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A younger friend on drugs?help..

kevin10

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I have a younger friend who is 16 and im like an older brother/role model to him and he smokes pot regularly and is possibly doing cocaine,a friend from work saw him with a ziplock bag of white powder last weekend. But he deny's he smokes anythng harder then pot to me. His moods change a lot,he has total shot memory it seems. His parents fight all the time and yell,and they dont let him get out much so hes alway playing xbox. he has low self esteem cuz his parents cut him down way too much. I have been showing Christs love to him in different ways last several months ive known him,and at times i think he is distant because im so christian and whatever. His parents wnt let him go to church with me,though he says they are hardcore christians and they got to church every other sunday. Its just a very bad situation. Few night ago after work he didnt ride his bike home first,he took a different way and right before he did smeone called him on phone and i think he was up to something. He acted really rushy when he left like he had to go smewhere or have something. Wouldnt hardly even talk to me. I dont know how to approach him or how to share gospel or what,lol.

I just dont know anymore what to do..hes so suspicious lately and at times strange..
 

TheMainException

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A ziploc bag of white powder really could be anything...I'm going to agree it probably is coke, but let's not jump too quickly...maybe he's got a rash and had some powder with him? But in any case, stand by him. He doesn't know how to feel good anymore with his mom and dad treating him so bad, depression might have a hold of him, not being able to leave the house probably makes the noose tighter and makes him feel even worse. Pot makes him feel good for a little while or at least makes him go to a place where he doesn't have to deal with reality...and if he's doing cocaine, that probably makes him feel amazing...I just hope he knows what it can do to him...the first time you do cocaine will be the best and then it all goes down hill from there, it's a life wrecker. It's like taking your bike to the top of a really cool hill...the first ride few seconds are amazing, then you start hitting rocks, your tires get crushed and fall off and soon your spinning head over heels down death mountain. If he can manage to stop before that, congrats to him, but it's gonna pull at him for the rest of his life. Cocaine is one of those drugs that grabs hold of you the very first time and wrings your neck. It's not kind to its users.

It doesn't sound to me like you're seening too many signs of him actually using it (although with him under near lock and key, it might be hard to be able to tell if he is or not). do some research into the signs of someone using cocaine...do a google search, you'll see that it is something that is totally off what they usually are like. His personality will be totally wild and then, maybe the next day or two days later, he will be depressed, maybe not leave the house cuz he's still in bed, it could be hard to wake him up. If his mood swings seem like something bigger than just mood swings, then it might be the cocaine and not a psychological disorder or a result of his poor household conditions.

When people want to score, that's where their mind goes. He didn't want to talk to you because he was thinking about scoring some pot or cocaine. Drug use consumes the mind...that is what makes it so much harder to quit. Pot isn't physically addicting, it's psychologically addicting, especially for someone who has rough living conditions.

But man, I don't suggest you go up to him and demand him to tell you what's up. It doesn't work that way. It chases a person straight away. He looks up to you, respects you and doesn't want your judgement to come down on his head...but at the same time, he's in a rough bit and the only thing he thinks that can help him is drugs, even though he might know that it's only going to hurt him in the end. My suggestion is then this: Just find a good time when he seems clear minded and able to listen to you for just a few sentences and tell him that if he ever needs to talk to you about anything, you're there for him, that you won't judge him, won't tell on him, but that you just want to support him, that he needs to know that you care and you will always be there to listen to him if he wants to talk or anything. Just offer to be there to listen. You don't have to point fingers and tell him you know what he's doing. Like I said, it'll drive him away...just being open to whatever he needs will draw him in more than likely. Force will always create a defensive block, but kindness and love will result in loosening the chains that bind him.
 
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BlessEwe

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First off, God Bless you for asking. You are a good friend!

I would tell him how much you care for him, that you know he is struggling and that you want to help. Give him a scripture to put in his pocket, plant a few seeds. Tell him that you don't want to see him die, and when he is ready you are there to help.

This is the hard part of watching someone like this, but know God is in control and continue to pray for him. This child is being abused and is acting out, there are places that will help group homes and such.
If you feel it is getting bad, report it to the CPS ( child protective services) you don't have to say who it is.


Please keep us posted with him, I will pray for him too.
 
