Wellness Wise is a column brought to you by The Roar’s co-Editors-in-Chief, Amanda Troll and Nishita Viswajith. June’s column surrounds the topic of addiction and the wide spectrum of how it can affect an individual and those around them. We spoke to social work intern Isac Alvarez, who worked with students at SCHS on Fridays during his internship for his masters degree in social work. His work included facilitating individual sessions and potential group sessions in the future.
How would you explain addiction in simpler terms to someone who has never learned about it before?
“It can be a lot different than a lot of people think, like they just want something badly. There’s a reason why it’s considered a disease now. It’s even in the DSM, which is how you diagnose people with disorders, so it is considered a mental health thing as well. There’s also a biological factor. With addiction, your body has a craving dependency on it, so it physically changes things so that you physically have a need for it. That can be with neurotransmitters, the chemicals in your brain that tell you it feels good and makes you happy, so that’s where it is kind of a trick. It is beyond them just liking it and they can’t stop. They’ve been using something so much that their brain cannot function without it.”
What happens in the brain when someone becomes addicted to something?
“The dependency and what substance it is can determine how long it happens. It can also depend on the person’s own body, how young they are, how old they are, and their personal biology can impact how they react to it. Addiction can happen very quickly for somebody and can happen over time for somebody else. Before they are on substances, their brain is getting dopamine from other things. This can be a favorite meal or when they are happy to see someone. There are feelings of positivity from natural everyday occurrences. What substances can do is that nothing else will feel as good as substances. That tricks your bain into thinking you need this. Your body can sometimes not function without this thing. Everything else just feels dim compared to it. It is such a pleasure spike from your dopamine and your neurotransmitters, so it makes everything feel like a 10 and everything pales in comparison. Even if you met the love of your life, it would feel like a 1 in comparison when drugs are a 10 every time you use them.”
Can you touch on how broad addiction is, meaning how it doesn’t just apply to alcohol, drugs and porn?
“I think that happens a lot with weed, or marijuana. People say it’s not addictive. It might not be as chemically addictive as opiates or other drugs, but behaviorally, a lot of other things can still be addictive. Again, it’s tricking your brain into thinking you need this to function. It’s the same way people have a routine – we function better with a routine – but what happens when that routine is using something or doing something, and this can be the case with pornography or sex. You can get addicted to it because it’s dimming out, training yourself to only feel good when you have these things. Now, you can’t go a day without pornography, for example, because your brain tricks you into thinking you need this thing.”
Why are teenagers more vulnerable to addiction compared to adults?
“Our frontal lobe is in charge of carrying out our hard tasks, like planning our future and setting up our lives the way we want them. School can be really boring – it’s tough to sit in class – but that can change as you get older because you learn that an hour is a lot more manageable. That impulsivity is one of those things that’s common in young people. It’s not because you aren’t paying attention. It’s not because you don’t care. It’s something developmentally that happens, but that’s not the case for everyone. Physically, your brain is different, so you are more likely to become more addicted to this impulsive feeling and try something that you know is not good for you. The hard part is the safety measures when it comes to substances, which is knowing when to stop and how it can impact your life. That’s why it’s harder for young people because you don’t see the impacts it can have. If you start getting suspended from school, that’s one thing, but what happens when you do get suspended? It can impact other schools wanting to work with you, how teachers react to you, your future, your grades – that’s all down the line – but it’s harder to see because when you’re younger. You’re more in the now.”
How do you believe that social pressure to look cool in teen society can increase addiction?
“(Peer pressure) goes with that impulsivity. It’s a normal thing to want to try things when you’re younger and definitely an age-appropriate thing to want to explore things, and that can include wanting to dabble in substances. That’s why it’s a common thing to have (an addiction), that peer pressure, because it’s normalized, and that can be the danger of it. That normalization comes from this idea of, ‘Everyone else is doing it, so it’s okay that I do it.’ But that normalization makes it look like it’s safe. With peers even wanting to pressure people, that normalization of if you’re not doing it, you’re not fitting in. You’re not living it up, not living in the now. That can definitely impact you because there’s an added influence and a social aspect that would make you try to do this.”
How has the more recent popularity of vaping affected teen addiction?
“When I was younger, cigarettes were already beginning to die down in terms of how common they were. People would be asked to go outside, but if you look at it historically, people used to be smoking next to babies – they did not care. That level of normalization that it was at is similar to vaping, where not only is it normalized where people are doing it frequently, multiple times a day, but also in the case of people doing it at school, in situations where they aren’t even supposed to have vapes. They’re doing it, and it’s so normalized. Vapes can be addictive and made from different substances, and one of the scary things about them in particular is that they’re already really unregulated because they’re illegal in California. It’s definitely something people can still get their hands on. We don’t know what’s in there. It could be something that’s making it more addictive than behavioral. Behaviorally, it can be addictive because it gives you some relief because we’ve trained our brains into ‘I can’t wait to do this,’ and when we tell ourselves that, we’re making it so. There’s also the social aspect of getting that social credit of ‘fitting in,’ and because it’s considered normal, when you’re not doing it, it’s considered abnormal and creates that pressure of not wanting to be by themselves and not missing out.”
What are some common misconceptions about addiction?
“It can be something that alters you physically. There’s several cases – when it comes to opiates and alcohol – where it can change your body chemistry, and your body needs it to survive. There’s the misconception that it’s something that goes away just because you want to really badly. The other thing that happens is understanding the behavioral one. People think that some things are not addictive, when it’s not necessarily that those physical objects are addictive but how you feel is addictive. An example of this is when we talk about being online – phone usage – which is something addictive because even though we say we can put it down when we want, look at how hard that change is and how many people were against the Yondr pouches. Things can be behaviorally addictive where it seems so normal and a normal part of life that it becomes a challenge, and you might not be able to see how your functioning changes over time because of it.”
