What Teens Are Up AgainstAnd What You Can Do About It Using Brain - PDF document

5/18/16 “ What Teens Are Up Against…And What You Can Do About It ” Using Brain Science and Parent Knowledge to Explore Teen Substance Use Risks Stephen Bogan, M.A.,LMHC, CDP 206-463-3050 imperfecthealer@netscape.com Goals for tonight… • ENGAGE….(I hope!?) • EDUCATE…(we ’ ll all share our wisdom) • EMPOWER…parents to be as vigilant (or more) about drug use as they are about grades and room cleaning!!! 1

5/18/16 How much knowledge and comfort do you have in taking a stand against… • Methamphetamines? • Cocaine? • Opiates • Heroin? • PCP? • Tobacco? • Alcohol? • Marijuana? Is it harder to take a strong stance against alcohol and marijuana? • What drug could you best warn your teen against using? • Can message be too strong and unrealis?c…. • Or too soB? • Or no message at all? • Trea?ng some mood altering substances as “ soB ” drugs flies in face of brain science. • Express a “ no use ” aKtude. 2

5/18/16 The most powerful prevenXon tools? • The strength and clarity of your convicXons ….what you say and don ’ t say have tremendous power…whether you think your teens are listening or not. • Delaying the onset of early use of alcohol and other drugs. • Brain development in process and ongoing un?l at least age 26. The power that parents have… • Teens who have close rela?onship with their parents less likely to become alcohol involved. • Children, teens watch their parents carefully. • One of the most consistent risk factors for adolescent drinking/drug use is parental approval. • Adolescents who report low parental monitoring are more likely to use substances. 3

5/18/16 What parents think about marijuana use maYers to their kids!! Source: 2014 Healthy Youth Survey Fact Sheet VHS What parents think about alcohol use maYers to their kids !! 2014 Healthy Youth Survey Fact Sheet VHS 4

5/18/16 Don ’ t wait to express your concerns about alcohol use Source: 2014 Healthy Youth Survey Don ’ t wait to express your concerns about marijuana use Source: 2014 Healthy Youth Survey 5

5/18/16 10 th grade marijuana use down from 2012 Source: 2014 Healthy Youth Survey 10 th grade alcohol use way down since 2012 Source: 2014 Healthy Youth Survey 6

5/18/16 The AdapXve Adolescent is … • Less a rough draB than an exquisi?vely sensi?ve, highly adaptable being wired almost perfectly for the job of moving from the safety of home into the complicated world outside. OR • Big engine, poor driving skills, faulty breaks, and high-octane gas. 7

5/18/16 Age of first use predicts adult dependence… 16 8

5/18/16 Teen Brains Overvalue Reward, Undervalue Risk • Chief predictor of adolescent behavior is not the percep?on of risk, but the an?cipa?on of reward despite the risk! • Drug use inhibits the development of new memories and learning in the teen brain • Neural paths for reasoning, judgment, and inhibi?ng impulses have yet to be fully established. • “ What ” were you thinking vs. “ HOW ” 9

5/18/16 Teen brains are wired to take risks… • Increased risk-taking designed to help teens learn new things, become independent. • Risk taking triggers the amygdala to release dopamine and adrenaline that produce an emo?onal “ high ” and a feeling of excitement. • Drugs “ hi-jack ” the amygdala • Teens weigh risks as much or more than adults The Amygdala: flight, fight, freeze and emoXonal relevance… Ø Fully developed at birth!!! Ø Wonder, awe, passion Ø Why we like things we do a lot. Ø Security alarm for our lives; learned fear. Ø “ Cave boy story ” ; amygdala vs. PFC. 10

5/18/16 Drugs shield children from dealing with reality… • And from mastering developmental tasks crucial to their future. • The skills they lacked that leB them vulnerable to drug abuse in the first place are the very ones that are stunted by drugs. • Youth will have difficulty establishing a clear sense of iden?ty, mastering intellectual skills, and learning self-control. • Youth will chronologically mature while remaining emo?onal adolescents. (Robert Schwebel) 21 The adolescent brain on drugs • Drug use disrupts the pre-frontal cortex ’ s capacity for reason and control. • Drug abuse disrupts the brain ’ s innate drive for growth, and interferes with natural interests. • Floods reward system with dopamine • As much as 2 – 10 ?mes the dopamine from natural rewards. 22 11