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kevin10

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Well,

I have tld him im always there for him if he needs to talk or needs anything. Just know he is covering something up whether its his homelife and different drugs or a combination of both. Sometimes we'l talking outsie and all sudden he rushes off to where his bike is parked and makes a phone call. Weird stuff like that. He also smokes as well,and tonight at work he was coughing a LOT,and said was sick. He was aso coughing up flem. Tonight his personality was more quiet and secluded,but few days ago he was at work bouncing off the walls,all happy and talkitive. Then tht was the night after work he went and ws all suspicious,etc. I just dont know why he wnt tell me,when i asked him if he does anything harder then pot,he said nah man dont worry never touched it.

You think hes bein abused>? You mean physically mentally? He said his parents are 'hardcore christians' and go to church etc. But yet his parents dont seem to care if he goes to church or not,cuz ive invited them,but his parents always have some family thing going on,and he told one of my friends,didnt tell me though,that reason he always says he csnt go to church with me is because he has to go to parents instead. But i mean he was all excited and said he wanted to start going back because its been forever since he was in church. :( It also sounds like his mom is always yelling and freaking out in the household about stuff.

I will drive 15 mins from my house to give him a ride home from work,but his parents wont drive 5 minutes. Even tonight it was pouring down rainy,he has bad cough he says cuz hes sick but ithink its from smoking and drugs. So he had to ride his bike to work in rain for 15 mins sick, And he had mud all over his shirt and pants frm cars driving by,then he had to drive home in i t again. Now i can see why he thinks his parents dislike him and hate him. I sent him txt tellin him i wish his bike could fit in my trunk and i'd give him lift home if i could. He said 'yeah lol' then i sent him a txt asking him why his parents wouldnt give him rides on rainy days like today. He did not respond. He NEVER responds to me when i try to talk to him about his parents or home life,etc. I dont know,maybe me asking that just made him think about how his parents dont care and might've made him feel worse?

I mean he seems like he believes God can do thngs and whatever. A long time ago i told him that i felt like wherever God has me there is a purpose for me,and everything. And hes like 'yeah exactly' and its like he knows exactly what im tlkin bout. I also was one time telling him about a srious health issue and he goes i'll be praying for ya bro' which totally shocked me.

I JUST WISH Hed tell me about his homelife and all the pain hes going through. He knows i am here for him and would love to help.

So its not cool if i shoot him a txt or call sometime saying 'whats going on lately man? what are you up to? you aint been yourself' He'll probly just shrug it off..

I dont know its just hard right now,my heart is breaking,i see him in pain,and i dont know what to do. I Pray for him every day and all day. I try to hangout with him as mch as i can so i can be a good influence. I also wish i knew if he was christian,i havent asked him that yet..sometimes i do stuff i feel God tells me too an it doesnt work out how i planned. Smtimes i have sent him long texts on weed,etc and how it aint good and etc,and other times long texts on church,but doesnt respond very often to those long texts about stuff like that. Couple weeks ago i did get on msn and he ws playin xbox live and told him i wanted to talk to him txt about somin. Thats when i talked to him about pot and asked how he was doing with it,etc. So i had a lengthy talk kind of on that. I told him i hope i didnt offend him and he said 'nah' and told me not to wrry. Then friday night his mom let him come to my house to help me setup my xbox and so then when i was gettig ready to drop him off at his house i go 'let me say a wee quick prayr for ya' and he said in a realy non enthusiastic monotone 'alright' and then once got closer to his house i said 'for your test tomorrow' cuz he was gna take his 3rd permit test the next morning after,and he goes in his humorous tone 'ill need it'and i so i just felt kinda dumb like it ws a stupid decision,but he did pass it the nxt day so maybe that was a good testimony for my prayrs. But there was one other time i prayed with him in my car and he seemed morev open to it. I dont know,just lately..last 3-4 weeks he hasnt seemed as talkitive about God stuff or prayer,church etc. He was back in october quite a bit and it shocked me,maybe his home situation is worse and he blames God? hm
 
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BlessEwe

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kevin10

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Honetly, dont know what to do about his family situation. His mom is making him ride his bike to work tonight,even though i can give him a ride,she isnt giving him a ride and i offered to give him one,but shes makin him ride his bike to work,which shes never done to me. Shes always trusted me with him,and he beats around the bush a lot and doesnt seem to just come out and straight tell me whats going on. This is first time shes MAKING him ride his bike to work when ib fact a good influential friend like me can give him lift. this is just too stressful for me,im at the point of where i dont know if i can handle it,when a curveball like the above happens. She wont let him go anywhere today or next few days i guess,i invited him over to my house so he could help me out with my xbox,he was allowed last week but cant today. I just shared the above story with you because these things happen all time, its up and down. its all so confusing,because hes dishonest about when he cant do things cuz i guess his mom is crazy

But..well maybe he also said he wantd to ride his bike because who knows..might need to pick up some pot tonight or just regular smokes. Thats what is so hard about this friendship is that he make s up excuses it seems to cover stuff up. These are ideas by the way,but.. Whether he just wants to be alone,or has to get drugs,or theres some home situation, he beats around the bush a LOT whether its about hanging out or me givin him a ride o r whatever. I think i may confront him about it tonight cuz its makin it hard on the relationship..in a nice tactful way..ok sorry venting..lol..
 
