why do teenagers get into drugs, alchohol, and other abusive substances, why do they feel the necesaty of this

Question

i want to know why teens feel the necesaty to do this, and how killing yourself through abusive products can possibly be considered "cool"????

i am a teenager, i recently found out that one of my best freinds is a dopehead, and the other is an alchoholic, oh and their 15 and not weirdos, they were and for the most part are perfectly normal, im just trying to comprehend how perfectly normal people with perfectly normal lives could f*ck up so badly.

Answer 1

1. Peer pressure, other people tell them its cool so they try it out.
2. rebelion against parents- They're becoming their own person and many teens feel the need to prove their parents wrong/ do something their parents would disapprove of the"prove" they are mature.
3. Teens have raging horomones. In fact, males reach their sexual horomone peak (of their life) at age 17 (women reach theirs at 35), so they are rebelling from their parents (see #2) and they can't properly visualize the consequences of their actions (see #4).
4. The frontal lobe of the brain, where judgement is located is underdeveloped until your early twenties. It becomes a problem with teens making poor decisions when it is coupled with the above three.

Answer 2

I believe most of it is due to peer pressure.
A lot of people do think consuming addictive substances is cool.
The key word here is addiction.
Euphoria is one of the first things a person experiences.
And then they destroy themselves trying to find that feeling again.
There was an old Japanese saying that describes it; "First the man takes a drink, and then the drink takes a drink, and then the drink takes the man.
I am not going to go into time periods, but I will admit that I picked up a drink at fourteen. I hit a downhill spiral for many years, believing that I was a social drinker.
I have not had a drink for over ten years now.
If I look back, I can see what looks like a war zone in my wake.
If I dwelled on it I would be the most depressed person that you ever saw. But I woke up and did something about it with a lot of help. Some are not so lucky.

Answer 3

I work with teen agers who have behavioral & emotional problems, here are some of the answers that I have come across. First of all remember that you are reasoning from a healthy stable mind.

1. Most of these kids have parents who do drugs. They were raised in an enviornment where drug use was acceptable. Some of the kids I work with were fetal alcohol babies. Mom was doing drugs and drinking while she was expecting .

2. Some of these kids are bi-polar or suffer from depression.
Drug use is a way to self medicate. While you are high you are not depressed. Have you ever been around a person that is suffering from clinical depression? It is not a pretty nor happy sight. I can understand why they look for an escape from their emotional pain and torment. (is it right? no.)

3. Other kids are the victims of terrible home lives and dysfunctional families. Again, drug use is an escape, a way to self medicate.

Answer 4

you ask the question as if all teenagers are into drugs and alcohol. I never was (I'm 21 now and i still don't drink, or do any other kind of drug), and many of my friends never touched the stuff. not everyone thinks it's 'cool'

In fact, I believe teen drug use has declined over the last decade. I can't remember where I read that statistic, but a simple search should turn it up.


Stereotyping is wrong on any level. please rephrase your question and maybe you'll get some good responses.

Answer 5

As a teen, I mostly would say that it is because everything is changing in their lives, they don't understand it, and get depressed, and need a way to get their mind off of things. I really don't think it is peer pressure though, I go to a public inner-city school, and unless you hang with a bad crowd, you don't feel the pressure at all, I don't. It might also be a way to rebel against their parents, to do something to get them mad, to get back at them.

Answer 6

I'm not sure. I'm a 16 year old girl, and I've never drank or even at least tried to smoke. But I guess for some people it's the pressure and terror of being in a completely insecure environment (highschool). They just want to escape themselves.They want to be someone cooler, more fun. But really, highschool isn't that bad, if you approach it realistically.

Answer 7

They learned it from their parents. And oh, didn't know teens were the only ones who did it.

It's not considered "cool," It's stupid and weak, especially if you were peer pressured into doing it. Most of the teens I know don't do drugs and hate cigarette smoke, but their parents are the ones that do it. They just pick up the habit.

Answer 8

I think that alot of teens do this out of peer pressure and boredom.

Answer 9

I think most are depressed. They have parents who will not talk to them and that is the only way they can cope with life.

Others are weak and easily influenced.

Answer 10

its a quick way out of life for a little while.and when you have no one that you can tell stuff to its kinda hard to keep that inside so by doing all of that it helps get rid of some of it