The figures shown by health institutions are frightening considering that the number of drug users are younger people, and that they are starting their drug use at even more alarming ages.
They start using drugs at an earlier age, between 10 and 12. By 10 and 14 they constitute a new market for addictions; from that age they use inhalants, cocaine, methamphetamines and heroin.
As parents we must act now, speak to them in a broader and more open way, of course depending on the age of the children, about drugs and their effects.
Perhaps some parents believe that it is not appropriate to do so, others that it is not necessary because it is impossible for their children to have a relationship with illegal substances and others do not even know how to approach the subject or are afraid to talk to their children.
Times have changed, our children do not grow and develop as they used to, likewise the family environment is no longer the same as in the past, therefore we must put aside all those ideas that hinder us from contact with others. sons; don't wait until you think your child has a problem to decide to act.
Information to know
Drugs are any natural or chemical substance that when introduced into our body produces certain physical, emotional or mental changes. Unlimited drug use can lead to both physical and emotional addiction or dependence.
Physical Dependence: is a physically formed habit whereby the body creates a physical need for a drug, so that its sudden absence leads to certain withdrawal symptoms.
Psychological Dependence: is the development of a persistent, sometimes dominant psychological need for a drug that leads to a compulsion to take it.
The most commonly abused drugs can be grouped into several categories:
narcotics
simulants
depressants
hallucinogens
marihuana
inhalants
And don't forget that alcohol and nicotine (tobacco), although allowed, are also drugs.
Talk to your children about the subject and maintain constant and open communications with them, if you do not know how to do it, below we will guide you from how to cover the subject according to their age, how to prevent them and how to detect if your child uses drugs.
Factors that cause drug use
There are some risk factors for drug use such as cognitive ones, in relation to development and personality traits or individual temperament, family, social, and cultural factors. It is said that the greatest and earliest influence towards the consumption of tobacco, alcohol or other drugs comes from the family environment.
The fact that parents reject their children, excessive or insufficient family control, conflictive divorces and the environment of dysfunctional families with a history of abuse, can cause the child or adolescent to have low self-esteem, poor school performance, lack of expectations and ideals, which makes them vulnerable and more likely to approach drugs.
It is also considered that certain alterations in behavior manifested since the child was very young and that the parents did not know how to attend correctly, progress in adolescence towards more severe symptoms such a theft, aggressive behavior or drug use.
Children who have friends who use drugs are more likely to use drugs.
Drug addiction has also been studied from a genetic point of view. Investigations carried out in adopted children who are children of alcoholic biological parents, determined that they had a greater risk of manifesting behavioral, psychological and cognitive problems, as well as developing neurophysiological deficit disorders.