Teen Stress and Substance Abuse: A Two-Part Series

You remember the feeling: Standing up in front of the class, palms sweating, trying to remember the words you had so carefully memorized the night before; waiting on the edge of the dance floor; the test you absolutely didn’t study for; the first day of school; the big game; the red and blue lights in the rearview mirror. Stress.

Teens today are overwhelmed by stress and influences that have not been seen in past generations. While teens are still impacted by the traditional short-term stress that occurs when preparing for a test, a school dance or filling out scholarship applications, youth today are being exposed to far more significant stress. Long-term or chronic stress, like that from a long illness or bullying behavior, a divorce or death of a loved one, can lead to serious illness. Even more grave events such as natural disasters, violence and terrorism can cause post-traumatic stress illnesses. Our social climate today has brought to the forefront traumatic events that youth have never considered before now, and it is having measurable, negative impacts.

It is well established that the effects of stress can damage a person’s mental and physical well-being. It is not so much that stress is bad, but that people, especially young people, have an inability to deal with it effectively. Research from the National Institute on Drug Abuse indicates that teens exposed to stress are more likely to abuse alcohol or other drugs, or to relapse to drug addiction. In one of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) early “back to school” studies in 2003, it was found that highly stressed teens, compared with low-stressed teens, were twice as likely to smoke, drink, get drunk and use illegal drugs. Later surveys now report that teen stress is magnified by the negative influences of social networking and electronic peer pressure. Teens who have seen pictures on social networking sites of other kids drinking or using drugs are four times more likely to have used marijuana and more than three times more likely to have used alcohol.

If people spend a lot of time feeling stressed, it can begin to cause damage both physically and mentally. This is because the chemicals associated with the stress response are only meant to be in the bloodstream for a short period of time. The dangers of chronic stress include: The immune system becomes less effective, instead of helping people fight off infections these stress chemicals begin to damage an individual’s own organs; fatigue and depression: those who are dealing with a lot of stress in their lives will be more likely to have poor mental health; increased risk of ulcers and digestive problems; and substance use and abuse.

When teens lack healthy ways to cope with stress and its effects, they may turn to substance use to manage their issues and feelings. Substance abuse reduces the effectiveness of teens at work and school, it damages their ability to form meaningful relationships, and the longer a person abuses these substances, the more they will have to feel stressed about in their lives. It is a vicious cycle of stress, abuse and escape.

Our youth today need to have positive tools in place to cope with the tremendous stress of growing to adulthood before they resort to unhealthy methods. Next week we will explore ways to manage teen stress, and the role that parents and others can play in teen success.

For more information about teen stress and substance use, contact the Valley CARE Coalition or Prevention Specialist Jenny Fuller at 263-0943.