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ADOLESCENCE: A PHYSIOLOGICAL, CULTURAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL

NO MAN`S LAND

Adolescence is an intrinsic development in every single human being, which

includes changes in the body and a resolution with internal issues around oneself. It is
important to mention that changes like acne, sexual development and growth are not of
their own choosing, they are forced by biology, making adolescents unsure of their
worth to others. And it is a non-stop process that an adolescent has to face; regardless,
as Archambault mentions, on how the environment of the adolescent has prepared him /
her. Moreover, the cultural position of adolescents, is stated to be in a place between
childhood relative safety and the unfamiliar complexities of adulthood, where he/she is
pressured to act like an adult; but the adult activities are considered off limits for
adolescents.

There are two sides of adolescents based on how they face the massive changes
of this stage in their life. In one side are the adolescent that have role models in their
environment that have encouraged them to enjoy their youth, to set goals and to develop
skills to achieve those goals. On the other side, there are is an adolescent for whom this
stage is a completely chaos due to the abuse and lack of support from their caretakers.
For them a drug can be their only friend and relief they have in their chaotic life.
Reviewing the results of [CITATION Seg82 \l 3082 ] research, Archambault states that
one of the reasons why adolescents might use drugs is the: “need to achieve an altered
sate of consciousness”. And this statement is complemented with the results of
(Beschner & Friedman, 1979) research, because they offered some reasons to drug use
in adolescents; first, drugs are readily available, second, drugs offers a quick, easy and
cheap way to feel good; third, drugs offer one easy way to gain peer acceptance.

Also, from early ages adolescents learn from their caretakers that alcohol is a
tool to deal with problems and unpleasant feelings. And that has been exemplified even
by the rest of society, relating beer drinking to cool off in hot weather. Archambault
shows a surprising result of the University of Michigan’s survey on high school seniors
between 16 to 18, from 1975 to 1981;this result reflects that 70 % had used alcohol in
the last 30 days; and that might be explained because alongside marijuana, alcohol is
seen as a gateway drug that might lead to the use of other drugs. With that, a highlight
pattern between adolescents and adults in drug treatment, showed by the research of
[CITATION Hol84 \l 3082 ], is that adolescents progressed to regular polydrug use more
quickly than adults. And what can explain that is a volatile and unpredictable family life
that could started a down going spiral to seek peer acceptance and identification
throughout drug and alcohol use. Regarding that start in drug abuse, (Gonzales, 1983),
looked at three elements: age at the time of the first drink, the place where the first drink
was consumed and whether that first drink was taken under parental supervision. What
he found was that different from students who had their first drink in college or high
school; students that began drinking during elementary and middle school, had higher
levels of alcohol related problems. Also, he found that those students who were
introduced to alcohol with parental consent experienced fewer behavioral problems
from their use of alcohol in college.

Archambault continues his work mentioning several behaviors that are signs of
substance abuse, they go from quick drop in grades, change in circle of friends, change
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to worse physical hygiene to playing divide and conquer to have parents against each
other. He highlights that what make these signs related to possible substance abuse, is
the frequency of occurrence and clustering of those behaviors. With that, in early
treatment three main points are being considered for the assessment of a person`s risks
and needs. The first one is the physiological factor; in which adolescents might see the
constant changes in their bodies (voice changing, hair growth, menstruation), as a threat
to their self-image, because they are unprepared for them. Also, sociological factors are
explained by which adolescents are more likely to act according to their peer group
norm, than to the norms of society in general. Furthermore, Archambault indicates that
location is no longer a reliable indicator of availability in school, he states that: “schools
in upper-class urban area are almost sure to have drugs easily available, just as on inner
city campuses”. That can be related with the statement on drug abuse that: “it cuts
across all socioeconomic strata” (Beschner & Friedman, 1985).

Moreover, psychological factors are centered on showing that family is the

crucible of psychological development for adolescents, for this, 4 parental styles are
presented to explain the risk of adolescent of substance abuse. First, alcoholic parents,
who can foster alcoholism in their children in a variety of ways in; and this might
explain what [CITATION Wes20 \l 3082 ] stated that if in a family where there are 2
etho/drug parents, there is a probability 8 times higher, that the children result with
alcoholism problems. Other parental styles like teetotaler and over demanding parents
are presented as a rigid moralistic approach to life, that result in guilty feelings of not
fulfilling the expectations parents have set and as parents who set unrealistic
expectations for the child and push them to be success in everything they were not
capable of doing it. Also, the overprotective parenting style characterize of the inability
of the child to develop a sense of self-worth and a positive self-image due to
overprotection resulted from parent doubts or parents seek of self-worth.

