011 The Influence of Chemical Dependency on Adolescent Development

The Influence of Chemical Dependency on Adolescent Development

When an adolescent is chemically dependent, he will experience effects cognitively, in language areas, in physical development, in the role of the family, and in social development.

Cognitively, the adolescent will experience the extension of personal fable thinking, warped cognitions because of adolescent delusional system, blocked growth in the development of abstract thinking, illusions of adolescent accomplishment as a result of drug use, and less life experience, causing interference in the growth of reasoning and thinking skills.

Effects of adolescent language skills will be impediments in recall, retrieval, and short-term memory. If there is a weakening in academic performance, then language skills may also be influenced, and this scarcity of language skills may cause interference in academic and interpersonal functioning. If the adolescent has limited language skills, then treatment may not benefit him or her.

Physical development effects may include discomfort in sexual areas. If the individual uses marijuana at an early age, then sexual development may be impaired due to inaccurate sexual information and inappropriate outlets for sexual energies.

Social development may be affected by the individual, viewing drugs as his primary relationship as apposed to other people. Dependence on chemicals is used to ease social discomfort (inhibiting the growth of basic social skills for individuals of that age). Frequently, these individuals will be in peer groups that are narcissistic and disregard the feelings of other people. Additionally, the adolescent may ignore the realities of society, such as rules, values, and morals.

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