TEENAGE WASTELAND 1

Teenage Wasteland

Kendra L. Singleton

University of the Cumberlands

PSYC 337 - Cognitive Psychology

Professor Urquhart
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Abstract

This paper will provide an extensive background on teen addictions. It will additionally explore

the different types of addictions that they face other than just the typical drugs and alcohol. It

will dive into different addictions such as sex, porn, vaping, and technology as a whole. Cell

phones are always in a teenager's hand, and this will discuss how that has become an addiction.

Social media has become one of the largest addictions for teens and many cannot seem to live

without it or the constant looking at their social media to see how others are approving of their

posts. The paper will consider the addictions of the teens that could impact them for their entire

lives. I will also include different prevention programs that could prevent teenagers from falling

into such addictions. I will conclude with discussing different intervention programs for those

teens that are already experiencing an addiction problem.

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Teenage Wasteland

For as long as there have been teenagers, there has been a wasteland of addictions in their

pathways. There have been typical addictions that affect all ages such as drugs and alcohol and

nicotine. Then there are the addictions that are targeted more towards teens like cell phones and

social media. There are many types of addictions and this research paper will address the many

types that teens face. They also have prevention programs that teach them what different

addictions they are facing and the negative effects that could happen to them if they choose those

pathways. Teens also have interventions for these addictions. These teens face many forms of

addictions that could impact them for their entire lives.

In order to better understand the problems of addiction and how much of a disaster teens

are putting their lives in, we have to better understand what addiction is. The National Library of

Medicine writes that addiction is the “formal giving over by sentence of court; hence, a

dedication of a person to a master” (Kranzler et al., 2008). Upon reading that description, it

reminded me that addiction is sort of like a possession. Where the person loses all control over

their body and now belongs to the thing that has control over their mind, body, and spirit. It

consumes them and they become slaves to it. They must now obey everything that it asks of

them. If it tells them to sell everything they own and spend all of their money on it, then they

will. Addiction controls you completely, and terrifyingly, it has no age limitations. In 2023, it is

reported that 2.08 million teens have abused substances, 1.19 million have abused alcohol

(NCDAS, 2023). With those numbers being so high, it is inevitable that many of those teens will

end up becoming addicted to those substances that once seemed like a fun night, has now turned

into a wasteland of addiction.

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Today’s teens face many forms of addictions. The typical addictions that all ages face are

drugs, alcohol, and smoking or what is now known as vaping. Drugs and alcohol are always

everyone's idea of what addiction is mostly. When I was in high school, it was common for teens

to drink alcohol or try different drugs. A great deal of them would end up becoming dependent

on drugs or alcohol because they would abuse them so regularly, it became a common thing for

them to do. Some even died from overdoses or drinking and driving. Growing up, almost

everyone in my family was a cigarette smoker. Smoking was always one of the most dangerous

addictions. Now, the most common drug that there is for teens is vaping. Manufacturers make the

vapes more appealing for younger people and even have fun flavors such as cotton candy to

appeal to younger people. It is reported that, “nicotine is a highly addictive drug, and exposure in

adolescence can affect brain development and prime it for future substance use” (University of

Michigan, 2022). Sadly, this means that many of those teens that are trying those delicious vapes

that taste like their favorite candy, they will become addicted to the nicotine in the vapes and this

will slow down their brains natural development, while also setting them up for other drugs or

substances. Now, there are also THC vape pens that have flavors as well. There are even candies

being made with THC in them to attract young people. It is a scary and dangerous world we live

in where the most dangerous substances are now being disguised as the things that we love the

most that seem innocent. Another silent drug addiction is prescription medication. Most teens are

diagnosed with different mental health issues such as ADHD, ADD, anxiety, depression and

many other disorders. These types of disorders require prescription medication and many teens

are reliant on these types of drugs. I have noticed with my students when they do not take their

medicine, they become irritable or hard to be around. They have grown to have a dependency on
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these drugs and some react in dangerous ways when they are taken off of these types of

medications or if they get their medicine switched or simply forget to take their medicine.

Amongst the wasteland of addictions that we have created for teenagers is now what

every teenager holds in their hands and in their pockets all day, everyday. A cell phone. Their

phones have become their best friends, and their life line. They do not know how to function or

live without their phones. As a High School teacher, I have had many incidents with cell phones.

One in particular where I asked a student to put their phone away since school rules are that

students are not to have phones out during class. I asked a student to put it away, but she refused.

