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Young Adult Drug Treatment – Destroy Your Dependency

There are a number of reasons why young adult drug addiction program need to be targeted to a specific age group. This population is generally defined as young men and women between the ages of 18 and 25. The human brain does not become fully developed before the age of 30.

Permanent Damage

Becoming addicted to alcohol or drugs while the brain is still developing can lead to irreversible damage. The scale of the problem is massive. In the United States at the beginning of the 21st Century, 115,000 young adults were enrolled into rehabilitation programs. The actual number of young addicts would have been considerably higher, given that only a small proportion of them have access to rehabilitation facilities.

The Three Priorities

Psychologists describe three key tasks that an individual completes during their formative years. These are to find a mate, to become independent from their parents and to identify their life’s work. Being distracted by an addiction or other mental health problem interferes with this natural progression.

12 Steps

Many rehabilitation programs revolve around the 12 Steps. The 12 Steps were developed to treat alcoholics. The first step is admitting that they have no power over their addictions. Next, they recognize a higher power that can give them the strength to take control over their problems. The final steps involve making amends to those people that they have hurt by their actions when they were addicted.

Gender

Young women have very different needs from those of men and their rehabilitation must be structured accordingly. Their treatment needs to be planned with their age and gender in mind. Women are more easily addicted. Alcohol or drug dependence can force them into harmful relationships with people who manipulate them for their own gain.Men, too, have needs that are specific to their gender. These are the years when they establish their own identity. They require understanding as they metamorphose from adolescence to becoming an adult.

Religious Convictions

Many intensive outpatient programs utilize the Twelve Steps. The Twelve Steps recognize a higher power who figures prominently in this approach to mental therapy. This begs the question of what approaches are available for atheists who require rehabilitation. They do not acknowledge the presence of a higher power and if they did, they would not blame Him for their problems. At this sensitive age, they certainly do not need to be made to feel like failures for not believing. Atheists respond best to approaches that are not based on a deity or a faith but on scientific principles. Motivation Enhancement Therapy, Behavior Therapy and Cognitive Behavior Therapy have all been used with good results in this population.