OR

As an adolescent myself, I can relate to the pressures, issues and tough decisions that teens have to face every day. Whether it be focused around school, home life or even the future, being a teenager in this day and age is a challenge in itself. For example, we are faced with sky-high expectations created by unrealistic representations splashed everywhere we look and sometimes the comparison of ourselves to others gets to be too much for one person to handle. Drugs and alcohol can be a form of escapism for a lot of teenagers trying to mirror what society tells them to be and not being able to live up to it. For others, the idea behind self-medication is to help numb themselves from life’s difficulties such as family problems, school stress and the “unknowns” of tomorrow. My observations on teenagers who end up becoming alcohol or drug abusers seem to be that they are not happy with themselves. They either have internal struggles like low self-esteem or on the other hand, they see themselves as not being able to “fit in” with who they want to fit in with. A lot of the times they may not have good coping mechanisms so instead, they turn to substances that are easily accessible at this tender age. So many situations, pressures and issues can lead to adolescents turning to self-medication to “help” themselves. As a teenager myself, I can clearly understand and relate with those who choose that path, but I also can recognize the alternate path to take which seems like it would work out better in the long run. This path would include finding yourself by having a healthy support system, believing in yourself and being yourself.