Helping children to understand addiction and withdrawal will enable them to see that addiction and withdrawal are essentially two sides of the same coin, and help them say no to drugs.
Drugs and Your Body: A Tricky Problem
Imagine you have a toy that makes you feel really good. But if you play with it all the time, your body gets used to it. Then, if you try to stop playing with it, you feel really bad! That’s kind of like what happens with drugs.
Two Sides of the Same Coin
When people use drugs too much, they get addicted. That means their body needs the drug to feel normal. If they stop, they get the “come-down,” which is like feeling really sick and sad. So, addiction and the “come-down” are like two sides of the same problem.
Hurting Inside and Out
Sometimes, drugs make your body hurt, like a tummy ache or a headache. But they can also make you feel sad or angry inside. It’s hard to tell which hurts more! Your body and your feelings are all mixed together.
The Bad Choice
People who are addicted might not even like the drug anymore. But they keep using it because they’re afraid of feeling bad during the “come-down.” It’s like being stuck in a bad game.
Getting Better
The only way to really get better is to stop using drugs completely. Other medicines might make you feel a little better for a while, but they can cause the same problem. Your body needs to get rid of all the bad stuff.
Why People Use Drugs
Sometimes, people use drugs because they’re trying to make a hurt or sad feeling go away. But drugs are like a band-aid – they cover the hurt, but they don’t fix it.
You Always Have a Choice
Even if it seems like everyone is using drugs, you can always say no. At first, it’s easy to say no. But if you start using drugs, it gets harder and harder to stop.
Feeling Bad to Feel Better
The “come-down” can feel really bad, but it won’t hurt you forever. It’s like your body cleaning itself out. If you get help from good people, you’ll feel better than ever!
A Happy, Healthy Life
If someone stops using drugs and learn how to take care of yourself, you can have a really happy and healthy life. They won’t have to worry about being stuck in that bad game anymore!
Author: National Addiction Resources
America's Best Treatment Directory
I do believe everyone should be properly informed about addiction and it’s symptoms from a young age. The key is describing it in a way that makes them effectively aware of the effects and repercussions instead of making them curious. I wish I was told about addiction when I was a kid, instead addiction was something to be ashamed of and hidden as if it didn’t exist. Even though he still won’t admit it, I know my father struggled with addiction to pharmaceuticals. I’ll never forget as a child seeing my father outside running in circles around the house in the snow with a gun in his hand yelling at what he thought was an intruder. Come to find out he was high on cocaine and was just chasing his own footprints. As long as I can remember he always had a copious amount of prescription drugs, a pill for every ailment. Anytime my two older brother or I were sick he would hand us four or five over the counter pills along with half of a blue oval shaped pill. Come to find out that blue pill was a ten milligram Vicodin. Because of that I would always associate that blue pill with a good feeling. When I was around 15 that I was in a car accident with a friend which sent me to the hospital with spinal injury. From that I was prescribed three different pain relievers, one of which was Vicodin. I was also given a three months supply with three refills on the Vicodin. I never took more than I was supposed to but because of how long I was on them I soon became addicted without being aware of what addiction was. When the meds ran out I found myself waking up with anxiety, muscle spasm and anxiety. I had no idea what was wrong and tried to shake it off by doing sit-ups and push-ups to tire myself out. After a few days of being extremely uncomfortable I finally talked to my older brother about what I was going through. What he said changed my life forever, he said “it sounds like your going through withdrawals”, “the only thing that’s going to make you feel better is taking more pain pills”, and so off I went. I called in a refill, picked it up, dumped out a couple 7.5mg Vicodin, tossed them back with a drink of water and sure enough I felt better, a lot better. From that conclusion and from my lack of knowledge about addiction I thought that if I didn’t keep taking these pain pills I would go back to feeling awful all the time, I thought the withdrawal symptoms would never end. If I knew what I know now I would have just pushed through it, knowing that I probably only had another day or so of withdrawals to get through. Instead my lack of knowledge and persistent pill taking led to years of addiction and pain.