The latest buzz within the online world is how big a factor social cues are within search engine ranking results on the Internet. However, the bigger, more important story is how great of an impact social platforms, and the internet in general, can have on the lives of teens and young adults in relation to alcohol consumption and drug use.

A survey conducted by Columbia University’s National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) found that teens who use social platforms and image sharing sites are three times more likely to drink alcohol. In addition, the study shows that those same teens are twice as likely to use marijuana and five times more likely to smoke tobacco than those who don’t frequent the Internet.

“Social networking is a relatively new phenomenon that wasn’t previously a factor in alcohol and drug abuse,” begins a spokesperson for Mountainside Drug Rehab and Alcohol Treatment Center . “New types of media are continually cropping up that show images and videos depicting underage drinking and, unfortunately, those images do have an effect on the choices that young people may make in relation to using those substances. When underage drinking and illegal drug use is glorified, teens see those choices as acceptable and commonplace. We need to make certain that we monitor our children’s online activity and communicate to them that it doesn’t matter what others choose to do, those behaviors still remain unacceptable and, more importantly, illegal.”

The CASA survey showed that 70 percent of teens (approximately 17 million) between the ages of 12-17 spend times on social networking sites daily. The survey also indicated that 90 percent of parents did not believe that specific types of internet exposure would make their children more likely to get involved with drugs or alcohol.

Suspected teen drug or alcohol use is, oftentimes, a difficult subject for parents to broach, but fortunately parents aren’t alone. Mountainside Drug Rehab and Alcohol Treatment Center offers professional intervention services to help get teens and people of all ages on the road to recovery.

Mountainside Drug Rehab and Alcohol Treatment Center is a modern drug rehab facility that is skilled in serving a variety of clients with various addictions and in varying stages of their addiction. The caring, compassionate team is made up of licensed and certified social workers and counselors who have extensive experience and specialty in the addiction treatment field. In addition, the staff includes a Nurse Practitioner, as well as a Registered Nurse, both of whom also have specializations and experience within the field of addiction treatment and alcohol rehab.

Mountainside also provides services for those individuals who come to them with dual diagnoses and require the services of a Psychiatrist to help conquer the unique challenges that dual diagnosis brings.

For the past 13 years, Mountainside has established itself as an innovator within the addiction treatment field, and the treatment modalities Mountainside utilizes are regarded as among the most cutting-edge approaches in helping individuals to get, and to remain, sober. As a result of their unique, innovative approaches to addiction treatment, Mountainside has become the model for the addiction treatment field.

The program, along with its professional addiction treatment team, have earned national recognition and resulted in Mountainside being invited to Washington by the White House to meet with the White House Drug Czar, John P. Walters, for an in-depth meeting on what makes its program so successful. These accolades did not go unnoticed within the addiction treatment field and resulted in the adoption by many throughout the country of a more holistic approach to drug addiction treatment.

Via EPR Network
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