There's nothing more heart-wrenching than seeing a troubled teen in the throes of drug or alcohol addiction.
Fortunately, there are things we can do to improve their chances with respect to addiction recovery.
First, we can and must intervene when an addiction is visible.
We've all heard that you can't really help someone with an addiction until they're ready to seek help.
That "they gotta hit rock bottom" theory may hold true for adults, but it doesn't necessarily apply to teens.
In many cases, involuntary rehabilitation, counseling and other addiction recovery efforts can produce permanent changes in struggling teens.
We don't need to wait for a child to be teetering on the edge of complete personal destruction before we do something.
That "hands off" approach may actually allow situations to spiral out of control when they could be successfully resolved with action.
Additionally, the process of intervening on behalf of struggling teens may actually be the trigger that leads a realization that change is essential.
It's a way of holding a mirror up to the individual and allowing them to see the need to take action.
Second, we can encourage struggling teens to seek out addiction recovery options that have a strong spiritual component.
Faith-based efforts often work very well in these situations.
They provide the addict with an understanding of why they are important as individuals and why their destructive behavior really does matter.
It's a way to confront and destroy the selfishness that often reigns in addiction situations and it can provide recovering kids with a safe and secure foundation from which to make progress.
Secular recovery options may work just fine for some teenagers and we can't completely discount them as an option.
In fact, non-religious efforts may work better for a slender minority of troubled teens.
However, many will experience much better results from programs and processes that are based in the family's faith.
It's a difficult situation.
Watching a young person with whom you're close slip away into the nightmare of addiction is one of the more painful experiences imaginable.
Fortunately, there are things we can do to reverse the situation.
Those are just two means by which we can assist struggling teens as they combat problems with addictions.
By being proactive adults and seeking out recovery measures in which faith and religious issues play a key role, it's possible to change lives for the better.