Young Adult Drug Treatment Program
What is young adulthood?
Young adulthood, also known as “the in-between age”, is a pivotal stage in life. This stage of life includes anyone ranging from the age of eighteen to thirty-five. Young adulthood is described as rapid changes in emotional, cognitive, physiological, sexual and relational development. For most young adults, this chapter includes features like identity exploration, instability, self-focus, feeling intermediate, and endless possibilities. Individuals in this developmental stage can prosper and thrive or struggle because of the complex transition from adolescence to adulthood.
Young adulthood is unique in the sense that people’s lives can vary drastically from one another. For instance, you may find an eighteen-year-old enlisted in the army, or someone may be getting married and having their first child, another traveling the world, perhaps someone else landed a big job and moved across the country, while others may be living at their parent’s house, going to school or working a minimum wage job. Social media like Facebook and Instagram make it easy for young adults to compare themselves to other young adults which can lead to negative emotions. More often than not, this stage leads to isolation, loneliness, shame, low self-esteem, lack of motivation, etc. Social expectations are confusing in this stage and can be extremely overwhelming for some.
It is not uncommon for young adults to turn to substances and alcohol to cope with the stress of this transitional period and the negative emotions that can come with it. Many emerging young adults who are struggling in this stage have faced past difficulties such as trauma, lack of resources and previous mental health/ behavioral health issues. In addition to large socio-environmental changes such as moving out of your childhood home, the brain is still developing until about twenty-six years old and. This makes young adults even more vulnerable to struggles and challenges. Further more, many mental illnesses emerge during late adolescence and in the early to mid twenties. Unfortunately, if a mental illness, like anxiety, occurs during adolescence, that individual has a 90% chance of having that same mental illness in adulthood.
Young Adult Drug Treatment Program:
The combination of biology, genetics, past trauma and the big changes that occur during young adulthood can push many young adults into substance abuse and addiction. Treatment programs specifically catered to young adults are common and beneficial to those struggling with substance abuse issues. Young adult treatment programs give individuals the opportunity to relate, connect with other peers in their struggles and create a sense of community. Furthermore, professionals working at young adult treatment centers are experts in understanding and working with young adults struggling with substance abuse and this stage of life. Professionals may focus on a young adult’s fear of independence, their dependence on their parents, and setting goals. An age-specific treatment program provides individuals with the possibility to thrive into adulthood through relating personally to the other members in the program and professionals.
Check out The Last House for our Young Adult Drug Treatment Program.
Also take a look at Thrive Treatment for IOP services