substance abuse my 15 year old

[gabriela reyes]

Hello everyone, l have a 15 year old who smokes marihuana, he's out of control. l have done outpatient theraphy twice but he gets kicked out because he's not sober.They suggested inpatient can l get advice regarding placing my son in inpatient.

 

[Teriobe]

You can call your insurance co. To see what they will cover, some will only do out patient. Im sure the others who have the same problem will give you some advice soon. My son is 31, so i dont know what you can do in todays world, boot camp for troubled kids is all i can think of. Grounded until ...... But im out of the loop.

 

[ksm]

Is the court or legal system involved? I have been going thru something similar with my daughter. No legal offenses, but with her staying out all night and us reporting it, the police were involved, the court deemed her a child in need of care (CINC) case.

She has a probation type officer who sets curfews and restrictions. He can also require random UAs. I could not find a residential or inpatient facility that our insurance would help pay for.

We were in the process of applying for an SED Waiver for a medical card to help pay for services. The only way, at the time was for us to pay $10,000 for a 28 day stay. Or have the probation officer ask the court to take temporary guardianship of her and put her in the juvenile shelter until a bed opened up. Then the state would pay for it.

Neither of those options were aceptable to me. Now, I'm taking her to an eight week intensive outpatient therapy in a nearby town, it last three hours a day three days a week. Our insurance is covering the cost. It is 100 mile round-trip those three days.

She seems to be working the program. It's scary because I don't know if this is what she needs or if we should've found a way to do residential treatment. I guess I'll be second-guessing for sometime.

Ksm

 

[Crayola13]

Until he understands that pot is addictive, treatment may not help. Most people think there is nothing wrong with marijuana because it's not a hard core drug. I don't care what the data says. It is addictive and kills motivation to accomplish anything in life.

 

[BusynMember]

I am wondering if he could be using more than pot, although pot can be very addictive, just like alcohol. Depends on the user. Often kids who smoke pot also abuse other drugs too and sometimes we dont know.

At 15 you better check your state mental health laws to see if your child can be put into any sort of program without permission. In our state at about 14 parents can no longer force treatment.

 

[RN0441]

Gabriela:

Welcome. That is the exact age my son went off the rails. Starting with pot and moving to harder drugs unfortunately. He is still struggling at 21 and we have all been through hell.

We did everything under the sun to help him. In patient, out patient, therapists, social workers, psychiatrists, psychologists etc. etc. and he would be okay for a short time and then right back at it. I always felt it was the age and him thinking that we were old/didn't get it, etc. but now that he is still struggling I realize how strong his addictive personality really is and it's frightening.

It sounds like you are doing everything that you can and I do hope that your son is more receptive to help than my son was.

 

[goin_crazy]

I tried for years and from marijuana to heroin and meth to get help both mental and substance abuse for my son. He's 19 now and in a program in prison. He still doesn't think marijuana is where it started but we saw it. Ended him up stealing a car after burglarizing a house to get the keys all for more drugs. Whatever you have to do now, do it. The fact that you asked means you know it's a real problem for him and before he winds up like mine in prison or worse like so many of his friends who are dead and gone just do it. Don't care if he gets mad over it. Have him arrested and sent to JD if you have to. Wish I had.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[Littleboylost]

Gabriela;
Sadly you are in good company here. You don't own the addiction or the behaviour and you can't change it. Only he can. We tried to get our son to go to in patient rehab but he has the right to refuse at 16 and did. He will be 18 this year and we have been through the wringer with drugs, him choosing drugs over living st home, having him attested for drug charges and we are winding our way through a toothless useless youth criminal system. He is a chore to drag through everything. He has 6 credits to get at school for his diploma. My husband and I have decided that if he does not straighten out and attend the alternative education program we have him enrolled in we are going to ask him to leave home. Each time he left he left on his own. This time we will support him as long as he is contributing to his future in a positive fashion. I have leaned to pick my battles. I say what I disagree with but he chooses how he behaves. We no longer pick him up at all hours of the night. If he chooses to stay out he can find his own way hone. We are sure he still smokes pit less than before but he still does. He does not bring drugs into our home any more he needs constant hounding to do anything. It is an exhausting struggle. But it is his life and if he chooses not to pull it together and contribute positively to his future. This is his life and his choice. Our choice is not to financially support him if he does chose this path.