Cocaine use among teens

Cocaine is a powerful drug that can be snorted, injected when dissolved in water, ingested, or smoked as crack. It is often referred to as coke, snow, flake, blow, or other terms. Cocaine is highly addictive and dangerous. According to the NIDA about eight percent of high-school seniors have used cocaine.

What are the signs of Cocaine abuse?

• Immediate signs include increased energy and mental alertness, dilated pupils, decreased appetite, increased heart rate, blood pressure, and temperature, as well as fast speech.

• Users often have a runny nose or frequent bloody noses.

• Paranoia, restlessness, and panic can be a response to the drug.

• Drastic weight loss and not sleeping regularly are signs of cocaine use.

• Depression caused by stopping use of the drug.

• Drug paraphernalia such as mirrors and razor blades, rolled money bills, small bottles with lids, small plastic packets, small spoon-like items.

• Losing interest in activities and withdrawal from or change in friends.

• Frequently needing or stealing money.

Why do teenagers abuse cocaine?

Cocaine affects that brain chemicals that create pleasure and usually increases the sensations of sight, sound, and touch. Users often claim that cocaine helps them perform physical and mental tasks quicker and easier, although it can also have the opposite effect. Cocaine users usually find that they need to take more of the drug to produce the same effect or even just feel normal. So cocaine use often leads to addiction replacing school, friends, and family.

What are the health hazards associated with cocaine use?

• Those who snort cocaine suffer nasal problems such as loss of smell, nosebleeds, problems with swallowing, and chronic runny nose.

• Ingested cocaine reduces blood flow and causes bowel gangrene in which the tissue inside dies.

• People who inject cocaine have puncture marks, can have allergic reactions, and suffer the risks of getting STD's by sharing needles.

• For all users cocaine can cause heart attacks, strokes, seizures, abdominal pain and nausea, malnourishment, muscle spasms, and respiratory failure.

• Frequent users often suffer increased irritability, restlessness, and paranoia. They also suffer the risk of full-blown paranoid psychosis in which the user loses touch with reality and suffers hallucinations.

What about mixing cocaine with other substances?

Many cocaine users are mixing cocaine with alcohol because the combination intensifies the drugs euphoric effects. The human liver combines the cocaine and alcohol and creates cocaethylene. Mixing alcohol and cocaine significantly increases the risks and according to the NIDA "is the most common two-drug combination that results in drug-related death."

Cocaine is often mixed with other substances during processing. These substances are often unknown to the user and can be harmful to the body.

Written by Teresa McEntire

Teenage anger. parenting tips

I am commonly asked questions like "Why is my teenager always angry with me?" Parents DO NOT TAKE IT PERSONALLY! Teenagers are generally not angry with you they are just plain angry. This anger can vary from resentment right through to actual rage. What you are seeing is not the anger itself but a behavior.

The emotion is the anger, but what we see is the reaction to the anger that is the behavior.

Some Teens withdraw and repress their anger whilst others may become violent and destroy property or physically aggressive to other people.

You, the adult need to understand that teenage anger is an emotion not a behavior. So, the teen doesn't have to act out their behaviors in the way they do. The anger is frequently triggered by something going on in their life and this may be as simple as being unable to do a math problem. They may get up and walk along the corridor and punch the wall or kick a trash can, but they are NOT ANGRY WITH YOU.

This anger is usually with themselves and some perceived inadequacy. They are fearful and in this case it is the fear of failure. Your teen is on an emotional roller coaster dealing with issues of identity, relationships, the future, and all their hormones are going crazy at the same time. Understand this and you are able to accept that when your teen is angry it is generally not aimed at you. Regularly your teen is frustrated and angry with themselves. It's really important that you the parent, don't react to the teen with your own anger - because this just sets up a pattern of reactive behavior from parent to teen, going back and forth and ultimately achieving nothing positive. This is the time that people say things that they don't mean and the situation gets out of control. In this situation it is essential to remember you are the adult, so stop reacting. You need to focus on what your teen is feeling, and this is a way of defusing their anger. At this time your teen needs some acknowledgement of their feelings. So what I want you to do when this occurs is respond starting with the word "you". It is very easy for us to fall into the pattern of "I can't stand it when you.. " , "I told you to...". These are both statements in which you are responding with anger, so i want you to focus on them and their needs and commence with "you". For example, "you sound really frustrated", "you seem really distressed" or "you seem really angry today". We all know how much better we feel when someone else acknowledges our feelings. "You're really sad today". After you have acknowledged their feelings it is important that you let go of the situation and at another time when the teen is not highly emotive address the issues. For example; ask them if they had any warning signs that they were getting angry and could soon lose self control. Often before a teen (or adult for that matter) loses control and the anger escalated into something quite ferocious, they usually find that they are clenching their fists, shaking their legs, tapping their foot or possibly they develop sweaty palms. of course each person has a different sign. If your teen acknowledges for instance that they get sweaty palms just prior to an angry outburst you can assist them in finding a less destructive activity to do when their palms sweat. Relieving the pent up emotion for example with a run around the block, a swim, a shower, reciting a poem etc. They can now identify when their anger is escalating from the emotion into an unacceptable behavior. To learn more about coping or communicating with your teen visit inspireuonline. com/ or directly ask Fiona a question go to justaskfiona. com/

Inappropriate behavior as a teachable moment

Two boys in a first grade classroom were arguing loudly over an item they both wanted to use at the same time.

