While many parents take steps to ensure that their children aren’t exposed to substance abuse, there’s always a small chance that bad influences can creep up on your children and take hold of them. While we’re not going to discuss the sources of these bad influences, we will be talking about the signs that you should try to identify if you want to stop the possibility of addiction before it has a chance to happen.
So in this post, we’ll be covering eight of the most common signs that your child could be addicted.
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Shifts in your child’s friendships
If you’ve noticed that your child has started hanging out with different kids, then it could be an early sign that they’re starting to pick up bad influences from other kids at school. If there’s a radical shift in their group of friends and also the personalities of their friends, then this is something that you should be paying attention to. While it’s not uncommon for children to have drastically different circles of friends, it’s usually not a good sign if the change is very sudden and seems almost permanent.
Missing drugs from your medicine cabinet
Children are incredibly resourceful these days and one of the most common ways for them to get high on drugs is to start taking medicine from your cabinet. If you have certain medications that are known to have the side effect of getting someone high, then this could be your child’s main source of drugs when they aren’t able to get any from their friends at school.
Changes in your child’s appearance
If you believe that your child is getting addicted to drugs or even anything, then there’s a possibility that their appearance might deteriorate. They might neglect their hygiene, they might only wear old and worn clothes, or they might always be tired due to a lack of sleep. In a case like this, you may want to consider a serious intervention such as inpatient rehab because it’s usually a sign that they’re already addicted. If your child is still in the early stages of addiction then it’s possible that they can recover. However, if it’s already affecting their health and lifestyle then you may want to seek some serious help.
Emotional changes that are sudden and long-lasting
It’s normal for children to have mood swings, but there’s always a possibility that those personality changes can last a long time. This is especially true if your child has become addicted to something. If they exhibit signs of paranoia, if they’re always dishonest, or even if they lack motivation, then you need to consider the option of addiction recovery to help them recover their mental state. Addiction can drastically affect your child’s emotions, leading to difficulties with their friends and family members. It could even potentially alienate them from social situations, causing even more issues in the future that will spiral out of control if they aren’t handled correctly now.
