Substance use is a prevalent problem among persons under the age of 18. Whether it begins due to peer pressure or as a way of dealing with emotional pain, the results are the same: kids becoming addicted to substances and all of the side effects and consequences that come with addiction.
However, there is one specific population among young people that has significantly higher rates of substance use: children of military personnel. What drives military kids to substance use?
Dealing With Deployment
For a child, dealing with a parent who is deployed can be very difficult. The parent is gone for an extended length of time and it is not always known when they will return home or for how long. The concern about when they will leave again is always there too. Most distressing is the risk of serious injury or death that occurs when a parent is deployed.
Deployment is difficult enough for a spouse or partner as an adult, but children lack the emotional maturity to know how to deal with so many fears and unknowns. Unwittingly, the other parent who is at home may not be available to offer the support the child needs due to their own stress levels. This creates an unresolved loop of fear and uncertainty surrounding the family, which is meant to shelter the child from stressors rather than create them.
Increased Stressors
With so many increased stressors and likely increased responsibilities as well, it should not be surprising that so many young people in these families turn to substance use as a way to cope with their stress load. Their emotional needs may not be being met, particularly with one parent absent.
Children also may hide their fears in an attempt to make things easier for the parent at home and other family members. As someone young and inexperienced, they may turn to substances without realizing the full risks of their actions.
Learned Behaviors
Military personnel and their spouses or partners also have an increased rate of substance use compared to the general population. This means that substance use could even be a learned behavior for the kids of military families. The normalization of substances as a coping mechanism increases the chances of kids learning this behavior.
When children grow up watching one or more parents use substances to cope with the additional stressors of being in a military family, they learn that this is how they, too, should cope their feelings. This creates a dangerous cycle. Whether it is partially genetic or completely learned, it is a cycle of pain and addiction that doesn’t get better without outside help.
Because the behaviors are learned, they are more ingrained and less likely to be seen as abnormal. The familial aspect of substance use can sometimes even be a barrier to finding treatment and healing.
Lack of Emotional Support
Military personnel are stereotypically strict and less likely to show emotions. This results in less emotional support for children in an environment that has increased stressors and responsibilities, even for those who are very young. This type of environment may not provide the emotional support that children need to learn to manage their own emotions and responses.
Fear of the Unknown
Despite military service adhering to strict rules and schedules, being the family member of a military serviceperson requires dealing with a lot of unknowns. Deployment creates unknowns surrounding where a parent even is, let alone knowing if and when they will be back. If they come back, how long will they be home before they have to leave again?
These unknowns can be overwhelming for a child and, even if the parent or caregiver at home is able to offer emotional support, kids can still lay awake at night worried or develop behaviors or even depression or anxiety based around fears of the unknown. These situations also increase the likelihood of substance use as a form of self-medication.
Coping With Harsh Realities
When parents return home, they are sometimes injured or suffering from PTSD or other issues.
Then there are the parents who don’t return.
These are harsh realities and are part of the concerns of every family member and loved one of military personnel. However, kids have fewer emotional coping skills to deal with these realities. Dealing with a parent who comes home with a serious injury or disability can be overwhelming for a child.
Worse still, an invisible disability such as PTSD, where they may not understand what is happening or why their parent may be acting that way. Obviously, a parent that does not come home is incredibly traumatic, particularly since there is not really an opportunity for healthy closure.
In cases of injury or PTSD, the emotional resources to support kids in these situations are maxed out as any other adult in the home is involved in taking care of the veteran. Turning to substances may be the only solution a kid in this circumstance knows for how to deal with these harsh realities. Sadly, the increased stressors of being the child of a military parent can be the impetus for substance use.
What drives military kids to substance use? At Rancho Milagro Recovery, we understand the unique stressors of military service and work with military families. Call us at (951) 526-4582 to find out if we can help your family to heal and become whole again.