Their teacher approached them in a friendly way and said, “Boys, it sounds like you two are having a problem. Let’s talk it out.”

One of the boys told his side of the story, his face still tense but his voice lowered to an “indoor” volume. The second boy listened and then, without any prompting, came up with a solution to which the first boy readily agreed.

“Great job!” the teacher beamed. “See? You can talk it out!”

A TEACHING PERSPECTIVE CAN PRODUCE AMAZING RESULTS WHEN KIDS BEHAVE INAPPROPRIATELY.

If we as parents approach unwanted behavior with the idea that our job is to be the judge/jury/jailer, our first impulse may be to punish.

But punishment doesn’t teach kids what they SHOULD be doing. It doesn’t expand kids’ problem-solving skills, teach them how to repair social mistakes, or improve their social perception.

Fortunately, punishment isn’t the only available tool.

WE CAN CHOOSE TO VIEW THE INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR AS A “TEACHABLE MOMENT.”

When the teacher in the story above heard the two boys arguing, she spotted a chance to teach better social problem-solving.

Inviting the boys to “talk it out” reminded them of their capacity to problem-solve without shouting or arguing. They saw that “talking it out” could work, and they were more likely to “talk it out” next time.

A teaching perspective has room for punishment in some cases, but the focus is on helping kids learn the skills they need to behave appropriately.

If we view inappropriate behavior as a learning opportunity for the child, new options open up.

HERE ARE TEN CHOICES FOR MAKING THE MOST OF A TEACHABLE MOMENT:

1. Redirect the child toward a more appropriate activity.

2. Inform the child that what they’re doing “isn’t a good idea” or “isn’t safe.”

3. Give a friendly reminder about the rule the child needs to be following.

4. Guide the child through the steps of apologizing.

5. Ask the child to consider how others feel when she engages in the inappropriate behavior.

6. Help the child make amends to anyone negatively affected by the inappropriate behavior. Ask, “What can we do to help (name of person) feel better now?”

7. In the case of a conflict, prompt the children to “talk it out,” providing assistance as needed.

8. Give a new rule, if the situation wasn’t covered by the rules the child has already been taught.

9. Invite the child to think of a better to way to ask for what they want or need in the situation.

10. Teach the child appropriate words/behaviors to replace the inappropriate ones.

The rules of appropriate social behavior take a long time to learn and an even longer time to internalize as habits. Even adults don’t do it perfectly!

When we use our child’s behavior mistakes as opportunities to offer guidance, we’re giving our child their best chance to become more kind, responsible and socially competent.

© Norma Schmidt, LLC (limited liability corporation)

You can have love that never ends

If you were to ask someone if they wanted more love in their life, it is very unlikely that they would say they wouldn’t and that they don’t need any more. That would be like saying you don’t need to ever eat again because you are full. Even if our lives were full of love we would still want to experience more of it, because love is never ending and the more love we have the more we will have to give away. But how do we give love away? Before we can answer that question, we must attempt to define love or agree upon what love is. Because love is fathomless, we cannot completely understand its depth. And our attempts to define it often confine its meaning and eternal quality. However, we know when we experience love. And we can identify love in how it is expressed.

Love is communicated to us in many ways. Sometimes it is in words or someone’s thoughtfulness. We recognize it when we are treated with kindness and respect. We also communicate our love by our faithfulness, generosity, and selflessness. There are many different attributes that we associate with love. I believe there are ten key attributes that communicate true love most fully. I devote a chapter to each one of them in my ebook, Live to Love: 10 Powerful Ways to Communicate and Experience Love. In it you will discover how we communicate our love or lack of it every day. Love is more than words and it runs deeper than feelings. Love is what we live for. We love and we want to be loved.

We look for loving qualities in people and that is what often attracts us to them. Besides being drawn to their personality, appearance, common interests, and so forth, we look for qualities that communicate love, warmth, and acceptance. If we want to build a relationship with someone, we want a connection that is deeper and founded on the attributes of love.

Loving people draw others to them. We all like to be around someone who makes us feel valued and who treats us as important. We like being around someone who is thoughtful toward us; someone who cares about our feelings; someone who can be trusted and is honest with us. We like people who make us feel good about ourselves—people who listen and understand us; people who want to help us and will go of their way for us; people who are happy when we succeed; people who appreciate us. We all like to be around people who make us feel genuinely loved.

