An interview with Dr. Linda on teens and inhalants
1. YEARS AGO PEOPLE USED TO JOKE ABOUT KIDS SNIFFING GLUE. HOW BIG A PROBLEM IS HUFFING? “Huffing”, also know as “Sniffing” or “Wanging” is now fourth among all forms of substance abuse by teens. According to national survey, more than 12.5 million Americans have abused inhalants at least once in their lives.
2. WHY ARE KIDS DOING IT? It’s cheap. It’s intense. And it’s easy to hide. For example, a teen can paint her fingernails with typewriter correction fluid and no one would notice her sniffing away in school. Kids don’t have to go to the corner and score drugs, deal with needles or other paraphernalia. The high comes as quickly as 10 or 15 seconds. The problem is this is a dangerous high. Huffing aerosols, solvents, petroleum products or gases comes at a huge price teens don’t consider. The intoxicating effects that come may last for a few minutes or hours but can actually lead to a loss of consciousness and other serious side effects that include sudden death.
3. HOW YOUNG ARE THE KIDS WHO ARE DOING INHALANTS? It’s frightening when you look at the facts that report some children as young as four years old are huffing. For many kids, huffing begins in elementary school or junior high. One researcher places seventh and eighth graders as the most common age of abuse. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) reports approximately one in five eighth-graders have abused inhalants. The abuse occurs mostly after dinner between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Another national survey by the institute found that three percent of American kids have tried inhalants “by the time they reach fourth grade.”
4. WHAT KIND OF THINGS ARE THEY USING? Air freshener, white out pens, glues, rubber cement, nail polish remover, lighter fluid, spray paints, deodorant, hair sprays, whipped cream canisters, cleaning fluids, cooking spray, oven cleaner, felt-tipped pens, typewriter correction fluid, disinfectants, fabric protectors, furniture polish, oven cleaners, butane, gasoline, adhesives, rust removers, and spray paints.
5. WHAT WARNING SIGNS SHOULD PARENTS LOOK FOR? First there is a high followed by dizziness which can lead to passing out and possible death. So let me break it down to short term and long terms effects:
Short-term effects: Headaches, nausea, vomiting, loss of balance, dizziness, slurred and slow speech, mood changes, and hallucinations.
Long term effects: Loss of concentration, short-term memory loss, hearing loss, muscle spasms, permanent brain damage, and even death (can occur when a child becomes panicked and the adrenaline rises in his body).
Other warning signs: Unusual chemical breath odors, watery eyes, dazed or dizzy appearance, paint on the face and fingers, red or runny nose, spots or sores around the mouth, loss of appetite, anxiety, excitability, and irritability, chronic cough, sudden change in mood and behavior, secretive behavior
6. WHAT KIND OF PHYSICAL DAMAGE HAPPENS WITH INHALANTS? The damage can be severe. Anything from heart to brain to liver damage can result. The most serious of course if heart failure and death. You see the inhaling of the poison displaces oxygen in the lungs and also in the central nervous system. Breathing then ceases. When there is a high concentration of the fumes, death can be a result.
7. DO KIDS REALIZE HOW DANGEROUS THIS IS? DO PARENTS? I believe most people are unfamiliar with how dangerous and prevalent this type of abuse is. And of course teens never think that they could be the one to die from doing this even one time, but it happens. You just don’t know. Every time you do it, you are taking an incredible risk with your physical body. And each time, there is some level of brain damage that occurs. Parents, talk to your children about this. They are inhaling poisons that can create memory loss and eventually put them in a vegetative state. This is nothing to experiment with since the consequences are so damaging.
8. WHAT SHOULD YOU DO IF YOU THINK YOUR TEEN IS USING INHALANTS? Talk to them about the dangers and risks, especially since death and brain damage can happen anytime. Monitor their behavior and remove the poisonous substances form their usage. When talking to young children, labels these inhalants as poisons.
WHERE DO YOU GO FOR PROFESSIONAL HELP? Contact a mental health professional. An addiction specialist can help you and your teen not only stop the behavior but get to the underlying reasons for doing it in the first place.