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Deciding When to Send Your Teen to Rehab
For a parent of a child who is using drugs and alcohol, one of the most difficult questions is when to send your teen to rehab. When you consider the costs (disruption to school, guilt you might feel sending them away, emotional distress they will feel being sent away, stigma that might be attached with inpatient treatment, and fear of who they will meet while in treatment) it is enough to make any parent balk.
5 Signs Showing When to Send Your Teen to Rehab
1) You cannot control your teen
If your teen is willing to go to any length to get their way, including being physical with you, it’s time to send your teen to rehab.
Examples of Teens Who do Whatever They Want
Your teen blows you off when give them a curfew. You tell them you will be taking their phone, and they ignore you. They skip school when you require them to be there. If this is a constant issue, you can no longer control your teen.
2) They are stealing
If you are still unclear on when to send your teen to rehab, it will be obvious if they begin stealing to finance it. If you’ve noticed money missing from your wallet, guests who come over complain money is missing from their wallets, or your teenager has been caught breaking into cars, etc., it’s time to get them help.
3) They refuse a drug test
Teens who are being honest about what they are using, and how often are usually eager to take a drug test. They want to prove to you that they are being honest. When they refuse it, it means they are hiding something. This is a sure sign they are using something they won’t admit to.
4) Their emotions indicate they’re physically suffering
When teens are coming down from their high, or sobering up from alcohol use, they often lament how miserable they are. They might say extreme things like they want to die, or yell at you and be extremely irritable. Whatever the case, it’s clear they are going through physical suffering as they withdraw. As you can see from this, knowing when to send your rehab is vital.
5) Send a teen to rehab when they ask for help
This sounds obvious, but many parents don’t act on it when their teen asks for help. There is a very small window of time in which a teenager asks you for help with their addiction. Quickly the cravings overtake them, and they say they are fine. However, if your teenager is asking you for help, even if this lasts for just a few hours, it’s their way of telling you they can’t stop using on their own.
Some Local Adolescent Rehabs
Once you know when to send your teen to rehab, picking one is the next step.
Note: I don’t endorse any particular rehab for your teen as each situation is different, and there are more rehabs out there than just these examples.
Outpatient Rehabs
Inpatient Rehabs
Why Send Your Teen to Rehab
Addiction is terrifying; it makes everything feel like chaos. You walk around on eggshells because you are afraid to set your teenager off. Your teenager is combative, rude, and has completely dropped activities they used to care about. Knowing when to send your teen to rehab is hard, and if you’re at this point with your child, my heart goes out to you. You are loving your teenager well even though sending them to rehab is the last thing you feel like doing.
Helping teens grow and families improve connection,
