Jessica Lahey on Inoculating Our Kids Against the Risk of Substance Abuse

“The one bottom-line message for me is delay, delay, delay. And mainly that comes down to the fact that I just keep repeating to them how much their risk factors for all kinds of negative outcomes go down with each passing year that they’re not using substances.”

— Jessica Lahey

I had such a great discussion with Jessica Lahey for this episode. Jess is a bestselling parenting author, and her first book is called The Gift of Failure. Today we talk about her second book, out this week, called The Addiction Inoculation: Raising Healthy Kids in a Culture of Dependence. This is such an important topic, especially with the rising rates of teen mental health issues that we were seeing even before the pandemic. The book is very well researched, but it’s not a dry academic tome; Jess weaves in stories from her own life as well as stories of real teens and the challenges they face.

Some topics Jess and I discuss include:

  • When the experts say “substance abuse is preventable,” what does this mean?

  • How genetics, epigenetics, and environment work together to affect a person’s risk of substance abuse;

  • How Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) come into play here;

  • Balancing risk factors against protective factors;

  • Risks of substances on adolescent brains that are still developing;

  • The importance of talking to kids and teens about brain development and how their brains work;

  • Why the “Just Say No” and “Scared Straight” approaches are not effective;

  • Why parents can’t assume that this topic is being adequately addressed at school;

  • When to start conversations related to substance abuse prevention with our kids;

  • Tips for having these discussions; and

  • Why her bottom-line message for parents is “delay, delay, delay.”

I hope you enjoy my discussion with Jessica Lahey.

 
 

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Jenny Lisk

Jenny Lisk is the founder of the Widowed Parent Institute. She is an award-winning author and widowed mom who is dedicated to helping widowed parents increase their family's well-being. Jenny’s books, Future Widow and Widowed Parents Unite, and her show, The Widowed Parent Podcast, guide the journey of solo parenting after loss.

https://jennylisk.com/
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