(This article is written by Madison Park. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Madison attended Emerson College in Boston as a film major, but always gravitated more toward the field of psychology. With the hopes of transferring universities to study psychology and philosophy, Madison explores cognitive, social, and neurological subdivisions of psychology and all things related to the human condition to fulfill and live out her desires to research such an expansive study. Click here to check out her Podcast, The Unqualified Truth)

“I’m too sober for this party.” I’ve heard the phrase throughout high school, and its return in college leaves me unsurprised. The idea that teens can’t have fun without the influence of a drug seems to be more prevalent than ever—a social norm that was once primarily prevalent in mature social settings is now a norm among the youth. This pattern of “fun” consists of drugs beyond alcohol and nicotine, and now elicits a far larger problem spreading across the nation. As 11.89 million 12-17-year-olds have used narcotics within a month and as 11.2% of drug overdoses are ages 15-24 in 2019 (National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics), the epidemic of adolescent drug abuse is only on the rise. Accessibility of illicit drugs like marijuana, cocaine, LSD, methamphetamines, etc, have greatly increased, serving as a primary cause to the rise in adolescent drug abuse. If accessibility has made it easier for individuals to get their hands on these drugs, what evokes them to do so? What are the driving factors of drug use among adolescents? Upon diving into the psychological propellants of teen drug abuse, I’ve found that precursors to drug abuse are primarily childhood trauma, mental illness, and genetics. The cause of this drug use can be attributed to not only the increased accessibility of drugs, but under a psychological and biological lens, the facets of childhood trauma, stress, and mental illness that further contribute to this rise. At the core, this research paper investigates how both genetics and environmental influences shape the developing child: how adolescent drug abuse often occurs due to trauma, stress, and all other factors that rewire and reconfigure notions of self-perception, the process of healing, and, ultimately, tolerance and methods of coping.  

Childhood Development: Parental Relations 

Upon discovering the root causes of teen and adolescent substance abuse, a primary cause is, more often than not, unresolved childhood trauma and poor parent-child relations. Upon analyzing Dr. Gabor Maté’s work on addiction and the role of childhood trauma within that, he discovered that there is a clear and uncanny correlation between drug addicts and childhood trauma. A group of pediatricians in 2003 conducted an experiment that utilized 10 incidences of painful trauma to uncover the role of such in substance abuse—“family violence, including family violence, parental divorce, drug or alcohol abuse in the family, death of a parent and physical or sexual abuse” (Maté 59) across thousands of participants. “For each adverse childhood experience or ACE, the risk for the early initiation of substance abuse increased between two- and fourfold. Subjects with five or more ACEs had seven to ten times greater risk for substance abuse than those with none” (59). Thus, childhood trauma is a paramount determinant of future substance abuse along with the probability that an individual will use drugs during their developing years. Much of what individuals face during childhood, when they’re most impressionable in their process of development, predetermines the emotional and even physical that will carry into their adolescence and adulthood. This emphasizes the core importance of proper child development and nourishment as a parent. Beyond serving the role of a caregiver, establishing healthy emotional bonds with a child and promoting and encouraging self-actualization, healthy independence, esteem, belonging, and many more essential pillars of child-parent relationships sets a child up for success. Lacking such vital necessities compromises a developing child emotionally, physically, and most notably, on a molecular level. 

Child-parent relations depend on a certain threshold of nurturing that develops the child’s opioid and dopamine circuitry—chemicals that, in the absence of stress, grow healthily within the body. These opioid and dopamine receptors control core emotive and cognitive processes, including love, connection, pain, pleasure, motivation, and incentive. These “essential drives” (57) contribute to the proper development of attachment between the infant or child to the parent. Depriving a developing child of these essential drives causes the child to look for the lack of essential neurotransmitters and consistent parent-child contact with drugs to compensate for what the brain is lacking. Beyond dopamine, the brain subsists off healthy levels of serotonin, often triggered when parents show affection, care for the child, and provide emotional support. Children who lack this affection, consequently, have lower levels of serotonin, meaning their ability to deal with anxiety and stress is fundamentally compromised. This lack of affection further compromises norepinephrine, a mood and behavior-regulating neurotransmitter. This inhibits a child’s ability to control aggression and frustration, which, in their adolescence, disposes them to higher probabilities of alcohol abuse, fearfulness, and hyperactivity. Ultimately, the imbalance of essential chemical functions within the brain predisposes an individual to higher stress levels throughout adolescence and adulthood. As Maté states, “Maternal deprivation and other types of adversity during infancy and childhood result in chronically high levels of the stress hormone cortisol…excess cortisol shrinks important brain centres such as the hippocampus—a structure important for memory and for the processing of emotions” (Maté 58). Said biological imbalances increase cortisol, the stress chemical, which disposes that child to a higher probability of drug abuse—leading to possible permanent decay of essential functions within the brain. Without those essential functions, these molecular inadequacies can manifest in visible behavioral differences and mental health instability. 

