How to Prevent Your Child from Drinking and Drugging: Help Your Child Develop a Spiritual
Practice
Dear Dr. Steve:As my children get older,
I’m becoming more concerned about what will happen to them once they get into junior
high school. Television is full of special reports about teenagers becoming addicted to
heroin. I also hear a lot recently about children abusing club drugs. There’s so much
out there that worries me. What can I do to protect my children from getting involved with
alcohol and drugs?
A recent
study reported in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
may provide some guidance for parents like you who want to become more proactive. This
study revealed that those teens who are involved in an active spiritual practice are 50%
less likely to become dependent on alcohol and other drugs than those teens who have no
religious beliefs or training. The implication of this finding is that a spiritual
practice can insulate teenagers from developing problems with alcohol and other drugs.
To
determine the relationship between religiosity and substance use of 676 adolescents aged
15 to 19, Miller and colleagues at Columbia University conducted a study using survey
data. The study showed that teens with a higher degree of personal devotion, personal
conservatism, and institutional conservatism were less likely to engage in alcohol
consumption and less likely to engage in marijuana or cocaine use. The study makes clear
that adolescents who claim to have a personal relationship with the Divine are only half
as likely to even try marijuana and cocaine. This lends more credibility to the idea that
alcoholism is not only a biological disorder but a spiritual disorder as well.
A
personal sense of spirituality helps adolescents avoid alcohol and other drug abuse. The
study’s author, Dr. Lisa Miller, emphasized that, “Spirituality, whether within
or without of religion, is the most central baring in an adolescent's life. It cannot be
ignored by parents, or the adolescent will go shopping for meaning, communion and
transcendence.”
Dr. Miller concluded that, “Adolescents at high risk might be protected from
substance dependence or abuse if they engage with a Higher Power or become involved in a
religious community.
If your children are not involved in some type of spiritual practice, consider getting
them involved.
Pathfinder’s
Checklist
1.)
Read Dr. Steve Frisch’s, Psy.D. series of Recovery books, From Insanity to Serenity.
These books focus on chemical dependency, how to raise alcohol and other drugs free
children, and Recovery for both the chemically dependent individual and their friends and
family members.
2.) Read
Fact Sheets about How to Raise an Alcohol and Drug-Free Child
3.) Read Fact Sheets about Information
About Alcohol and Other Drugs
4.) Read the
Fact Sheet, Referrals
5.) Read Fact
Sheet, Warning Signs of Alcohol and Other Drugs Abuse
6.) Read
Entering the World of Your Child: How to Nurture Your Child’s Spirit by Dr.
Steve Frisch, Psy.D.
7.) Read A Parent’s
Guide for Protecting Their Children From Alcohol and Other Drugs by Dr. Steve Frisch,
Psy.D.
8.) Read But I’m Not The One With the Problem: How to Cope With a Loved One Who
Abuses Alcohol and Other Drugs, by Dr. Steve Frisch, Psy.D.
G.B.U.
Steve
Recover from
chemical dependency and its toxic impact on family members. Raise your children to choose
to be alcohol and other drugs free. Learn how to in Dr. Frisch’s, Psy.D. Recovery
book series—From
Insanity to Serenity.
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