Is Your Teen Abusing Drugs or Alcohol?

Is Your Teen Abusing Drugs or Alcohol?
Suddenly, your teenager is having trouble in school. Relationships with teachers, friends, siblings—and you—are falling apart. Your child has a new set of friends and no longer seems interested in favorite activities.
A frightening question weighs on your mind: "Is my child experimenting with drugs?"
If the answer is yes, you need to act quickly to help your child. But first you need to know for sure.
Besides having trouble with school and relationships, teenagers taking drugs may display emotional extremes with irritability, anger and changes in sleep patterns.
"Look for a significant change in behavior. A change in grades, a change in how they dress, or a sudden change in friends—those kinds of changes should raise a red flag," says Jay Ronald Heller, M.D., clinical associate professor of psychiatric medicine at the University of Virginia. "Parents should also listen to teachers and the teenager's friends."

Healing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Anyone who has experienced or witnessed a traumatic event, such as a car accident, military action, a terrorist attack, rape, or some other act of violence, undergoes severe stress related to the incident. Many people recover on their own, although it often takes time, but sometimes, professional help is needed.
People who feel they're unable to regain control of their lives because of their responses to the trauma may have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The symptoms vary and can appear immediately after the event, or days, weeks, or even months later. PTSD has been linked to other mental illnesses. It can occur with depression or lead to depression, according to the American Psychiatric Association. People with PTSD may not be aware that they are affected by it.