Emotional and Biological Responses  

With these imbalances established, how do these biological dysfunctions result in the development of mental health issues? Without crucial neurotransmitters or chemical imbalances that develop from childhood trauma and poor parental relationships, individuals naturally find it harder to seek emotional support. Self-navigating the environment as they reach adolescence naturally becomes more difficult in terms of adaptation, flexibility, maturity, and tolerance. The increased irritability and aggression expose those individuals to a greater risk of not only drug abuse but also mental health issues, as most of their coping mechanisms stem from denial. In digestible terms, Maté breaks down the terms of depression, concluding that depression is an act of the suppression of emotion as the emotions are too painful hence why depression is both a diagnosis and a coping mechanism. Thus, the development of mental health issues takes the form of relief, oftentimes in ways out of one’s control—a visceral reaction by the endocrine system. When crucial neurotransmitters are cut from communication from the brain, this allows, as mentioned earlier by Dr. Maté, all the mental anguish born out of childhood trauma mixed with a lack of nurturing and a pool of other shortcomings, to manifest in the early development stages of a teenager.

The American Psychological Association, or APA, is the leading scientific psychology organization partnering with professionals, researchers, and clinicians alike to study all that revolves around the study of psychology. Their article titled, “Child and Adolescent Mental and Behavioral Health Resolution,” reinforces Maté’s findings mentioned earlier stating, “Additionally, research shows that toxic stress (prolonged exposure to trauma and the biological stress response) impacts early brain development and later brain function, including executive functions such as control over emotions and impulses” (APA 2022). With a hindered ability to control those “emotions and impulses” (2022), it’s only logical for an individual’s mental health to be compromised. Maté presents a notable profound statement saying, “…trauma is not what happens to you—the trauma is what happens inside you.” Thus, it’s important to recognize that trauma does not stem from the event that occurred as much as it is the turmoil and anguish that has been revealed as a result of the event—what ends up following an individual for years to come. Struggles with mental health develop out of one’s atavistic need to find solace, even a distraction, to make sense of the trauma that has happened to us along with all the biological reconfigurations that have resulted from the event(s). 

Temperamental Causes: Personality  

Considering the mental health problems that may arise, we must additionally consider the overt characteristics that cause that individual to latch onto unhealthy sources of relief. Understanding the personality traits that develop alongside mental disorders or traits that develop before the diagnosis or full manifestation of a mental disorder serves as crucial in the eyes of Dr. Anna Lembke, MD, Chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic at Stanford University School of Medicine. She stated on the Andrew Huberman Podcast that “People who are more impulsive are more vulnerable to addiction…that (impulsivity) means having difficulty putting space between the thought or desire to do something and actually doing it” (Huberman 12:30-12:43). This is not to say that all forms of impulsivity are necessarily bad, but that impulsivity is widely present among those diagnosed with BPD or bipolar personality disorder, bipolar disorder, and ADHD or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Impulsivity, tying back to notions of poor emotional management, frustration, and irritability, often causes individuals to struggle with feelings of inadequacy, leading to instability of everyday behaviors, possible relationships, and episodes of high irritants that often cause them to lash out even at the slightest inconveniences. This impulsivity makes an individual all the more susceptible to notions of the “addictive personality”: an individual that, due to their impulsivity, gets attached and addicted to substances or activities in, often, unhealthy ways. These are notable traits, whether it’s to avoid discomfort, suppress painful emotions, or mask their internal turmoil in social situations, “…begins as a coping mechanism and later on becomes a source of dysfunction” (Ferriss 41:52-41:55). The traits often develop from, again, childhood trauma and more specifically when, as a child, an individual was failed to be taught how to relieve and outsource their emotions healthily. Impulsivity and addictive personality traits embody many forms: overspending, oversharing emotions, inability to remain still, abruptly changing or canceling plans, escalating confrontations, emotional outbursts, etc. These characteristics are often habitual and reveal themselves in simple everyday functioning, not always under extreme circumstances of self-mutilation or self-harm. These habits manifest in addiction when those individuals search for external forms of relief: their impulsivity makes it all the more difficult for them to fight the urge to seek that relief in drugs or alcohol. Yet, how do these personality traits and behavioral patterns manifest through causes beyond drug usage and childhood trauma? What role do genetics play in drug addiction? How much does it put a developing child at risk? 

