Good Morning! Here’s the Monday Morning Blog!
Have you reached out to that teen or young adult in your life yet? We had a very nice weekend with our two young adults at our cabin this last weekend.
Did you know that almost 20% of high school students are bullied on high school property? And nearly 52% of kids experience cyberbullying?
With the focus on bullying this month for the release of my second book, Shawn’ Way, I am going to talk about a resource for teens that deals with substance abuse, called The Recovery Village. Even though substance abuse isn’t the topic for this month, they have an interesting article on their website showing the correlation between bullying and substance abuse.
Bullying and Substance Abuse
In an article on their website called, Bullying and Substance Abuse Are More Connected Than You Think, they define bullying as
“Any unwanted aggressive by another youth or group of youths involving an overserved or perceived power imbalance and is repeated multiple times or is highly likely to be repeated.”
This is what happens to Audrey in Finding Audrey and to Shawn in Shawn’s Way, they are targets of ones who bully. These teens are six times more likely than their peers to be diagnosed with a serious illness, smoke regularly, or develop mental health issues. These teens are also more susceptible to developing anxiety and depression. Combined with low self-esteem, it can lead to experimenting with drugs and alcohol as a way to deal with the mental health issue created by being a target.
It isn’t just the target that may be more apt to gravitate towards drugs and alcohol, but the one who bullies may also have a tendency to be smoking or using drugs and alcohol to deal with their own issues. Without receiving professional help for the issues that they are facing, this could turn into substance abuse.
Warning signs may be similar
The risk factors for bullying and substance abuse overlap and are similar to each other. Here are some similarities that occur in both situations.
- Depression and anxiety
- Decreased academic achievement
- Loss of interest in activities and withdraw from social settings
What can you do to help?
If you are wondering what you can do to help, you can always take a little time to learn more about teens and addiction. The Recovery Village has a teen addiction resource portal through their resources page that offers answers to the most frequently asked questions about drugs, alcohol and adolescents. The Recovery Village – Resources
Also, knowing your options for immediate assistance is very important. The website, stopbullying.gov, has a list of common bullying problems, solutions and resources that can be bookmarked or used in a crisis situation.
Learn more about The Recovery Village
Here’s a link to The Recovery Village Drug and Alcohol Rehab website – The Recovery Village
The Way Series
The Way Series became a series this month with the publishing of book two, Shawn’s Way. Both books focus on challenges teens face, in a novel format, with characters that teens can relate to. Head on over to the books tab of my site to pick up your copies!
Have a great week!
