What Teens Are Up Against…And What You Can Do About It...• “Dabbing” THC levels up to 90%...

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“WhatTeensAreUpAgainst…AndWhatYou

CanDoAboutIt”UsingBrainScienceandParentKnowledge

toExploreTeenSubstanceUseRisksStephenBogan,M.A.,LMHC,CDP

206-463-3050imperfecthealer@netscape.com

Goalsfortonight…

•  ENGAGE….(Ihope!?)•  EDUCATE…(we’llallshareourwisdom)

•  EMPOWER…parentstobeasvigilant(ormore)aboutdruguseastheyareaboutgradesandroomcleaning!!!

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Howmuchknowledgeandcomfortdoyouhaveintakingastand

against…•  Methamphetamines?•  Cocaine?•  Opiates•  Heroin?•  PCP?•  Tobacco?•  Alcohol?•  Marijuana?

Isithardertotakeastrongstanceagainstalcoholandmarijuana?

•  Whatdrugcouldyoubestwarnyourteenagainstusing?

•  Canmessagebetoostrongandunrealis?c….•  OrtoosoB?•  Ornomessageatall?•  Trea?ngsomemoodalteringsubstancesas“soB”drugsfliesinfaceofbrainscience.

•  Expressa“nouse”aKtude.

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ThemostpowerfulprevenXontools?

•  ThestrengthandclarityofyourconvicXons….whatyousayanddon’tsayhavetremendouspower…whetheryouthinkyourteensarelisteningornot.

•  Delayingtheonsetofearlyuseofalcoholandotherdrugs.

•  Braindevelopmentinprocessandongoingun?latleastage26.

Thepowerthatparentshave…

•  Teenswhohavecloserela?onshipwiththeirparentslesslikelytobecomealcoholinvolved.

•  Children,teenswatchtheirparentscarefully.•  Oneofthemostconsistentriskfactorsforadolescentdrinking/druguseisparentalapproval.

•  Adolescentswhoreportlowparentalmonitoringaremorelikelytousesubstances.

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WhatparentsthinkaboutmarijuanausemaYerstotheirkids!!

Source:2014HealthyYouthSurveyFactSheetVHS

WhatparentsthinkaboutalcoholusemaYerstotheirkids!!

2014HealthyYouthSurveyFactSheetVHS

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Don’twaittoexpressyourconcernsaboutalcoholuse

Source: 2014 Healthy Youth Survey

Don’twaittoexpressyourconcernsaboutmarijuanause

Source: 2014 Healthy Youth Survey

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10thgrademarijuanausedownfrom2012

Source: 2014 Healthy Youth Survey

10thgradealcoholusewaydownsince2012

Source: 2014 Healthy Youth Survey

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TheAdapXveAdolescentis…

•  LessaroughdraBthananexquisi?velysensi?ve,highlyadaptablebeingwiredalmostperfectlyforthejobofmovingfromthesafetyofhomeintothecomplicatedworldoutside.

OR•  Bigengine,poordrivingskills,faultybreaks,andhigh-octanegas.

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Ageoffirstusepredictsadultdependence…

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TeenBrainsOvervalueReward,UndervalueRisk

•  Chiefpredictorofadolescentbehaviorisnotthepercep?onofrisk,butthean?cipa?onofrewarddespitetherisk!

•  Druguseinhibitsthedevelopmentofnewmemoriesandlearningintheteenbrain

•  Neuralpathsforreasoning,judgment,andinhibi?ngimpulseshaveyettobefullyestablished.

•  “What”wereyouthinkingvs.“HOW”

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Teenbrainsarewiredtotakerisks…

•  Increasedrisk-takingdesignedtohelpteenslearnnewthings,becomeindependent.

•  Risktakingtriggerstheamygdalatoreleasedopamineandadrenalinethatproduceanemo?onal“high”andafeelingofexcitement.

•  Drugs“hi-jack”theamygdala•  Teensweighrisksasmuchormorethanadults

TheAmygdala:flight,fight,freezeandemoXonalrelevance…

Ø Fullydevelopedatbirth!!!Ø Wonder,awe,passionØ Whywelikethingswedoalot.Ø Securityalarmforourlives;learnedfear.Ø “Caveboystory”;amygdalavs.PFC.

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Drugsshieldchildrenfromdealingwithreality…

•  Andfrommasteringdevelopmentaltaskscrucialtotheirfuture.

•  TheskillstheylackedthatleBthemvulnerabletodrugabuseinthefirstplacearetheveryonesthatarestuntedbydrugs.

•  Youthwillhavedifficultyestablishingaclearsenseofiden?ty,masteringintellectualskills,andlearningself-control.

•  Youthwillchronologicallymaturewhileremainingemo?onaladolescents.(RobertSchwebel)

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Theadolescentbrainondrugs

•  Drugusedisruptsthepre-frontalcortex’scapacityforreasonandcontrol.

•  Drugabusedisruptsthebrain’sinnatedriveforgrowth,andinterfereswithnaturalinterests.

•  Floodsrewardsystemwithdopamine•  Asmuchas2–10?mesthedopaminefromnaturalrewards.