Genetic Predispositions

Though the phrase “it runs in the family” is often stated when evaluating an individual’s current health and biological standings, this is not quite the case. There seems to be a misconception that addiction and mental illness are genetically engraved in an individual, and are bound to manifest in the individual regardless of environmental circumstances—that the effects of those genetic makeups are inevitable. However, Maté argues that “genes can predispose but they can’t predetermine” addiction (Feriss 53:17-53:20). He refers to a study conducted in New Zealand where psychologists had studied aggression in individuals and the possible gene variant that predisposed individuals to higher levels of aggression. However, they concluded that the gene variant existed amongst all and that even the least aggressive individuals possessed that gene. The study proves that though there may be a gene variant responsible for addiction, simply because an individual possesses that gene does not, by default, predispose them to addiction. As cataloged by the National Library of Medicine, “There is no “gene for alcoholism”; rather there are a multitude of genes, each with small effects, that interact with each other (epistasis) as well as with their biologic and external environments (gene-environment interaction) to make an individual more or less susceptible to the development of these complex disorders…it is usually preceded by a trajectory of risk-related behavior, with its origins in childhood” (Meyers and Dick). Research deducted from the same article determined that, through the longitudinal Finnish Twin Studies, as both men and women had progressed from adolescence to adulthood, genetic factors had played an increasing role in drinking and drug-consuming patterns; however, drug use in early adolescence “seems to be almost entirely influenced by family, school, and neighborhood” (Meyers and Dick). Thus, in our most malleable stages in life, our genetic predispositions can’t predispose us but instead predetermines our susceptibility and patterns of addiction if that addiction is carried into adulthood. Why? As early adolescents, individuals naturally don’t express their genetic predispositions as our decision-making processes are often carried out by figures of authority. Yet, as individuals come of age, depending on the social environments they grow up in, they become more expressive and can freely navigate their social and independent lives—naturally causing the individual to express more of their genetic predispositions. 

Methods of Rehabilitation: Targeting Fundamental Issues

Under an encompassing light, I’ve discovered that much of what initiates our social, cognitive, and behavioral development in childhood transpires in adulthood. Nurture takes over in early adolescence, while the amalgam of nature and nurture—genetics and environment— fully manifest in adulthood. Mental illness, genetic predispositions, and childhood trauma are ultimately rooted in factors that are often out of an individual’s control, and when treating early onsets of addiction in youth, different forms of rehabilitation and treatment must be taken to target prevention, not solely sobriety. Acknowledging that addiction starting in adolescence is often attributed to environmental circumstances, considering the Harm Reduction Model is crucial. This model can be adopted by parents and caregivers to not encourage drug experimentation but to encourage teens to use critical thinking skills and self-awareness to facilitate drug experimentation in a safe environment. According to clinical psychologist Dr. Robert Benavides, “The harm reduction, in many instances, is to help the kid make critical decisions so that their curiosity doesn’t harm them” (Guilford). Consequences of youth substance abuse, as mentioned, are attributed to a myriad of factors, most primarily rooted in the environment in which they have been raised. I’ve discovered that the only way to target and prevent such addictions from developing is in the hands of the caregivers. Without proper emotional support and social climates for a child to grow and develop, genetic predispositions, mental health issues, and, consequently addition, permeate into an individual’s life and further prevent them from seeking health and sobriety. For those who have loved ones who are struggling with adolescent drug abuse, it’s fundamentally essential to, rather than immediately transfer the source of help to a facility, initially provide an environment for them to be vulnerable—to tackle basal sources of psychological safety and rid of the notion that punishment is synonymous with the turmoil of drug addiction and mental illness. 

When considering methods of rehabilitation for the individual, those suffering from addiction, trauma, or mental health should find it important to implement what Dr. Gabor Maté refers to as “compassionate inquiry” (Ferriss 1:03:00). We must ask ourselves why and how we have come to experience what we are experiencing in life, not to criticize or punish, but to understand and reconcile with the pain and misdirection we may have come to experience. Thus, the trauma we carry is an internal battle, disclosing us from the present and often manifesting in unhealthy forms of distraction: addiction. It’s important to recognize not only where drug addiction stems from but also why and how to alleviate pain and distress and to understand why it exists and why it’s equally as important to recognize patterns of cause and effect—a true embodiment of self-awareness and action. Rehabilitation centers and therapy specifically for adolescent drug users are still in the works, so the primary call for action lies in the cause. Individual upbringing and environmental exposures serve as paramount precursors to child development, and understanding their role in the shaping of an individual serves as a call to action in itself. Change ultimately derives from the will of the individual, making it necessary for them to be aware, cognisant, and understand their upbringing and consequently the roots of their identity. Only then, is it possible for any future treatment to work its full course. 

I indulge in this research to speak to those who have battled adolescent drug addiction, are currently battling, know of a loved one who is, or is simply concerned with the cause as I am myself. The drug epidemic has stretched for decades if not centuries and as exposure to such drugs has increased among the youth drastically over the past few decades, the time to tackle and understand this trend is now more than ever. Addiction is both a battle and a method of coping—relief and pain. The duality of its nature makes it difficult to combat, treat, and recover, but in the process of breaking down the causes, I encourage readers to recognize and understand what truly encompasses addiction, its prevalence among the youth, and how the epidemic can evolve to heal itself through proper parenting techniques, establishing healthy relationships with other and oneself, and an awareness that the root of adolescent drug addiction, aside from any biological preconditions, can be manipulated by the individual to carve a path to health. 

(This article is written by Madison Park. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Madison attended Emerson College in Boston as a film major, but always gravitated more toward the field of psychology. With the hopes of transferring universities to study psychology and philosophy, Madison explores cognitive, social, and neurological subdivisions of psychology and all things related to the human condition to fulfill and live out her desires to research such an expansive study. Click here to check out her Podcast, The Unqualified Truth)