TeenHealthFX - Answers - Questions on Friendships and Drugs

Helping Friends And Loved Ones With Their Emotional Issues / Question
Published: June 28, 2006

Dear TeenHealthFX,

Recently, I went to my old best friend's birthday party and saw the person that was my best friend after that. She is almost an exact copy of me, and that got annoying (opposites attract) so I gave up on being her friend. Now she seems to still be like that. I also saw another girl, a VERY popular one at my middle school AND my elementary school. She was good friends with both of my old best friends, and I knew that before. I never liked her much before, but this time I realized that we were alike also. She said she thought I was Emo and that she wanted to be, and I laughed. She was a great friend, but I think she is hanging out with the wrong people—popular people and stoners. Unfortunately, she got to me and we started sniffing things like Comet (Sink cleaner that my mom lets me smell when she uses—but she doesn’t know I’ve been sniffing it!!) and Sharpies. It is really fun, but I am scared that it might be bad for me. I don’t want to overdo it, and I am constantly fighting the urge to get LSD, an almost lifelong dream of mine. I plan to take LSD before I die, probably in my worst moment by accident or on purpose when I am very old. I want to hallucinate, but I get straight A’s and have a dream that I CANNOT ruin by doing drugs!! I will NOT be like Eva Duarte (Peron) and let half of my life waste away until I do something meaningful—though she is my idol. Back to my friend, should I even try to be friends with her, or is it to dangerous? I love her so much.

Signed: Questions on Friendships and Drugs

Dear Questions on Friendships and Drugs,

As far as your friendship with this girl, TeenHealthFX has concern that a part of this friendship is based on using drugs. However, whether or not you choose to keep this person as your friend is something that in the end you need to decide. In order to clarify your feelings about it, you may want to consider the following questions:

Do I enjoy myself when I am with this friend?
Do I feel that this friend cares about me in terms of how she treats me?
Do I feel that this friend has a positive or negative influence on me?
Do I like how I feel and how I act when I am with this friend?
Do I see this friend as being there for me through the good times and the bad?

TeenHealthFX is very concerned about the issues you are having with drug use. You say that sniffing Comet and Sharpies is “fun” and that you have a strong desire to use LSD. But it sounds like there is definite part of you that comprehends that what you are doing (or what you want to do) is unhealthy and hurtful to your mind and body. You said you are “scared” about what you are doing – and you have every reason to feel frightened because the more you use any type of drug, the more you are putting your health in jeopardy.

Inhalants are a class of drugs where a temporary high is achieved when fumes, gases or other substances are breathed in and absorbed into the body through the lungs. Negative consequences of inhalant use include:

Impaired physical coordination and impaired judgment, at times leading to irresponsible or dangerous behaviors.
Damaged breathing passages, leading to severe coughing, painful inflammation, and nosebleeds.
Mental confusion, hallucinations, and delusions of persecution (paranoia).
By depressing the central nervous system, inhalants may dangerously hinder the activity of the nerves that control breathing. The resulting respiratory depression may cause unconsciousness, or even death.
Shortage of oxygen in the lungs.
Fatal irregularity of heartbeat (arrhythmia) or complete heart arrest.
Increased risks of permanent brain damage, with effects such as poor memory, extreme mood swings, tremors, and seizures.
Organic solvents are the most dangerous types of inhalants, as they can cause fatal damage to the liver and kidneys, as well as to the heart and nervous system.

LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) is part of a class of drugs knows as hallucinogens – a type of drug that alters a person’s thought process, mood, and perceptions of reality. Negatives consequences of LSD use include:

Intense anxiety
Panic
Delusions
Paranoia
Rapid mood swings
The sense that one is losing his/her identity
The fear that one is disintegrating into nothingness and reality does not exist
The frightening and disorienting effects of a bad trip are known to result in violent or hazardous behaviors, leading to accidental fatalities, homicides, self-mutilation and suicide.
Some users may experience seizures.
Drug-induced psychosis, which is a distorted ability to recognize reality, think rationally or communicate with others.
Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder (HPPD), which is spontaneously repeated recurrences of some of the sensory distortions, originally produced by LSD. The flashback experience may include halos or trails attached to moving objects or seeing false motions in the peripheral vision.

Because you are currently abusing inhalants, and because you have a desire to use drugs in the future despite being aware of the negative impact on your body and your future goals, FX recommends that you meet with a mental health professional to address this issue. Especially since it does not sound like you are truly okay with sacrificing your straight A’s and your dream for the future over drugs.

If you live in northern New Jersey and need help finding a therapist you can call the Access Center from Atlantic Behavioral Health at 973-247-1400. Outside of this area you can log onto the US Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website for referrals in your area. You can also contact the National Institute on Drug Abuse & Alcoholism at 1-888-644-6432.

Signed: TeenHealthFX