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AddicXonisanonsetdisorderofyoungpeople

•  Thevastmajorityofpeoplewhosufferfromaddic?onencounteredthebeginningsoftheirillnesswhentheywereteenagers.

•  Ninetypercent(90%)ofpeoplewhoaredependentonalcoholorotherdrugsstartedbeforetheyweretwenty(20)yearsold.(HBOAddic?on)

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Howalcoholaffectstheteenbrain

•  Canactasas?mulantaffec?nginhibi?ons•  Isacentralnervoussystemdepressant•  Cerebellum-coordina?on,thoughts,awareness.

•  Cerebralcortex-slowsdownprocessing.•  Hypothalamus-bodytemp.,heartrateincrease.

•  Frontallobes-controlofemo?ons,urges.

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AlcoholandTeenBraincont’d.

•  Hippocampus-short,longtermmemory,blackouts.

•  Lowsensi?vity/hightolerancerisks.•  Overdose-centralnervoussystemshugngdown.

•  “lethimsleepitoff…”dangers.

Marijuana:Ageoffirstuse/addicXonpotenXal

•  Ageoffirstuseearlyas10andavg.12-13.•  Summerbetweengrade8and9!!!!•  Usebeforeage15predicts63%willhaveadultdependence.(Dennis2002)

•  RecentNPRreport:“Only1in6teensbecomesaddicted…”!?!?That’s17%.

•  50%ofdailyusersbecomeaddicted.•  “Dabbing”THClevelsupto90%!!!!!! 26

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Proliferation of Images

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Adultvs.teenrisks

•  Marijuanaislegalfor21yearolds•  Medicalcannabismaybehelpfultosomeadultswithsomemedicalcondi?ons

•  Verylilleprovenevidenceonefficacyandsafetyofcannabisuseforchildrenandteens.

•  Shouldourmessagebeaffectedbysocialtrendsorbrainscience?

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Marijuanapotencywayup!!

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PercepXonofharmlowestsince1978

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EducaXonalandLifeOutcomes

•  Lowersa?sfac?onwithlife•  Academicpursuitsperceivedaslessrewardingandmeaningful.

•  Lowergradesandexamscores.•  LesslikelytograduatefromHighSchool•  Lesslikelytoenrollincollege.•  Morelikelytoearnlowerincome.•  Morelikelytobeunemployed.•  NoraVolkow-NIDA

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Earlypotusemaychangebrain

•  Regularusebeforeage16causeschangesinbrainthatcanimpairabilitytofocus,learnfrommistakes,thinkabstractly.

•  Earlyusersdidmorepoorlyontestsofcogni?vefunc?onsandmentalflexibility.

•  Earlychronicusers“makerepe??veincorrectresponsesevenwhilebeingtoldtheyarewrong”;calledcogni?veinflexibility.

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UsecauseslasXngchangestoteenI.Qand“workingmemory”

•  AverageI.Q.declineof8pts.(N.Z.studyofTeenuseavg.THC5%)

•  “Workingmemory”consistsofbrainstructurescri?caltomemoryandreasoning.

•  Asourceofreadyrecallforbasicinforma?onforsolu?onstoeverydayproblems.

•  Workingmemoryisastrongpredictorofacademicachievement.

•  NorthwesternUniversityFeinbergSchoolofMedicine 35

Everything“seems”beYerwhenhigh…

•  Affectstheamygdala–partofbrainthatprovidesemo?onalrelevancetomemory.

•  Percep?onthat“Idoeverythingbeler…”,oreverythingfeelsbeler…

•  Ar?ficialpassionandmeaningover-ridesnaturalrewardsoftheac?vity.

•  Affectsemo?onalregula?on.•  Down-regulatesbrain–can’tfeelaweandwonder.

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EmoXons,socialskills

•  Youthusedrugtocompensateforinadequatesocialskills

•  Mayseedailyuseastheirown“medica?on”fordepression,sadness,anxiety.

•  Connectthedrugusewithreduc?onsinstress,sadness,anxiety,wheninrealitythesefeelingsarebeing“masked”notreduced.

•  Makeshappy,goodfeelingslessrewarding.

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THCandmentalhealth

•  Depressedteensmorethan2Xmorelikelytohaveusedthannon-depressed.

•  Teenswhosmokemarijuanaatleast1X/monthare3Xmorelikelytohavesuicidalthoughtsthannon-users.

•  Teenswhousemarijuanato“self-medicate”depressionmayworsentheircondi?on.

•  Teenusemaytriggerspsychosis,depression,andothermentalillness.

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Closingthoughts…

•  Parentsneedtobethemature,calm,andreasonablePre-FrontalCortexfortheirkids.

• Guidingthemandintegra?ngemo?on,judgement,regula?on,reason.

Staycalm,focused,andconfident

•  Parentswhobecomeawareofadolescentbraindevelopmentcanfeellessinjuredwhentheirgoodkiddoesabadthing.

•  Braindevelopmentexplainswhyteensaresoquicktotrynewthingsandforgeintotheunknown…

•  BUTalsoexplainswhytheys?llneedtheirparents!!!