I went to take her phone from her and she refused to hand it to me. I said I would have to call the

office and a principal would come. She then threw the phone at me as hard as she could, cussed

me, threatened my life, and then ran out of the room. All because I asked for her phone. It is

terrifying how much teens rely on their phones. Part of having a cell phone means that most

teens have social media. This is where they get their satisfaction from seeing how other people

view them. They post selfies and wait to see how many people like it or wait to see how many

people say bad things about them. It takes one look at a cell phone to change their entire mood

for the good or bad. The director of behavioral health states that “Social media platforms drive

surges of dopamine to the brain to keep consumers coming back over and over again. The shares,

likes and comments on these platforms trigger the brain’s reward center, resulting in a high

similar to the one people feel when gambling or using drugs” (Miller, 2022). It is terrifying that

our teens are now living for the high that they get from getting attention on social media. Instead

of a smile or wave from a stranger or a random compliment from someone in public, we are

looking to social media for strangers or friends at school to like or comment on our posts to make

us happy or even give us a high feeling. Another common addiction for teens is sex. The same
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gratification and feeling of being liked by others that social media gives teens, is the safe feeling

that sex gives them. They seek multiple partners in hopes to make themselves feel more liked or

loved and end up growing addicted to the feeling that they get from having sex and releasing that

dopamine in their brains. It also releases oxytocin and endorphins which are a natural stress

reliever. Most teens will not want to take anxiety or depression medication anymore once they

get this type of stress relief, but like most addictions comes with negative side effects. Having

multiple sex partners could lead to sexually transmitted diseases or having children at a young

age.

There are many ways to prevent each of these addictions, with the most simplest solution

being to simply never start doing any of them. With any of these things, comes the risk of

becoming dependent on it or becoming addicted to the feeling that it gives you. Teens in public

schools are exposed to many types of prevention programs. I personally used to work for

Operation UNITE that would go into schools and teach students from a program called Too

Good For Drugs about how the negative effects that drugs, technology, substances, and other

things have on our lives and how damaging it can be to our future. The CDC states on their

website that “some, but not all, of these programs have shown evidence in reducing youth risk

behaviors” (CDC, 2018). I know that for me personally, the more prevention programs that I was

exposed to in High School prevented me from wanting to do things that could lead to an

addiction. The more information on how harmful things were, the more I feared that I would end

up addicted to things or something bad would happen to me. I think that these programs are great

and beneficial to causing more fear in teens and will prevent them from wanting to partake in

things that may cause addiction.

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Once the teen has reached the point of being addicted to something, it is a lot harder to

get help. Addiction is life long and does not ever go completely away. Most people seek

treatment of some sort in order to get help with their addictions, but most rarely ever stay

completely free from abstaining from their addiction for the rest of their lives. Some people are

afraid to seek treatment or so caught up in their addiction that they do not want help. This

sometimes causes their families or friends to have an intervention with them and sit them down

with help from a mental health specialist. This sometimes allows the person to see that they have

an issue and need to get help, and sometimes it does not and they continue with their addiction.

Studies show that psychotherapy is a helpful way to get through addiction with “approximately

25% of patients improve after one session, and 50% improve by 8 sessions” (Brorson, 2013).

Improvement with that high of a rate is great when considering how addiction is impossible to

overcome and affects your brain for the rest of your life. Sadly, many people never get help and

eventually succumb to their addiction and die. Death rates are at a all time high for people who

abuse drugs or alcohol. While it is currently not proven that cell phones or social media is

causing death, I believe it will soon be proven that there are more suicides being caused from

social media addiction.

While these teens are consistently facing many forms of addictions that will impact them

for their entire lives, they are still partaking in these activities. Finding different forms of

prevention education will help reduce the teens from getting hooked on different addictions.

There is no cure for addiction. There are several interventions that have been proven to help, just

as psychotherapy was said to be a great help for most people, but not completely healing. Once

the teen has entered into the teenage wasteland of addiction, they will forever be in the wasteland

of addiction with no hope of escape.

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References

Kranzler, H. R., & Li, T. K. (2008). What is addiction?. Alcohol research & health : the

journal of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 31(2), 93–95.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3860451/

NCDAS: National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics. (2023). Drug Use Among Youth:

Facts & Statistics. National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics.

https://drugabusestatistics.org/teen-drug-use/

University of Michigan. (2022, December 15). Nicotine vaping now a top form of teen

substance use. The University Record.

https://record.umich.edu/articles/nicotine-vaping-now-a-top-form-of-teen-substan

ce-use/

Miller, S. (2022, June 2). The Addictiveness of Social Media: How Teens Get Hooked.

Jefferson Health.

https://www.jeffersonhealth.org/your-health/living-well/the-addictiveness-of-socia

l-media-how-teens-get-hooked#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThe%20overuse%20of%20

social%20media,ADHD%20and%20body%20dysmorphia%20worse.%E2%80%9

CDC. (2018). Registries of Programs Effective in Reducing Youth Risk Behaviors. Center

for Disease Control and Prevention.

https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/adolescenthealth/registries.htm

Brorson, H., & Arnevik, E., Rand-Hendriksen, K., & Duckert, F. (2013). Drop-out from

addiction treatment: A systematic review of risk factors. Clinical Psychology

Review, 33(8), 1010-1024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2013.07.007.