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Information and Resources for Teens on Opioid Addiction

What are opioids?

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA):

Opioids are a class of drugs that include the illegal drug heroin, synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, and pain relievers available legally by prescription, such as oxycodone (OxyContin®), hydrocodone (Vicodin®), codeine, morphine, and many others. These drugs are chemically related and interact with opioid receptors on nerve cells in the body and brain.

How can the use of prescription pain relievers become a problem?

According to the NIDA:

Opioid pain relievers are generally safe when taken for a short time and as prescribed by a doctor, but because they produce euphoria in addition to pain relief, they can be misused (taken in a different way or in a larger quantity than prescribed, or taken without a doctor’s prescription). Regular use—even as prescribed by a doctor—can lead to dependence and, when misused, opioid pain relievers can lead to overdose incidents and deaths. An opioid overdose can be reversed with the drug naloxone when given right away.

How common is opioid abuse amongst teens?

Some facts about teen opioid abuse:

  • Hospitalization rates for opioid exposures nearly doubled for teens between 1997 and 2012.

  • The new study found that the incidence of hospitalizations for prescription opioid poisonings of 15–19-year-olds rose from 3.7 per 100,000 in 1997 to 10.2 per 100,000 in 2012—a 176% increase. Heroin poisonings for the same age group were up by 161%, to 2.5 per 100,000. CDC data show that overdose deaths related to opioids surged in 2015 to 33,091, an uptick of more than 4,000 from 2014. For the first time, the number of heroin-related fatalities surpassed gun deaths.

  • Seven out of 10 people who end up hooked got pills from a friend.

  • Teens can become more innocently addicted when prescribed something like Percocet or OxyContin after an injury or surgical procedure.

  • Most teens switch from prescription opioids to heroin because of the reduced cost of the product.

Teens, whose brains are still developing, are particularly vulnerable to becoming addicted to alcohol and drugs, including opioids. A concern for teens who do get addicted is that they are less likely to have access to treatment programs and medications, and many treatment programs are often geared towards adults.

What are the dangers of prescription opioid abuse?

It affects the brain:

  • Reduce or stop essential functions like breathing

  • They cause a large release of the neurotransmitter dopamine. Repeated surges of dopamine from drug-taking can lead to addiction.

It affects the body and can cause:

  • Sleepiness

  • Confusion

  • Nausea

  • Constipation

  • Slowed or stopped breathing

Overdoes and death:

  • You can overdose and die from prescription opioid misuse. Just one large dose could cause the body to stop breathing.

  • The risk of overdose and death increases if you combine opioids with alcohol or other medications that also slow breathing, such as Benzodiazepines (i.e., Xanax)

  • Nearly 23,000 people died from an overdose of prescription pain medication in 2015, with alarming increases among young people ages 15 to 24.  

  • People who show signs of an overdose (slow breathing, blue lips and fingernails, cold damp sin, shaking, vomiting or gurgling noise) need immediate medical assistance. 911 should be called right away if there is any concern of a possible overdose.

Prescription opioids can be addictive. Opioid withdrawal can cause:

  • Restlessness

  • Muscle and bone pain

  • Sleep problems

  • Diarrhea

  • Vomiting

  • Cold flashes with goosebumps

  • Involuntary leg movements

What are the dangers of heroin use?

It affects the brain:

Short-term effects of heroin include a rush of good feelings and clouded thinking. These effects can last for a few hours, and during this time people feel drowsy, and their heart rate and breathing slow down. When the drug wears off, people experience a depressed mood and often crave the drug to regain the good feelings.

Regular heroin use changes the functioning of the brain. Using heroin repeatedly can result in:

  1. tolerance: more of the drug is needed to achieve the same “high”

  2. dependence: the need to continue use of the drug to avoid withdrawal symptoms

  3. addiction: a devastating brain disease where, without proper treatment, people have trouble stopping using drugs even when they really want to and even after it causes terrible consequences to their health and other parts of their lives. Because of changes to how the brain functions after repeated drug use, people that are addicted crave the drug just to feel “normal.”

