Treatment Approaches for Adolescent Substance Use Disorder
In the contemporary world where adolescents are exposed to all sorts of harmful substances, including adverse effects technology and drugs, appropriate measures should be put in place to prevent and treat the resulting disorders. Notably, adolescents and young adults have been known to fall into drug and substance abuse due to peer pressure during this phase of growth. The increased abuse of drugs among adolescents and young adults has led to increased cases of poor health, both mentally and physically. It is, therefore, of great essence to come up with ways of treating the adolescents who fall victims of substance use disorders. Various approaches have been formulated in an effort to treat these disorders. Although there are different treatment approaches for helping adolescents with substance use disorders, behavioral or psychosocial interventions are the most effective methods.
Treating adolescents with substance use disorders could prove a huge task as the victims are in such a critical phase in their lives. Due to immense peer pressure, adolescents and young adults could respond negatively to the treatment offered. It is, therefore, important to employ the most convenient and effective approach necessary to avoid provoking the victim. In order to effectively treat adolescent substance use disorders, it is fundamental first to understand the prevailing circumstances of the patient. In addition, it is crucial that the patient’s history is known and how they got into drugs in the first place. Most adolescents are lured into taking drugs by their peers or through mere curiosity. Notably, during the adolescence stage, people like to experiment with new things. Without proper guidance, most teens would dive into worldly adventures uncontrollably. In other instances, adolescents and young adults resolve to use drugs due to stressful environments in school or at home.
Behavioral interventions of treating substance use disorders entail various therapeutic measure aimed at improving the well-being of the victims. These behavioral approaches seek to treat the disorders progressively until the patient regains full functionality. Notably, there are various forms of behavioral or psychosocial interventions that have been proven effective in treating substance use disorders in adolescents. The most common methods of behavior interventions include cognitive behavioral therapy, family-based therapy, motivational interviewing, and integrated interventions combining the three. These approaches are primarily preferred because of their effectiveness in treating such disorders while having minimal side effects on the users. For instance, these approaches lead to fewer withdrawal symptoms as compared to pharmacological interventions. As well, behavioral interventions help affected adolescents to improve cognitive well-being in the long run.
In conclusion, substance use disorders have been on the rise following the pervasive drug and substance abuse amongst adolescents in the United States and the whole world. Drug and substance abuse has devastating health and social effects for the victims and ought to be treated carefully and effectively. The most preferred treatment approach for substance use disorders is behavioral or psychosocial interventions. These interventions entail monitoring the behavioral response of victims to improve their well-being by therapeutic measures. Counselling plays a central role in the behavioral interventions as the patient is guided through a rehabilitation process. Essentially, these treatment approaches avoid the use of medications or any pharmacological interventions whatsoever. Behavioral interventions such as family-based therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and motivational interviewing are preferred as they have fewer side effects on the patients, and are highly effective.