How to tell if my child is on drugs

SAMHSA’s National Helpline | SAMHSA

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SAMHSA’s National Helpline is a free, confidential, 24/7, 365-day-a-year treatment referral and information service (in English and Spanish) for individuals and families facing mental and/or substance use disorders.
Also visit the online treatment locator.

SAMHSA’s National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357) (also known as the Treatment Referral Routing Service), or TTY: 1-800-487-4889 is a confidential, free, 24-hour-a-day, 365-day-a-year, information service, in English and Spanish, for individuals and family members facing mental and/or substance use disorders. This service provides referrals to local treatment facilities, support groups, and community-based organizations.

Also visit the online treatment locator, or send your zip code via text message: 435748 (HELP4U) to find help near you. Read more about the HELP4U text messaging service.

The service is open 24/7, 365 days a year.

English and Spanish are available if you select the option to speak with a national representative. Currently, the 435748 (HELP4U) text messaging service is only available in English.

In 2020, the Helpline received 833,598 calls. This is a 27 percent increase from 2019, when the Helpline received a total of 656,953 calls for the year.

The referral service is free of charge. If you have no insurance or are underinsured, we will refer you to your state office, which is responsible for state-funded treatment programs. In addition, we can often refer you to facilities that charge on a sliding fee scale or accept Medicare or Medicaid. If you have health insurance, you are encouraged to contact your insurer for a list of participating health care providers and facilities.

The service is confidential. We will not ask you for any personal information. We may ask for your zip code or other pertinent geographic information in order to track calls being routed to other offices or to accurately identify the local resources appropriate to your needs.

No, we do not provide counseling. Trained information specialists answer calls, transfer callers to state services or other appropriate intake centers in their states, and connect them with local assistance and support.

Suggested Resources
What Is Substance Abuse Treatment? A Booklet for Families
Created for family members of people with alcohol abuse or drug abuse problems. Answers questions about substance abuse, its symptoms, different types of treatment, and recovery. Addresses concerns of children of parents with substance use/abuse problems.
It's Not Your Fault (NACoA) (PDF | 12 KB)
Assures teens with parents who abuse alcohol or drugs that, "It's not your fault!" and that they are not alone. Encourages teens to seek emotional support from other adults, school counselors, and youth support groups such as Alateen, and provides a resource list.
After an Attempt: A Guide for Taking Care of Your Family Member After Treatment in the Emergency Department
Aids family members in coping with the aftermath of a relative's suicide attempt. Describes the emergency department treatment process, lists questions to ask about follow-up treatment, and describes how to reduce risk and ensure safety at home.
Family Therapy Can Help: For People in Recovery From Mental Illness or Addiction
Explores the role of family therapy in recovery from mental illness or substance abuse. Explains how family therapy sessions are run and who conducts them, describes a typical session, and provides information on its effectiveness in recovery.
For additional resources, please visit the SAMHSA Store.

Last Updated: 08/30/2022

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How to find out if a child uses alcohol and drugs

Adolescents who use alcohol, drugs

Increasing secrecy characteristic,
Deterioration in school performance: lack of interest and incentive to study, absenteeism,
Deterioration of the appearance of a teenager: hair, clothes, shoes, personal items look untidy, dirty,
Changing relationships with peers. The appearance of new, suspicious friends, which can greatly affect whether a child will take alcohol, drugs or not.
Change in behavior towards loved ones, such as aggressiveness or unwillingness to communicate.

If you think your child has used alcohol or other drugs more than once:

Ask about it. Find out what substances he used and what he experienced while doing it, whether he liked it. Listen carefully to the teenager's story, namely, whether he liked using it and why. The closeness of your relationship will affect the frankness of the child. Ask about peers who gave him drugs and those who used them with him.
Talk about your concerns, not just about drug abuse, but about other important issues such as school performance
Remind them of the norms of behavior in the family, whether it is accepted in the family to use these substances and the consequences if the teenager does not adhere to family values. If you do not want your child to use any kind of drugs, including smoking and alcohol, tell him directly about it.
Ask your child to stop using alcohol or drugs, especially if there is a history of addiction in the family. If the child stops now, he may avoid negative consequences.
Maintain an outreach policy. It is very important to give your teenager information about the influences and consequences of alcohol, toxic substances, smoking and drugs.

Do not lose control of the situation!

The child may have problems at school or at home, difficulties in communicating with others and with the law as a result of taking drugs. If you suspect your teen is continuing to use alcohol or substance abuse, take action. This is much more serious than you think and requires immediate attention. Frequent or constant use of narcotic substances leads to physical and psychological dependence or already to the presence of such.

