Inhalant abuse ... 

When parents worry about drugs, they usually worry most about their kids using speed, pot, alcohol, cocaine, crack or hallucinogens. But, while the use of theses drugs have been declining over the past decade, inhalant abuse by children has been steadily climbing. Inhalants may be as or more problematic than the "traditional" drugs. There are other names for inhalant abuse important for you to know including "huffing," and "sniffing." You might hear your kids or their friends using these terms.

What are inhalants?

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, there are over 1,000 inhalants that kids can legally acquire and are using to get high. Most often, these are common household and office products that are safe when used for their intended purpose but dangerous when misused as an intoxicant.

Three categories of inhalants include solvents, gases and nitrites. Solvents are found in such products as spray paints, glues and polishes. Gases are found in gasoline and often used as propellants in aerosol sprays like hair spray, oven cleaner, spray paints, insecticides, and even whipped cream cans. Nitrites, like nitrous oxide, are found in room deodorizers.

Kids who abuse inhalants can be pretty creative when they want to get high. They could probably find a dozen or two inhalants without leaving the boundaries of your home. Look in your kitchen. Do you have cooking spray, typewriter correction fluid, disinfectants, fabric protectors, felt-tip markers, furniture polish and oven cleaners? How about air fresheners, spray deodorants, hair spray or nail polish removers in your bathroom? And if you have a garage, it's probably well stocked with aerosol paints, butane, gasoline, glues and adhesives, paints and paint thinners, rust removers and a lot of other dangerous inhalants. 

Kids who huff usually hang out together so, when one finds a new inhalant to abuse, it doesn't take long for the news to travel.

Who's abusing inhalants & why?

Children 12 to 14 years old are the most likely to abuse inhalants, but I've had clients who began huffing before they entered elementary school. Some statistics suggest that nearly 20% of eighth graders have used some form of inhalant, double what it was ten years ago. 

Kids choose huffing inhalants for various reasons ... they're quick, cheap, legal, easily available and hard to detect. They can do them in class, their room, in the garage, almost anywhere. If they're caught, it's easy to make up a reasonable excuse for having them. There's the social component, too; kids who huff, tend to huff together and hang out with other inhalant abusers. 

How do they use them?

They're pretty creative here, too. The most common ways kids "huff" are to breathe the inhalant directly from the can or container, spray it into a plastic bag or a balloon, or spray or pour them onto a piece of fabric and breathe the fumes. Socks come in handy for that purpose.

What are the effects?

The intoxicating effects are usually short-lived and can include euphoria, dizziness, temporary stimulation, disorientation, mood changes, trouble walking, feeling dazed and even passing out. They also can include nausea, vomiting, headaches, aggression, paranoia and hallucinations. 

What are the dangers?

Long term effects can include loss of concentration and short-term memory, hearing loss, muscle spasms, and lung, liver and brain damage. With the stronger inhalants and repeated use, your kid can die.

Death from inhalant abuse can arrive for several reasons: suffocation, choking on their own vomit, asphyxia, and injuries sustained while intoxicated. Suicide risk is also higher as well as cardiac arrest. Death from inhalant abuse is unpredictable and can occur even from using them only once.

Huffing can also lead to experimentation with other drugs.

What are some of the signs of inhalant abuse?

Besides the effects noted above, signs a child is huffing include paint stains on their clothes or body; a chemical smell on their breath and clothing; drunk, dazed or glassy-eyed look; spots or sores around the mouth; mood changes, especially anxiety, nervousness, excitability and irritability; nausea and loss of appetite.

How can we prevent inhalant abuse?

Educate yourself & your child ...

Learn how to recognize the signs of inhalant abuse. Become familiar how damaging inhalant abuse is including the long and short term effects and related health problems. Talk openly with your child about what you know and alert them to the dangers. Start when your child is young since kids often start abusing inhalants at 8 or 9.

Be aware of what products you have at home that can be inhaled and keep track of them. Discard aerosols that you don't use anymore. Better yet, keep inhalants like spray paint and paint thinners in a secure place if you have any concerns your child or their friends might be prone to huffing.

Be a good example ...

Be a good role model for your child. Foremost, don't abuse substances yourself. Parents who use drugs put their children at higher risk of drug abuse. Limit your child's exposure to your friends or relatives who abuse substances. Role model good boundaries by learning to say no to inappropriate expectations or demands by others. 

Encourage outside activities ...

Kids who have too much time on their hands or too few ways of expending energy can get bored or depressed. A bored kid is more likely to use drugs to feel better about his life. Although sports can be a good interest to develop, not all kids feel competitive and do better with such activities as art, music, community action, reading, hobbies or church activities. But, don't limit your involvement to picking-up and dropping-off. Being actively involved in what they choose to do not only strengthens your relationship, it also helps you monitor your child's friends.

Listen to your kids ...

Don't just talk. Learn how to listen you what's going on in your child's life and how he or she feels about things. Don't diminish what they're feeling or thinking. Remember, you were a kid once, too, and probably felt some of the same things. Wouldn't it have been nice to have had an adult listen for a change without telling you what to do, or that you were wrong or stupid for feeling the way you did? If you don't know how to do that for your child, parent skills training or family therapy can help.

Be positive ...

Don't forget to catch your kids doing something good for a change. Find as many things as you can that you like about your kids and let them know what they are. Praise them as often as you can, but do it honestly; kids can spot a lie a mile away. Remember, negative criticism lasts forever. A 10 to 1 ratio between positive and negative would be something to shoot for.

Set them up for success. Help them set reasonable goals for themselves and develop the knowledge and skills to achieve them. Their successes and your support can go a long way toward developing confidence, independence and good self-esteem.

Express confidence in their ability to make good decisions and deal with the consequences. A kid who's been shown over and over they can't do anything right is going to quit trying. Let them know you believe in and support them and they'll be much more likely to think about that when their friends try to get them to do something wrong.

And if your child is abusing inhalants ...

Get professional help immediately. Screaming, threatening, grounding and corporal punishment won't work and may make things worse. He or she needs your understanding and support now more than ever. Damaging your relationship by responding with abusive words or actions is not what they need. 

Your child has a serious problem which may require strong measures. Get the help and guidance of a mental health professional trained in substance abuse treatment. Don't wait for the problem to "just go away." Look for a counselor with LCDC after their name in the yellow pages and make the call as soon as possible. Your kid's life may depend on it.