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BlessEwe

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Pray for Gods intervention and to show the truth of all that is going on. Continue to let him know that you are a safe person, and all he has to do is reach out. Also call one of those numbers if you need more answers to what to look for in abuse situations. I pray that God will bring to light truth if this boy needs help.
 
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kevin10

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I'm about to call it quits. Last few days been very stressful with him,i think i've ruined the whle thing and its too late. I am a very worried paranoid person ok. On Friday i sent him a few txts telling him and asking him about why somtimes he tells little double stories and that i wish hed be honest with me about even little stuff. Cuz he was telling me different things on phone and text wasnt makin sense so i sent him txts on that friday night,and didnt get response,well saturday i just kinda gave him the silent treatment and avoided him,because it was kinda awkward and i was kinda ticked. But i txted him after he got off work and asked him what was up. He said he just bought a new phone charger and his phone died the previous day,friday. Guess tht was kinda his way of telling me thats why he didnt answer those texts i guess,so i felt bad for ignoring and avoiding him at work. So then we exchanged a few more texts bout the phone charger. Then yesterday from 4pm-10pm i sent about 6 kinda random texts about xbox,but he didnt answer. This morning i sent 3 txts asking him if he worked 11am3pm cuz i was going to walmart so id be able to give him lift. no answer. When i went to walmart he ws on his break sitting down and so i said hey and sat with him and talked few mins about random stuff,though he seemed in kinda weird mood. Then i did some shopping and went through his line and he was in a very good chipper happy mood with everyone and stuff. Surprised me. After work he told me he was gonna drive his dads possibly. So i sent a txt kinda joking and said not to wreck it joking around. then i sent txt asking if he ended up driving it,no answer. Then i sent him txt telling him i just bought game at xbox,no answer,and finally sent him txt askin him if he was getting my texs. SEE! I Am a paranoid freak,i dont have the mentality to help this kid. Because i sit here and he hasnt answered txts snce ysterday afternoon when i know he has his phone,and the longer he goes without answering,the more i wanna txt and find out whats going on. Im worried ive pushed him away or that hes upset at me for some reason or avoiding/ignoring me. He just SUCKS at texting and getting back to people as it is,and when he doesnt text all day,ugh. I dont know what kinda prsonality i have,but..and its hard to take break from him even if i take break from txting cuz i work with him,like 5 days week.
 
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TheMainException

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Dude, first off, get off his back with the texting. I'm really telling you, you gotta let him live out his life, whether he's slowly drowning or really living, you gotta let him live the life he's choosing. Telling him how bad something is won't change him. people love to tell others how bad their actions are...you know what? I already know all that. I know cigs can kill me, I know I won't be able to breathe and I'll suffocate and have black flegm and risk a heart attack and all sorts of things. I still did it anyway. I knew all the possibilities of pot, DXM, LSA, and alcohol, and I've done all that too. Telling me the bad that it can cause me doesn't make me want to stop. It can prevent a person...maybe once or twice per one hundred drug users but I assure you...when a person wants to do a drug, those aren't the reasons most people don't do them. People aren't detered from drugs through stuff like that...it has to be an honest to God change in their heart. A real, "I want to do this because I'll be healthy, because my friends love me and don't want me to be hurting like this, because the Creator loves me and wants to heal me."

Get back on all your texting...it costs money first off...which you can save for other things, and also, it gets annoying...it really does. I've learned the hard way that if you want to hang with someone or be with someone, give them a call or max two txts, and then let it go. Bugging them to check on them, or ask about stuff constantly is just insane. Worry about him, pray about him, but cut down the texting, it's for your best interest. It sometimes drives people away when someone pursues them too hard and says a whole lot of stuff they don't want to hear.