How can addiction affect a teenager’s mental health, relationships and school life?
“Addiction is its own thing already. It’s a challenge to manage it, but when we talk about substances and what’s appealing to them, a lot of the time people use them to self-medicate, meaning they use it to numb themselves or make themselves feel good. (They think substances) making themselves feel good is better than dwelling and thinking about these hard things. It’s putting a Band-Aid on something that’s a really big wound. It might feel like you’re not bleeding as much, but the thing is, it can get infected, it can spread, and that’s the same thing with mental health and substances. This can lead to long-term harm because that stuff is not being addressed, whether it’s trauma that needs to be worked on, a relationship that needs to be mended, and that’s the mental health aspect. It’s self-medication that’s not aimed at healing. It’s aimed at pausing it.”
What are some signs that someone is developing an addiction rather than just indulging? For example, planning their days around this substance/thing.
“The definition of addiction is that your daily functioning changes. Without it, you can’t function. That’s where it looks different for other people because what does functioning look like? It’s more like you realize you’re getting angry with people when you stop for a day. That’s going to impact your relationships and your whole life if you’re yelling at all your friends, or snapping at your parents because you’re more irritable. That can be seen as impacting your functioning. Getting suspended from school – it’s a lot harder to learn when you’re not at school – so that can be impacting your functioning. It’s also how often you’re thinking about it. Again, if you’re in class and you are just constantly thinking about it, that’s when you can’t even focus on anything around you because of what’s occupying your mind and energy. That’s what I’d say is when it impacts your functioning and is an addiction.”
How can someone help a friend or partner who might be struggling with addiction while still being firm on not liking that they’re using?
“Definitely knowing what your own values are and holding those boundaries is important. It’s okay to be with someone, even if you disagree with something, but understand your own boundaries and how to keep those boundaries. It can be that you don’t want to try it or be around it, such as telling them to take it outside, but one of the important things about supporting someone with an addiction is that the last thing you want to do is shame someone. It’s about practicing getting them to think for themselves. How is this getting them what they think they’re getting? Does it make you feel happy? Sure, it does, but it’s straining our relationship, making you have issues at school, physically harming you. It’s about maintaining your own boundaries for your sake but also being there for someone else and not shaming them for their decisions because that’s not going to get you what you want or help them. Explain to them what’s comfortable to you and what’s comfortable for them, and if they don’t know how, then redirect them to the Wellness Center or professionals. You can also still hold friends accountable. If someone is hurting you or affecting you, you don’t want to say that it’s okay because they’re struggling. You can say ‘I feel’ statements because it’s not about what they’re doing but that you notice a change in you, such as, ‘I feel like I haven’t seen you as much because of this, and I feel sad because I know you’re having a hard time.’ That’s what really humanizes you and shows that you’re not trying to attack. That’s also being supportive but also real about what’s impacting you. When someone else says that they’re being affected in a way, it might open someone’s eyes because they didn’t know they were doing that.”
How can someone create a safe environment for someone to talk about an addiction that may be more embarrassing to open up about, such as pornography?
“This comes from the relationship that you develop with someone, too. In order to show support, you have to be supportive, and what that looks like is being open. That goes back to not shaming someone – that’s super important. Even if you don’t understand, it’s about being supportive and open and giving them that space and time. Showing up is going to allow someone, when they’re ready, they know (that you are there for them). One of the harder things for someone about sharing, and this is true in all kinds of therapy, is that it has to be when they’re ready and when they’re comfortable, and that can look different depending on how much they know you and how much they’re willing to share because it might be an uncomfortable topic or situation. It’s about getting them familiar and getting them to come to that space when they’re ready. It’s about being open to all those things.”
How can a student seek help at the Wellness Center without fear of having to be reported to the school and their parents?
“One of the general rules of mandated reporting is that it does stay between you and one of the counselors. It is confidential, and this is not shared even with admin, for example, because it’s a separate kind of process. Schools do have their own kind of rules, but I will say that when it comes to mandated reporting, it all depends on the level of severity. When it comes to using substances, it’s one thing if you’re using because it may not be something that’s reportable. But when it comes to something like fentanyl, then it’s something we keep an eye on because it could be life threatening, and that’s something that’s more reportable so they get support. We’re only here until school ends, so what happens when school ends? If there’s something that could risk your life as soon as school ends, that’s when we’re reaching out to people. It’s the same thing if someone was getting abused, if someone was getting hurt in a relationship. Again, if it’s something life threatening or could physically hurt you, that’s when we share something. With substances, for the most part, there’s not too many out there (that’s reportable). Vaping is something we wouldn’t share because that’s not something that’s going to be life threatening today, but you can still receive help if you’re trying to lower the amount you do, or if you want to understand why you’re doing this. If you want to change behaviors because you notice it affecting you, we’re not going to update your parents even if they ask because we’ve had parents that want to know what’s going on in therapy. We ask them to respect the therapeutic relationship, and if there’s any major concern for their child’s health, we’d let them know.”
Anything else?
“I think a really big thing is understanding that it’s normal to explore, but it’s important to think about your own risks and safety, especially when it comes to relationships with people.”
If you are concerned about yourself or a friend in need of professional support, reach out to:
– National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 24/7 Call or Text: 988
– Crisis Text Line | Text HOME to 741741
– Create an account with To Be Honest for 24/7 virtual counseling
– Talk to a trusted adult, whether it be a doctor, teacher, parent or school counselor
– Go on to suicidepreventionlifeline.org and click “Get Help”
– If urgent, call 911
To identify risk factors and warning signs of eating disorders, click here for a resource.