In consequence, family issues are critical in an adolescent`s life, because when

parents are largely absent or abusive, a poor environment for psychological growth is
developed. This relates to the fact that Richard West presented that families with
etoh/drug problems are involved in the 90% of child abuse cases. Therefore, in the
treatment pathway of substance abuse with adolescents, the maturity of the drinker
should be the focus for understanding adolescent’s substance abuse rather than the
pattern of drinking. Also, Archambault shows what (Beschner & Friedman,
1985),identified as the most effective counseling approaches to substance abusers; the
first and most important ones is an understanding and empathic attitude; second,
confronting the client with his/her self-destructive behavior; third, providing emotional
support; and finally, providing practical assistance in solving his /her real life problem.

Finally, Archambault shows the prevention element of the substance abuse on

adolescents; for that, he presents the primary prevention, which is intended to include
family skills training, parent education programs and media messages. But the
credibility of this type of prevention is questioned by adolescents. Also, secondary
prevention is presented as an attempt to detect the progress the progress of a disorder in
early stages of its development. For this one, Carroll (cited in Beschner & Friedman,
1986), suggested that no prevention strategy will stop adolescents from experimenting
with drugs, for that he stated 3 objectives to achieve an effective secondary prevention:
teaching adolescent to identify early signs of abuse, teaching them how to assist a peer
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or family member with substance abuse problems and third, teaching them where they
can go for help.

Personal thoughts:

An adolescent is figuring out what he/she is, what he wants to do, and process
how others perceive how he/she is changing, and this last point might represent a major
breakdown in an adolescent mental stability. In that process of figuring out what is
going out with you as an adolescent, you see yourself in the middle of a jungle where
the strongest and most popular one survives. Therefore, an adolescent does whatever it
takes to be accepted by their peers, even if that means get wasted with alcohol or be
“high” with drugs. So, as the upcoming thing of adolescence come to light an
adolescent, secretly seeks for support or refugee to his closest ones (you caretakers);
even tough is commonly perceived that being and adolescent means getting away of
your family. However, if that same refugee, sustained by alcoholic, overly demanding,
overprotective or teetotaler parents; does not supports you in the massive changes you
are expected to face. Instead, that lack of support, forces you to do things society
demands that an adolescent has to do, the down going spiral of substance abuse might
began. Moreover, as an adolescent you see your parents and your siblings as role
models; but if inside the family there is a “every man for himself” dynamic, the
environment pressure to do the transition from childhood to adulthood, might be a lot
harder to resist any temptations that adolescence presents. And with that an adolescent
built and due to the massive changes, your body experiments in a unique way, an
adolescent is object of comparisons that might affect them, also they are object of jokes
about their growth, their facial hair, that are completely different of your peers.
Therefore, the peer element should be at the top of the hill of adolescence substance
abuse because with your high school peers you pass most of your youth life, so
whatever you do with them mark you forever. And, to hide that differences with their
peers adolescents experiment with drugs and alcohol. And that uncertainty of kind of
feeling like a child yet and starting to feel the pressure of adulthood coming right up to
the corner, develops an anxiety of where am I.

And a bad mix of that anxiety, parental elements and peer factor, might result in
an individual insecure of him/herself, that only wants to blend in with anything that
allows him/her to have a better life and a relief. For that, is important that since
childhood a secondary prevention is followed to give children at least some tools to face
what is coming up, for them to build a personality strong enough to see adolescence as a
challenging but enjoyable stage of a person`s life. And to see that those people who
pressure you to be or act like they want, are going to be gone of your life eventually and
they do not control want you are or what you are going to be. For that, drugs and
alcohol should not be demonized through scare tactics, as this will increase the curiosity
for these substances; instead parents and teachers should seek the 3 objectives Carrol
suggested: teaching adolescent to identify early signs of abuse, teaching them how to
assist a peer or family member with substance abuse problems and third, teaching them
where they can go for help throughout. And if an adolescence is brave enough to accept
treatment, above all things council treatments should treat patients with the respect any
human being deserves despite his substance abuse problem, seeking to making the
patient feel confident and encouraged to progress in his life; for that, even though an
understanding and empathic attitude of the counselor is fundamental, that empathy
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should seek that the patient recognizes his/her responsibility of what they have done.
With that, some kind of internal peace could be achieved.

References Page:

Beschner, G., & Friedman, A. (1979). Youth drug abuse: Problems, issues and
treatment.
Beschner, G., & Friedman , A. (1985). Tretament of adolescent drug abusers.
International Journal of Addictions.
Beschner, G., & Friedman, A. (1986). Teen Drug abuse.
Holland, S., & Griffin , A. (1984). Adolescent and adult drug treatment clients: Patterns
and consequences of Use. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs.
Segal, B., Cromer, F., Stevens , H., & Wasserman , P. (1982). Patterns of reasons for
drug use among detained and adjudicated juveniles. International Journal of
Addictions.

West, R. (2020). Psychology of Addictions.