To help a teenager:

Make inquiries. See if there is evidence that the child is taking toxic substances. Review the information on how to find out if a teenager is taking drugs again. If you are inclined to believe that the child uses a certain type of drug, collect all the necessary information about him.
Choose the right moment, namely, when the child has not yet had time to take the next dose. It makes no sense to talk with someone who is in a state of alcoholic or drug intoxication.
Ask directly. Find out what drugs your child takes, how often and where they take it. As a rule, teenagers are silent about this.
Assess the situation. Take your child to a drug specialist. Ask the doctor to examine your child. Early intervention will facilitate the eventual withdrawal of drug use.
Call for help. Attend a support group for relatives of alcoholics and drug addicts. There are special courses for parents where the consequences of alcohol and drug addiction are discussed. The use of toxic substances is a family problem, since all family members feel the negative effects. Relatives of such teenagers should change their attitude towards them.

Narcological assistance in Grodno:

ME GOCC "Psychiatry - Narcology":

narcology registry - 8 (0152) 75-67-54;
adolescent narcologist - 8 (0152) 75-69-44.

Helpline Grodno - 170

Republican "Helpline" for narcological patients - 8 801 100-21-21

What to do if you suspect that your child is using drugs

Information for parents

Dear parents!

You strive to be successful parents and want the best for your children. You experience anxiety and concern for the future and present of your child. These are healthy emotions, they force you to act, to clarify in a timely manner what is bothering you. Especially when it comes to the disease of drug addiction, and any disease is easier to prevent than to treat.

Watch your child. If your son or daughter:

spends a lot of time with people you don't trust,
changed habits and clothes, in accordance with any grouping or trend of adolescents,
loses interest in former hobbies (hobbies, sports), without acquiring others,
has become more secretive and does not communicate with you as before,
spends a lot of money on who knows what,
overly emotional - either very happy, cheerful, or depressed, angry, hostile,
You caught him lying several times, although he was honest with you before,
there are problems at school or in a college: absenteeism, apathy for learning, unreasonable failure to do homework,
has changed physically (sudden weight gain or loss, loss of appetite, pallor, sweating, chronic fatigue, sleep disturbance, watery eyes without cause, frequent runny nose, cough, sore throat)
Outwardly, you may notice: dilated or constricted pupils, reddened or cloudy eyes, dry, cracked lips, incoordination (staggering or stumbling, smell from clothes)

If you have noticed all this, then you should think about it and talk to your child.

The sequence of actions of parents in case of suspected drug use by a child

The assumption that a child uses drugs causes strong negative emotions in parents (feelings of guilt, fear, helplessness), entailing rash, undesirable actions that can only aggravate the situation. For example, parents can track, eavesdrop, search pockets, lecture, forbid leaving the house, etc.

What to do if you suspect your child is using drugs

Do not panic. Observe the child carefully and do not show excessive excitement.
Try to talk tactfully with the child, to discuss the facts you have. About your suspicions, say these words: "It seems to me that you are taking drugs." Just do not try to start a conversation at a time when the child is still under the influence of the drug - this is pointless. Wait until he fully recovers. Do not yell at the child, beat, threaten. So you get only secrecy and distrust.
Rapid tests can be used to establish the facts of drug use. These tests allow you to detect the content of narcotic substances in the human body at home, they can be bought at a pharmacy. There are tests for the simultaneous detection of three or more groups of drugs. Express tests can be purchased at regular pharmacies.
Do not try to control the use, lock up the child, send him to another city - this usually does not bring the desired result. Imagine how you would behave if your child fell ill with another serious illness. In such a situation, after all, it would never occur to anyone to humiliate and insult him just because he is sick. Do not assume that a son or daughter became a drug addict only because of their own promiscuity, the roots of the disease can be much deeper.

Give more time and attention to the child, try to listen to him more, show support and care, offer him help.
Keep your child's confidence in you. Talk to your child as equals. Lack of communication leads to an increase in misunderstanding, alienates you and the child from each other. Adolescents have a strong desire to communicate, the desire to be heard.

Try to understand that it is not in your power to change everything right now. The most difficult thing is to accept that your child will still do what he sees fit. But at the same time, he must know that he bears responsibility for his lifestyle (and for the consequences of his illness) on his own. You can tell him that you do not approve of this choice, and do everything so that he has complete information about what awaits him in the future, what irreversible processes will occur in the body if the treatment is abandoned.
In case of suspicions, revealed facts of the use of narcotic or other psychoactive substances, do not hesitate, seek help from specialists:

State Budgetary Healthcare Institution of the Arkhangelsk Region "Arkhangelsk Clinical Psychiatric Hospital", children's narcological department, address: Arkhangelsk, Moskovsky avenue, 4, building 1
Head of the department - Kabachenko Galina Vladimirovna and teenagers on alcohol and drug addiction issues.