Behavioral Health News, Fall 2017, “Context Counts In Caring for Chemically Dependent Kids and Families

by North Shore Child & Family Guidance Center | May 22, 2018 | In The Media

Despite feeling blindsided, many of us now know that we are living in the midst of an unprecedented drug epidemic. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, since 1999, the rate of overdose deaths including prescription pain relievers, heroin and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, nearly quadrupled.

In the intervening years, many steps have been taken to help save lives. These include improving prescribing practices and expanding access to medication assisted treatment and the use of Naloxone.

Medication-assisted treatment combines behavioral therapy and medications such as methadone or buprenorphine to treat opioid addiction. Through affordable, accessible and quality care people can recover and go on to live productive lives.

Naloxone is used to treat a narcotic overdose in an emergency situation by reversing the effects of opioids, including slowed breathing or loss of consciousness.

Notwithstanding the increased attention to lifesaving measures, there is relatively little focus on the devastating impact of addiction on children living in families where a parent is addicted to drugs or alcohol.

There are more than 8 million children under 18 years of age that are growing up in homes with alcohol and other drugabusing parents. These young people are likely to become alcohol or drug abusers themselves without intervention.

Parental alcoholism and drug addiction influence the use of alcohol and other drugs in several ways. These include increased stress and decreased parental monitoring that contributes to adolescents’ joining peer groups that support drug use.

Children who grow up with an addicted parent learn to distrust to survive. When unpredictability dominates one’s life, he or she is likely to be wary, always sensing disappointment lurking nearby.

Children growing up with an addicted parent become uncomfortably accustomed to living with chaos, uncertainty and unpredictability. When a child grows up under these conditions, they learn to guess at what normal is.

Denial, secrecy, embarrassment and shame are common experiences of children who live with an addicted parent. Even seeking help outside of the family might in itself be seen as an act of betrayal, a step toward revealing the family secret. The stigma of addiction can leave chemically dependent persons and family members feeling utterly alone in the world.

Children who grow up with an addicted parent live with the unspoken mandate – don’t talk, don’t trust, don’t feel.

Growing up with an addicted family member leaves children with little hope that things will ever change. I am reminded of a parable about the small village on the edge of a river.

One day a villager saw a baby floating down the river. He jumped in the river and saved the baby. The next day he saw two babies floating down the river. He and another villager dived in and saved them. Each day that followed, more babies were found floating down the river. The villagers organized themselves, training teams of swimmers to rescue the babies. They were soon working around the clock.

Although they could not save all the babies, the rescue squad members felt good and were lauded for saving as many babies as they could. However, one day, one of the villagers asked: “Where are all these babies coming from? Why don’t we organize a team to head upstream to find out who’s throwing the babies into the river in the first place!”

Mobilizing resources to pull babies from the river, while neglecting the one’s left behind makes no sense.

Andrew Malekoff is the Executive Director of North Shore Child & Family Guidance Center, which provides comprehensive mental health and chemical dependency services for children from birth through 24 and their families. To find out more, visit www.northshorechildguidance.org.

Dangers of vaping and other inhalants for teens

by North Shore Child & Family Guidance Center | May 22, 2018 | In The Media

On Thursday, May 17, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., North Shore Child & Family Guidance Center will be hosting a free community forum on the dangers of e-cigarettes, vaping and other substances such as new concentrated forms of marijuana.

The forum will be held at the Guidance Center’s Leeds Place location, at 999 Brush Hollow Road in Westbury.

“Marketers are selling teens and even younger kids on the idea that vaping is safe,” said Kathy Knaust, Clinical Supervisor at Leeds Place. “They’re also making the products more appealing to younger ages, including creating products such as fruit- and dessert-flavored vaporizer Juuls and decorative vape pens.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, millions of young people have taken up vaping — a trend that could push back decades of progress in helping prevent kids from taking up smoking.

The U.S. Surgeon General’s office reports that, along with nicotine, e-cigarettes can contain harmful ingredients such as ultrafine particles that can be inhaled deep into the lungs; flavorants such as diacetyl, a chemical linked to serious lung disease; volatile organic compounds; and heavy metals such as nickel, tin and lead.

The seminar will also discuss the fact that teen marijuana users are also more likely to be exposed to newer, more potent forms of marijuana, including a dangerous marijuana extract called “dabs” that is rapidly gaining in popularity.

“We are seeing many more clients reporting that they’re using THC oil or THC wax,” said Dr. Nellie Taylor-Walthrust, director of the Leeds Place. “It’s a very alarming trend, especially when they can’t know for sure what other substances may be added.”

Information to be covered includes how these marijuana products are produced and the dangerous chemical byproducts that are left as residue.

Said Knaust, “It is a much concentrated form of THC that is addicting and causes hallucinations, psychotic symptoms, ER visits and long-term damage due to the chemicals involved, mostly butane. These are becoming more sought-after products due to the potency and due to the fact that when vaped there is no smell; therefore they can be used undetected in public places or in school or in the home.”

The forum will also feature Nassau County Police Officer Yolanda Turner from Community Affairs at Police Headquarters in Mineola.

The forum is free but registration is required. Contact Dr. Nellie Taylor-Walthrust at (516) 997-2926, ext. 229 or email NTaylorWalthrust@northshorechildguidance.org.