Earlier we said that the more love we give away, the more love it is that we will have to give. Love isn’t love until you give it away. We give love away when its attributes are evident and expressed in our life. We can all grow in the various attributes of love, and we can begin to express love more fully in our lives and relationships. Remember, we will never run out of love as long as we keep on

About Author:

Krystal Kuehn, MA, LPC, LLP, NCC is a psychotherapist, author, teacher, and cofounder of NewDayCounseling. org. She is featured in numerous newspapers and her many articles, pamphlets, and books are read worldwide. Krystal’s best-selling ebooks can be found at FavoriteEbooks. com.

Ten tips to prevent or subdue temper tantrums

CHALLENGE: “Whenever David doesn’t get his way he throws himself on the floor, screams, kicks and cries incessantly. What can we do to help him overcome this behavior?”

TIP: What is David getting out of this behavior. First make sure that you are not rewarding this type of behavior, positively or negatively because both will help keep it alive. If you eventually give in to this behavior by changing your initial decision (not letting David go out to play, refusing David a cookie), David has learned that tantrums work. Hence, when David wants his way he may think, “ a good tantrum just may get me that candy bar, it got me out of bedtime last night.” Negative attention (yelling, threatening, ridicule, spanking) seldom changes the behavior. Getting you upset may be just as rewarding as giving in to their demands. So again, make sure you are not unintentionally rewarding David for this behavior.

TIP: Be proactive. Think of the situations that invite David's meltdowns and head them off before they happen. Do questions that require a yes or no answer provoke a tantrum? Instead of "Do you want a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch David?" try "It is time for lunch David. Would you like PB&J or macaroni and cheese?" Advance notice may help as well. "We will be leaving Grandma's in ten minutes. Get everything you want to take care of completed before we go." Is David more likely to throw a tantrum when he is tired? Then you may want to provide an opportunity for him to take a nap.

TIP: Consequence. Be sure to tie the consequence back to the misbehavior. “David, remember the last time we went to the store and you threw a fit because I wouldn’t let you have that Power Ranger? Remember how you kept putting it in the cart and screaming that you wanted it? Well I am going shopping but you won’t be going with me. I just don’t feel like dealing with that kind of behavior today. Mrs. Hamblin is here to watch you until I get back. Try to make the best of it. Love ya, bye.”

TIP: Move David to a different location. The key is for you to model taking care of yourself. Your ears hurt when you hear David’s screaming. You may not be able to control whether or not David has a tantrum, but you can control where he does it. “Tantrums are for the bedroom. Let’s go.” You may want to give him a choice. “Where do you want to be until you can get that under control, the bathroom or the laundry room? If David can’t decide quickly, you decide for him. Come on out when there is no more crying and screaming.”

TIP: Notice the exceptions. Point out the times when David may have thrown a tantrum but did not. “I really appreciate how you came in the house when I asked without throwing a “fit”. You should feel good about being able to do that.”

TIP: Give the behavior a name. This will help externalize the problem, which is to say, it separates the person from the problem. It helps David and the family view the behavior as the problem and not him (the problem is the problem). For example, you could call David’s tantrums the “uglies”. This can help put David and you on the same side in the battle against the “uglies”. Questions like “can you think of a time when you have beat the “uglies” David? How did you do it? or how do you know when the “uglies” are coming? What can you do to stop them? ”David may enjoy the imagery of conquering the “uglies” and this can give David a sense of control over the behavior.

TIP: Acknowledge his feelings. This aligns you with David and sets the stage for

him to begin to work through his own problems.

David: “Dad, can I get this Power Ranger?”

Dad: “No, David I am not buying toys today.”

David: Eyebrows coming closer together and lip starting to pucker. “But it is the last one I need and I will have them all.”

Dad: “Not today David.”

David: Screaming and crying. “You never get me anything I ask for. You don’t love me.”

Dad: Acknowledging David’s feelings. “You must feel really sad about not being able to get the Power Ranger. I know I sometimes feel bad when I can’t get what I want.”

David: Sniffling. “Yea, I really want it.”

Dad: “Tell you what. (Taking pen and paper out of planner) I will write this down as “things David wants”.”

David: “Okay Dad.”

You can later use this list for surprises or gifts for special occasions.

TIP: Tell David what you are going to do. “David, I’ll come back down stairs when you get that under control” or “I will be happy to talk to you when you are not crying and you voice is soft like mine.”

TIP: Ignore the tantrum. If your have the will power to outright ignore the behavior you must remember that it may get worse before it gets better. That is, when David’s behavior doesn’t produce the desired results, he may turn it up a notch to see if a higher intensity level gets a response. Be careful. If you give in and respond to the higher level or longer duration, David learns that is how intense or how long he needs to tantrum from now on in order to receive attention.

TIP: Direct David toward a different way of expressing how he feels. “David, here is some paper and crayons. How about drawing how you are feeling right now.” This is a positive, less annoying way of communicating how he feels.