and just look the other way? Especially at 16? I'm not saying your friend is lying, I don't know her... but I have heard many stories from kids who think that saying they are doing all these hard drugs all the time, say it because they want attention, want people to worry, want to seem "cool," etc.
On the other hand, if she really is doing all those drugs, and her therapist knows then she should really be encouraging her to go to rehab. 16 is too young to get messed up with addiction. Using such a variety especially, she's needs help or it is going to kill her.
Maybe you can find out who her therapist is, tell her you are friends with her patient and are concerned and tell her exactly what you put here. That way, if she hasn't been totally honest with her, then it will definietly be brought up. If you don't want to do that, then talk to her parents, relatives or someone at school such as a counselor.
Either way, your friend needs to get some help. Those drugs are extremely addictive and it's hard to get out once you are in. It seems like you are really concerned about her, and if you truely care about her then you need to get her more help than she is getting now.
Good luck!
In response to your additional info:
Thanks for clarifying. Cocaine is incredibly addictive. Get your friend help now before she gets in too deep. I have been there, it is hell. It is great that she has someone like you, who cares about her, but you need to somehow make her realize what a mistake this is, and make her want to stop, or I guess not start again. She needs to want it for herself, but again, I really hope you take the suggestions I made about getting in touch with her therapist and relaying this information just to be 110% sure, or to her parents, school counselor. I would hope that her therapist or her parents if they are around/supportive would be taking much more drastic action since she is only 16, still a minor . Again, good luck and I hope your friend gets help sooner than later.