10 Questions to Ask Your Teen Before Putting Them into Detox

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, not only is it important to talk to your teen about drug use, the way that you talk to them is important as well. One of the biggest pieces of advice that is given is that active involvement is extremely helpful when trying to talk about drugs. One of the ways to demonstrate active involvement is to ask your teen questions. Some of the questions help to determine your teen’s level of drug use and others help you to determine the level of detox that they need.

1. Are you Doing Drugs?

Although this might seem obvious, it is important to open the discussion with a question like this. The signs might be there but there is a possibility that the answer to this question is truly no. Your teen might lie and say no even if the answer is yes. Either way it seems to establish trust.

2. What Drugs are you Doing?

Ask your teen what drugs they use so you can get them proper treatment.

This is another question to establish a baseline of sorts. By asking what drugs your teen is doing, you can find out how far your teen is willing to lie. It is not impossible for a teen to tell the truth in answer to this question.

3. Are you Willing to Take a Drug Test?

This question may help to clear up whether or not your teen is lying about being on drugs. If your teen has admitted to using drugs, the test will help you determine what they are on. If your teen denied using drugs, but is willing to take a drug test, there is a good chance he or she is not using drugs and if your teen is unwilling or angry about being asked to take a drug test, chances are they are on drugs.

4. Are you on Drugs Right Now?

If the answer to this question is yes, you might want to postpone any other questions until they are sober. It is usually useless to talk to someone who is currently on drugs.

5. Why do you do the Drugs that you Do?

Although this might seem like a silly question, it is not. The answer might lead to a way to help them into treatment. Depression, social isolation, and anxiety are often reasons for starting drug use. The answer why might also help you decide which type of detox and treatment will work best for them.

6. Do you Want Treatment?

Again this might seem an obvious but sometimes a teen drug addict wants a way out but doesn’t know how to ask for it. They simply do not know how to ask for the help that they need.

7. How Can I help You?

It is important to ask them how you can help. In order for trust to be established between you and your teen, you have to be willing to listen to their ideas and opinions about treatment. Asking how you can help is a nonjudgmental way to establish this dialog.

8. How Many Times a Day or Week do you Use?

The answer to this question will help you choose which detox to try and what treatment will work best. If your teen is a chronic frequent user, a more intensive treatment might be necessary. If your teen is an infrequent user, a less intensive detox is necessary.

9. Have you Tried to Quit?

This question can make a teen realize that they have a problem with addiction. If they have tried to quit and failed the addiction is beyond the point where a simple home detox is adequate treatment.

10. What Kind of Treatment are you Interested in?

Again finding a treatment the works for both you and your teen is extremely important. By explaining the types of treatment and asking what type your teen is interested in you can find something that works for both of you.

Finding the Information that You Need about Detox for Teens

In order to know what each answer to these questions means, you have to do your own research. We can help you find all of the information you need to get your teen into the right detox program the first time. Call us at 800-996-6135(Who Answers?) we can help.