The Experimental Phase

The phone rings and she lifts the receiver to her ear. It’s another recorded message from the school saying her son was absent from class today. She yells through the house for her son James. No answer comes back.

James is a fourteen-year-old in his freshman year of high school. He has been having some issues at school and has been skipping a lot. His family is pretty sure he has been experimenting with drugs and alcohol.

Here are just a few ways that may help to remedy this sort of situation.

It is possible he is just doing what the other “cool” kids in school are doing which is experimenting with drugs and alcohol. This, in turn, is causing him to have trouble in school and in life. If this is the case, perhaps there would be some kind of “scared straight” type of program, class, or group the professional could help the family find through information and referral.

Perhaps James has learned these behaviors and they have continued because there were no negative consequences that followed. For James’ case, the family could use a trusted family friend, minister or even a counselor to work with the family and James. They could put consequences into place that both the family and James agree on. Sometimes, putting channels in place provide the structure a person can use to keep themselves in check.

If neither of the above address the situation, another steeper gradient may be necessary, In that case, a family could use the services of an interventionist who is trained to assist with getting a person into treatment. For more information about using an Interventionist to help a loved one, click here.

I believe a person uses drugs or alcohol for many reasons, but one of them is to numb feelings they have about their experiences or their life. If we could help James to change his perception of such experiences and actually help him to get through it, he may not need to numb it anymore.

Ultimately if someone is struggling with drug abuse, the best solution is to get them into long-term treatment. Learn more about Narconon today and how it has helped thousands to kick their drug addiction for good.