5/18/16 AddicXon is an onset disorder of young people • The vast majority of people who suffer from addic?on encountered the beginnings of their illness when they were teenagers. • Ninety percent (90%) of people who are dependent on alcohol or other drugs started before they were twenty (20) years old. (HBO Addic?on) 23 How alcohol affects the teen brain • Can act as a s?mulant affec?ng inhibi?ons • Is a central nervous system depressant • Cerebellum- coordina?on, thoughts, awareness. • Cerebral cortex- slows down processing. • Hypothalamus- body temp., heart rate increase. • Frontal lobes-control of emo?ons, urges. 12

5/18/16 Alcohol and Teen Brain cont ’ d. • Hippocampus- short, long term memory, blackouts. • Low sensi?vity/high tolerance risks. • Overdose-central nervous system shugng down. • “ let him sleep it off… ” dangers. Marijuana: Age of first use/addicXon potenXal • Age of first use early as 10 and avg.12 -13. • Summer between grade 8 and 9!!!! • Use before age 15 predicts 63% will have adult dependence. (Dennis 2002) • Recent NPR report: “ Only 1 in 6 teens becomes addicted … ” !?!? That ’ s 17 %. • 50% of daily users become addicted. • “ Dabbing ” THC levels up to 90% !!!!!! 26 13

5/18/16 Proliferation of Images 27 Adult vs. teen risks • Marijuana is legal for 21 year olds • Medical cannabis may be helpful to some adults with some medical condi?ons • Very lille proven evidence on efficacy and safety of cannabis use for children and teens. • Should our message be affected by social trends or brain science? 14

5/18/16 Marijuana potency way up!! 29 PercepXon of harm lowest since 1978 15

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5/18/16 EducaXonal and Life Outcomes • Lower sa?sfac?on with life • Academic pursuits perceived as less rewarding and meaningful. • Lower grades and exam scores. • Less likely to graduate from High School • Less likely to enroll in college. • More likely to earn lower income. • More likely to be unemployed. • Nora Volkow - NIDA 33 Early pot use may change brain • Regular use before age 16 causes changes in brain that can impair ability to focus, learn from mistakes, think abstractly. • Early users did more poorly on tests of cogni?ve func?ons and mental flexibility. • Early chronic users “make repe??ve incorrect responses even while being told they are wrong”; called cogni?ve inflexibility. 34 17

5/18/16 Use causes lasXng changes to teen I.Q and “ working memory ” • Average I.Q. decline of 8 pts. (N.Z. study of Teen use avg.THC 5%) • “ Working memory ” consists of brain structures cri?cal to memory and reasoning. • A source of ready recall for basic informa?on for solu?ons to everyday problems. • Working memory is a strong predictor of academic achievement. • Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine 35 Everything “ seems ” beYer when high… • Affects the amygdala – part of brain that provides emo?onal relevance to memory. • Percep?on that “ I do everything beler… ” , or everything feels beler… • Ar?ficial passion and meaning over-rides natural rewards of the ac?vity. • Affects emo?onal regula?on. • Down-regulates brain – can ’ t feel awe and wonder. 36 18

5/18/16 EmoXons, social skills • Youth use drug to compensate for inadequate social skills • May see daily use as their own “medica?on” for depression, sadness, anxiety. • Connect the drug use with reduc?ons in stress, sadness, anxiety, when in reality these feelings are being “masked” not reduced. • Makes happy, good feelings less rewarding. 37 THC and mental health • Depressed teens more than 2X more likely to have used than non-depressed. • Teens who smoke marijuana at least 1X/ month are 3X more likely to have suicidal thoughts than non-users. • Teens who use marijuana to “self-medicate” depression may worsen their condi?on. • Teen use may triggers psychosis, depression, and other mental illness. 38 19

5/18/16 Closing thoughts… • Parents need to be the mature, calm, and reasonable Pre-Frontal Cortex for their kids. • Guiding them and integra?ng emo?on, judgement,regula?on, reason. Stay calm, focused, and confident • Parents who become aware of adolescent brain development can feel less injured when their good kid does a bad thing. • Brain development explains why teens are so quick to try new things and forge into the unknown… • BUT also explains why they s?ll need their parents!!! 20