Pressure Built Upon Teenage Girls Turning Them into Addicts

Girls’ attitude towards illegal drugs is changing. Research establishes that more girls are becoming prey to substance abuse and most of them have co-occurring mental health disorders that need to be addressed at the earliest. The SAMHSA report revealed that, among teenagers who abuse substance, 23 percent of girls had co-occurring disorders as compared to 18 percent of boys. As a parent of a teenage girl, you may be in a denial thinking that boys more often get into trouble than the girls. But the studies are proving that the opposite is true. Scientists say that teen girls have a typical vulnerability to developing substance abuse problems due to their higher susceptibility to peer pressure, and teen girls are more likely to hide the same due the fear of social stigma. 

Partnership at DrugFree.org states that teen girls were more vulnerable to substance abuse problems probably because they are more likely to use alcohol and drugs to self-medicate than boys do. The study also found saying 68% of girls said, “using drugs helps kids deal with problems at home” (up from 61% in 2008).53% said drugs helped teens forget their problems (up from 48% in 2008).59% of teen girls reported using alcohol (up from 53% in 2008) Use of marijuana increased by 29% from 2008 to 2009. Only 77% of teen girls think Ecstasy can be addictive (down from 82% in 2008) and only 33% of girls said they “don’t want to hang around drug users.”

Easy availability

Easy availability of illegal substances coupled with increased money at disposal could be one reason for teenagers abusing substances at an unprecedented rate. The researchers from Finland who analysed the association between friendship characteristics and alcohol use in a twin study observed that teens who have friends who drink are more likely to drink themselves, but this influence may be especially strong for girls. This is dangerous because teenagers learn everything easily and this plasticity in them only means they are going to turn addicts at a relatively faster pace than the adults.

Typical Teenage Pressure in girls

These times are testing for teenage girls in every walk of their life right from the grades they score, to public behaviours they exhibit to how good they look. They are judged upon for everything. While the expectations from them rose higher as compared to the past few years, the limitations on their social involvements, expression of emotions and level of compromising on the family front remained the same constantly subjecting them to the nervousness of withholding and coping day in and day out. A study found that the number of girls who often felt nervous, worried or fearful rose by 55 percent over a five-year period. 

Though they are outpacing boys academically, statistics claim that they are 70 percent of high school valedictorians. They’re still told by the society to worry about how they look though this is just one factor among others. As a result, they are increasingly using substances or self-medicating to alleviate their pain. The most worrisome factor in this situation is the society that treats addiction as a personal flaw rather than a disease. Despite Barack Obama officially declaring that addiction is a disease and not a choice in in 2016,  there are less people out there who show sympathy for the addicts. The agony gets amplified when a girl becomes an addict because of the denial of the family for treatment on account of the social stigma they may be facing. Therefore, there are more addiction and overdose related deaths among teenage girls as compared to their counter parts most of who are privileged to get treatments. 

Victimisation due to substance abuse

Teenage girls become vulnerable to an extent that they become victimised at the hand of sexual predator’s time and again but do not report to the family for the fear of being shamed. They develop an internal guilt that further pushes them into the habit of drug abuse. Worse are the tales of teen girls who become pregnant because of victimisation in drug abuse and are constantly pestered thereof by the family members and peers for their trauma. Suicidal ideation and acute drug abuse are common among such teen girls who abuse drugs to deal with unwanted mental health symptoms like hopelessness, anxiety, irritability and negative thoughts during their pregnancy. But in the longer term it exacerbates them, and often ends in their death.

Family Role and Key Measures to Revival

Teenagers, who play an important role in shaping modern societies are under enormous stress. Family compassion is vital in helping them deal with their everyday stress in a positive way. An education about how teenage hormones work, how the society and general trends are causing them to feel anxiety and imparting coping strategies to get over such consequences comes a long way in protecting your child from substance abuse. For those whose children have already been trapped under the claws of addiction, they must be taught that a drug or alcohol addiction is not a moral failing but is a disease that requires professional treatment. Give them hope. Give them life. Join them in a quality rehab for further treatment.