How Parents Can Help Teens Re-entering School After An Overdose
Having a child who had a non-fatal overdose is a frightening experience for parents and caregivers. It’s a time filled with emotions, and although going back to school and work can be a huge step forward in the recovery process, it can also cause stress and anxiety as students ease back into social and academic commitments. While they may feel helpless, parents can do to help with a child’s re-entry into school after a nonfatal overdose. It can feel overwhelming and distressing to support a recovering teenager, but it’s not impossible, and fortunately, there are plenty of resources to help.
It can feel overwhelming and distressing to support a recovering teenager, but it’s not impossible, and fortunately, there are plenty of resources to help.
How Parents Can Help Teens Re-entering School After An Overdose
Having a child who had a non-fatal overdose is a frightening experience for parents and caregivers. It’s a time filled with emotions, and although going back to school and work can be a huge step forward in the recovery process, it can also cause stress and anxiety as students ease back into social and academic commitments. While they may feel helpless, parents can do to help with a child’s re-entry into school after a nonfatal overdose. It can feel overwhelming and distressing to support a recovering teenager, but it’s not impossible, and fortunately, there are plenty of resources to help.
It can feel overwhelming and distressing to support a recovering teenager, but it’s not impossible, and fortunately, there are plenty of resources to help.
On a mindset level, there are some things to try to keep in mind:
- Whatever social anxiety or stress existed for your teen was facing prior to their overdose may still exist (or even be worse) when they return to school. Your teen is doing difficult, deep recovery work while also navigating the ordinary pressures of adolescence, so try to be patient with them.
- Recovery is difficult for adults, and they often have to cut off prior social ties to be successful. A teen may not have that luxury when attending the same school. Or, if they do remove themselves from a friend group, it can be a very lonely walk through crowded hallways and in full classrooms. Encourage your teen to engage in activities in which they can form new, meaningful connections. Or, allow them to simply get to know themselves for a while and withdraw – to a healthy degree, temporarily – from social interaction.
- Remember with social media a pervasive and constant presence in their lives, simply going home or shutting themselves up in their room doesn’t mean escaping from social pressure or being subject to the casual cruelty of online actors. Remind your teen they can uninstall TikTok, turn off their phone, and block and unfriend people on platforms. Don’t push if they don’t want to do that, however. Try to make some of the time you spend with your teen, such as while driving or eating dinner or watching a show together, non-phone time to give them a respite
On a practical level, just some steps you can take as a parent are:
- Have a check-in/check-out policy. This doesn’t have to be a formal administrative action or even a very big deal. Just ask your teen to check in with a person they trust – a coach, a counselor, a teacher, perhaps a reliable friend, even – when they get to school and leave. Check in with that person.
- Discuss workload accommodation ahead of time. Your recovering teen may feel like they’re better – and they likely are – but then discover on the third day of class they feel totally overwhelmed and stressed. Before they re-enter school, discuss what academic expectations are and offer to create a plan with teachers and school administrators for reduced or gradually increasing workload. This is especially true for teens who sustained a brain injury as a result of their nonfatal overdose as a primary symptom of brain injury is fatigue.
- Ease back in. It may make more sense to have your teen start going to classes once or twice a week and then building up to a full schedule. Remember, if your teen was unconscious for any period during their overdose experience, they may be experiencing the impacts of even a minor brain injury.
Christina Eichelkraut is a recovering print journalist who founded Christina Copy Co. in 2011. When her keyboard isn’t clacking, she bakes complex artisan bread, nerds out on political science, uses her fountain pens to write to pen pals the world over, and reads long past her bedtime in a joyful disregard of her alleged adulthood. Christina earned her B.A. in Mass Communications with an emphasis in print journalism in 2006 from Franklin Pierce University.
ABOUT BRAIN INJURY ASSOCIATION OF ARIZONA
The Brain Injury Association of Arizona (BIAAZ) is the only statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of adults and children with all types of brain injuries through prevention, advocacy, awareness and education. BIAAZ also houses the Arizona Brain Health Resource Center, a collection of educational information and neuro-specific resources for brain injury survivors, caregivers, family members and professionals.
What began in 1983 as a grassroots effort has grown into a strong statewide presence, providing valuable life-long resources and community support for individuals with all types of brain trauma at no charge.