Teen Programs Have Positive Effect On Teens

Is it always hit and miss when trying to get a teenager struggling with addiction to come back to sanity? You read countless stories of teens who went through boot camps, military boarding schools and then, after a couple years of therapy and falling down, and more treatment and more relapsing, the teenager finally “gets it”. Perhaps it is just a matter of deciding. As any addict knows, there is a moment when you clearly understand that you are playing Russian roulette and that life is more valuable than getting high. The person who can figure out what makes that moment happen would stand to make a fortune. As it is, parents can only hope and wait. “Right after his sophomore year of high school, “My parents had enough and decided to send me to military school.” That was a summer program out of state, but it didn’t square him away. “When I got back, my whiskey drinking escalated even more.

Contd..

“I started drinking on a daily basis to try and black out — it wasn’t fun anymore.” Fried said he was on a daily regimen of using cocaine and drinking whiskey. […] “I woke up one morning, decided I didn’t want to live. I took my dad’s shotgun, proceeded to try to take my life.” But his father had cleaned the gun and he could find no ammunition. His parents sent him to a rehab center in Texas. That was almost three years ago, when he underwent five months of intense therapy. Alot of people there didn’t think he’d make it. “I decided to come back to high school. I was introduced to a 12-step program. I’m still part of it. They taught me all these concepts of how not to drink.” (unknown source) By Ann Walker