Antonio Molina: addictions during adolescence

Adolescence is one of the most decisive vital stages when it comes to setting habits and personality patterns, for better or for worse.

As for the good, we can highlight the opportunities to develop skills in a vocational way (thanks to free time and a way of life in which we expose ourselves to a greater variety of stimuli), but As for the bad, it is mandatory to talk about something that can nullify the above: addictions.

And it is that although addictions in adolescents are not usually based on "hard drugs" such as heroin or cocaine, they are exposed to others that have greater social acceptance or that are not even seen as addiction disorders since they do not involve the consumption of substances. In addition, trends in addictive behaviors are constantly changing, which makes it difficult for mothers and fathers to protect their little ones.

For know the characteristics of the world of addictions in adolescence We spoke with Antonio Molina Serrano, Founder and Director of Fromm Wellness

, specialized therapy center for people who have developed dependence on substance use or harmful actions such as constant betting.

• Related article: "The 14 most important types of addictions"

Interview with Antonio Molina: addictions and adolescents

Antonio Molina is part of the Fromm Bienestar team, therapy center located in Mairena del Aljarafe (Seville)

What are the types of addictions to which the Spanish adolescent population is most exposed?

In recent times we are experiencing a rather worrying boom in behavioral addictions, also called addictive behaviors. Among them are the pathological gambling or pathological gambling, mobile phone addiction or nomophobia, closely related to the use of social networks and the Internet. And some already known as video game addiction.

Among the addictions that involve the consumption of some substance, alcoholism or addiction to alcohol, tobacco addiction, which is now changing the format towards the hookah, being equal to even more harmful than the tobacco. And of course the consumption of THC present in joints of cannabis and hashish, sometimes mixed with other opioid substances that increase the risk of serious mental illness. A lot of research is also being done on the risks of electronic cigarettes and vapes, which camouflage their addictive potential in electronic devices based on resistors and lights.

In recent years, online betting houses have proliferated. Given that the current generation of teens is made up of digital natives, are they especially vulnerable to this format of gambling?

The exponential increase in cases of compulsive gambling among young people and adolescents has set off all alarm bells among families, experts and now it seems that public administrations too.

In the digital age, where everything revolves around the latest generation mobile phones and smartphones, large corporations are already They are adapting their products to the profile of future consumers who sometimes do not even reach the majority of age. And not only favoring accessibility to said gaming platforms, but also projecting icons and models of success for young people and adolescents through the advertising that daily bombards the boys and girls of our country.

Among young people, the consumption of some drugs has long been seen as an element of popularity. What can be done to fight this?

We could start by questioning some references among young people and also among adults, which we often inadvertently help to praise and highlight some figures from the world of sports, songs and television with a scale of values ​​very based on the superficial and the material.

These icons and reference models for the youth of our country introduce the idea of of having as opposed to being, and this evidently translates into the consumption of anything, including substances and drugs.

In the US, adolescents are switching en masse from tobacco use to cigarettes electronics, to the point that smoking cigarettes in this age group is seen as something relatively rare. Are there signs that the same thing will soon happen here?

I already pointed out before this change in the forms of consumption that, however, do not stop putting health at risk and the development of addictive behaviors among our young people and adolescents.

Now the cool, the millennial, smoking a hookah or vape, when it is already known that the risks are the same or very similar to those of other substances such as tobacco. It is as if some economic interests wanted us to get high while everything was prettier, with lights, smoke and color.

How do psychologists work to intervene in cases of adolescents who have developed addictions?

The methodology of each professional is very personal. In our center, Fromm Bienestar, specialized in the treatment of adolescents, families and addictions, we practice a proprietary methodology that focuses on listening and self-knowledge as the basis for improvement and growth staff.

We think that telling a teenager not to smoke pot, for example, doesn't do much good. We prefer that the adolescent himself come to the conclusion that smoking joints limits his abilities and well-being.

How does the collaboration with his family members come about?

Working with the affective and family environment of the young patient is a priority. However, there is no treatment without trust, and for this reason we are scrupulous with confidentiality in therapeutic practice.

In this sense, we limit ourselves to working on the difficulty encountered individually and independently with each member of the family, generating an introspective look that allows identifying co-responsibility in each of the elements that make up the core of coexistence. Family interventions and therapies are a fundamental part of the process, and families are very grateful for it, because they perceive our encouragement and support at every moment.

What else is needed for us to create cultural barriers that prevent adolescents from falling into addiction?

It is a complex and very broad subject, because we think that addiction is present in the cultural and belief system itself as a permanent symbiosis. In a capitalist system, where the consumer society is in turn consumed by this idea of ​​having as opposed to being or being as much as one has, any form of consumption is legal and legitimate.

We have depleted a large part of the planet's natural resources as well as destroyed the habitat of millions of living beings with whom we share a home. And in this absurd and destructive idea of ​​predation we are even allowing some forms of consumption of people. How could we not consume ourselves?