I whole heartedly urge you to put the drug issue you aside in all conversations and just be his friend. The more you show that you just want to chill with him and help him out no matter what, the more he'll want to chill with you because you don't annoy him. If you're always talking about drugs or whatnot, stuff he doesn't want to hear about, he won't want to hang with you. The most important thing right now is to make sure he's not totally falling into trouble, just be the strong force who stands by him through thick and thin.

As far as coke goes, I'm still doubting he does it. His mood swings sound more like rapid cycling bipolar or some other disorder...he could feel guilt, pain, depression, anything...so many moods could be flowing in him, so much emotion...he's holding a lot in.

His parents: I don't care HOW MANY TIMES you go to church, unless you show that you got God in you, you're time at church is just a waste of time and space and energy. His parents might claim the label "christian" but I doubt they follow the hard road. I've seen plenty of alcoholic christians, pedofile christians, child beating christians, angry, greedy, envious, hateful, cruel and so many other nasty 'christians' out there that I'd rather hang out with atheists (no wonder Jesus hung out with the 'crap' of society right?). I've had better conversations with my atheist brother in law than the hardcore christian at my school. Personally, I'd rather someone call me an atheist than a christian. These are the kind of people his parents might be. As far as abuse goes, it can be mental, emotional, or physical...it doesn't matter which it is unless bones are being broken, he's getting bloodied up or being killed is a possible issue (then you need to get child protective services involved IMMEDIATELY). They are all pretty harsh tortures for anyone...they turn a human being into a wimpering, angry, pathetic mess of brokenness. They end up falling into drugs, bad relationships, homelessness or poverty, mental disorders, self injury, and/or suicide. It depends on the extent of the abuse and how hard he takes it. He parents may not be trying to abuse him per se, but having an angry mother who is yelling about things all the time is not easy to handle and having parents who yell at each other is probably even harder (this is know from personal experience as a horrific torture to the mind).

Just stand strong bro...it's gonna take time, it's gonna be rough, but you just gotta be strong, rely on the Lord...he's the only one who can get you through this...spend a good deal of time with the Lord, read his word, focus on scripture and prayer and meditate on the word. If you are not strong in the weapons of God, it will be hard to stand by your friend. You have to be well nourished in God's manna and properly armed and defended by God's armor to stand strong against the Evil One.

The Lord is with you, do not fear, do not grow weary, stand righteous and in love.
 
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kevin10

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Thank you very much for that long reply..means lot

Yup your right,and i can sometimes kinda tell when i see him after he doesnt answer some of my texts that he thinks that maybe im gonna look down on him more or something,i can tell something by his face. Ive had this problem before with people,the longer they go without getting back to me the more i try to get a response cuz i guess i worry i'll lose them. Its a bad cycle wth me and i do it with people i hold real close too. UGH. So as of today im not txting him for at least a week about anything. And i am not gonna have any serious type talk with him,like him being honest with me or not being honest with me about stuff,his home life,drugs,just anything serious type. Because the last few days have just been WAY too stressful specially on me and maybe him ,cuz ive just been gay about things las few days,trying to make him tell me why he was dishonest about simple stuff when its probly because of his home life,etc. Turns out his phone was dead anyway. Then yesterday i thought he was avoiding me cuz was getting no feedback on txts,but turns out his phone was off. What he told me on msn.

SO yeah,its time to stop,and chill. I asked God last night what to do about all this,and 2 words came into my mind immediately, 'Be Still' and the thought of just stopping to try so hard, and just be a loving christian and friend to him,and know not when to cross the boundaries of annoying. Its just hard cuz i only see him at work and the chance we can hangout is few and fa r between. So its lke i have nevr a chance to say anything to him or talk to him,that why txting is my method of that..

As far as money,well we both have unlimited txting,so no worries there..

I just hope its not too late,for our friendship... :(
 
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BlessEwe

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I had a post ready to respond and my computer crashed..lol... I am so glad you heard that from God...:clap: It does show that God's in control.

I tend to be just like you and want to take over to fix things, which only makes things frustrating and I want to quit. So stepping back an allowing the seeds and God to work is the best thing at this point. Unless you see him being hurt by his parents, or in danger to himself.
 
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TheMainException

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Unlimited texting...the gift of the gods (hahahahah, jk).

I'm so glad to see that you've been listening...he surely has spoken to you. Be still. IN all aspects of your life, learn stillness. In a book I'm reading, two young guys work their way to a monestary where the man constantly tells them to "sit!" It's so annoying to them, but the one understands it and listens...just be still, sit...listen. Be in the moment and be with your friend in that moment and be still and in the moment with God...it will bring many more great rewards in both of your lives.
 
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