It affects the body:

Opioid receptors are located in the brain, the brain stem, down the spinal cord, and in the lungs and intestines. Thus, using heroin can result in a wide variety of physical problems related to breathing and other basic life functions, some of which may be very serious. In 2011, more than 250,000 visits to a hospital emergency department involved heroin.

Heroin use can cause:

  • dry mouth

  • warm flushing skin

  • heavy feeling arms and legs

  • feeling sick to the stomach and throwing up

  • severe itching

  • clouded thinking

  • going "on the nod," switching back and forth between being conscious and semi-conscious

  • coma—a deep state of unconsciousness

  • dangerously slowed (or even stopped) breathing that can lead to overdose death

  • increased risk of HIV and hepatitis (a liver disease) through shared needles

Longer term effects can include: 

  • problems sleeping

  • damage to the tissues inside the nose for people who sniff or snort it

  • painful area of tissue filled with puss (an abscess)

  • infection of the heart

  • constipation and stomach cramping

  • liver and kidney disease

  • lung problems

  • mental health problems, such as depression

  • sexual problems for men

  • changes in menstrual cycles for women

Overdose and death:

Yes, because heroin slows and sometimes stops breathing, its use does kill people—called a fatal overdose. Deaths from drug overdoses have been increasing since the early 1990s, fueled by increases in misuse of prescription opioids and, more recently, by a surge in heroin use. Nearly 13,000 people died in 2015 from heroin overdoses, with alarming increases among young people ages 15-24.

People showing symptoms of a heroin overdose (slow breathing, blue lips and fingernails, cold damp skin, shaking, vomiting or gurgling noise) need immediate medical assistance. You should call 911 right away if you have any concerns that someone is overdosing.

Addiction and withdrawal:

Yes, heroin can be very addictive. In 2015, about 591,000 people had a heroin use disorder. That means they had serious problems with the drug, including health issues, disability, and problems meeting responsibilities at work, school, or home. Of the people with heroin use disorder in 2015, 6,000 were teens

When someone is addicted to heroin and stops using it, he or she may experience extremely uncomfortable and painful withdrawal symptoms, which is why it is so hard to quit. Those symptoms typically include:

  • muscle and bone pain

  • cold flashes with chills

  • throwing up

  • diarrhea

  • trouble sleeping

  • restlessness

  • kicking movements

  • strong craving for the drug

Where can I go for help with opioid abuse for myself or a friend or loved one?

  1. If you see or hear about someone misusing opioids, talk to a coach, teacher, or other trusted adult. 

  2. If you, or a friend, are in crisis and need to speak with someone now, please call: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (they don't just talk about suicide—they cover a lot of issues and will help put you in touch with someone close by).

  3. If you need information on treatment and where you can find it, you can call: Substance Abuse Treatment Facility Locator at 1-800-662-HELP or visit www.findtreatment.samhsa.gov.

  4. For more information on how to help a friend or loved one, visit our Have a Drug Problem, Need Help? page.

Important Treatment Considerations for Teens

  • Some medical and mental health professionals believe that one part of the solution to opioid misuse is to increase emotional awareness. Jamison Monroe, founder and CEO of Newport Academy, a teen rehab health center, is one of many who maintain this belief. “In our society, I believe there is a direct line between ignoring internal turmoil and an uptick in the use of pain medication,” Monroe says. “We don’t have conversations with our friends and family members about difficult things. As a result, our negative feelings spiral, and we seek chemical means to numb them,” he says.

  • Effective treatment for teens usually involves the family. Family-based treatment incorporates parents, siblings and others close to the teen, addressing family conflict and mental health concerns that may contribute to drug abuse.

  • Medication can be helpful. AAP recommends that pediatricians consider offering medication-assisted treatment to their adolescent and young adult patients with severe opioid use disorders or discuss referrals to other providers for the service.

 

Additional Resources: