Bullied Into Drugs
“Kids can be so cruel!” is a phrase that has been said by most everyone in their lifetime. Recently, the media has been buzzing with the latest stories of the effects of bullying. Schools make promise after promise to parents that they have the issue “under control” when in reality, they don’t. Furthermore, it has to be extremely difficult for any person to face a bully on a daily basis. The verbal assaults, public embarrassment, humiliation and physical abuse can be overwhelming at best. What does a kid do when it becomes too much to handle?
Bullying is a very real and very difficult thing for any adolescent to face. A boy may be told every day that he is useless and dumb. A girl may be told that she is ugly and a loser and not “popular.” Growing up is hard enough as it is—dealing with physical and emotional changes, becoming interested in the opposite sex and desperately trying to fit in. The bully’s sole purpose in life, so it seems, is to break down those they feel are weak, “losers,” or unpopular.
They have tried telling their parents and their teachers, but the only response they get is:
“Just ignore them!”
“Stand up for yourself!”
This is very hard for a bullied kid to confront. Really, a kid who gets beat down every day by kids much bigger than him is all of sudden going to fight back or ignore it all together?
How can they possibly ignore a constant bombardment of nasty insults and physical abuse? The only way they could possibly ignore such torment would be to check out of reality and escape to a different world for a while. Nothing accomplishes that goal better than drugs.
When a kid is already questioning his looks, body and self-worth, having someone come by and break him down or beat him up makes those awkward teenage years much, much worse. A kid who is bullied may start getting sick frequently and his grades might drop (he is unknowingly trying to avoid school at all costs because school = getting beaten up and being made fun of). He might start taking on destructive behaviors as a solution to his problems. Bullied kids find themselves as outcasts from their original group and find solace with other outcasts…those who have been through bullying and found ways to cope with it, whether it be smoking cigarettes, drinking or getting high, or bullying others!
Many bullied kids turn to drugs as a “way out.” It helps them to “numb out” a painful existence. The drugs put them in a non-feeling stupor—completely detaching themselves from reality so that they can remain unaffected by it. Their lives are unhappy, and contrary to popular belief, the drugs don’t make them happy either. The drugs deaden their emotions so they feel nothing. Feeling nothing starts to equal feeling happy because at least they “don’t hurt” anymore. After a while, they become a completely hollow shell, which sometimes leads to cutting and other types of self-mutilation just to feel something. A lot of times these bullied kids aren’t even safe at home because bullies nowadays harass through social media.
It starts out with a joint here and there, a few drinks, or a pill or five from their parent’s medicine cabinet. Unfortunately, as they continue to use drugs, instead of confronting life’s problems, using drugs becomes the only way to face any problem. As their problems get worse, they need to get higher and higher and eventually, the next thing they know, they are shooting heroin or popping massive amounts of pills to keep as far away from reality as possible.
What started out as a much appreciated relief from the stress of what is considered average adolescent behavior has now turned into a crippling addiction. All those times someone told them that they were useless has slammed them so far down that now, it’s true. They are useless without this drug and to most people, they are useless with the drug.
There is only so much that family, teachers, and friends can do to stop a bully from inflicting damage onto his peers, but if they go to the other end of the spectrum and do everything they can to help the victim of bullying, they may be able to save a life. By actually giving the bullied kid as much help, life skills, support and solutions as possible, then they have the ability to intervene on what may turn into a severe addiction.
If the person has already become addicted, a family can best help by getting them into the right treatment program. The right treatment will be one that addresses the physical addiction to drugs and then handle all of the mental damage not only created by the bullying, but also the mental and emotional distress created by leading an addictive lifestyle. When it comes to drug addiction, there is no such thing as a point of no return. With the right treatment and support they can overcome all that has happened.
