A mother’s reflections of living with an adolescent drug abuser: A case report

ABSTRACT

Background: Mothers of adolescents with substance abuse problems experience significant distress as a result of the adolescent’s behaviours. Methods: Using an interpretative phenomenological methodology, this paper describes the lived experience of a mother coping with an adolescent who has a drug use problem in the form of a case report. Results: The mother experienced a range of psychosocial challenges in trying to cope with her son’s behaviour and her own emotional distress. This included a desperate cry for help in the form of an attempt at suicide which ultimately led her to obtain the support she required to attend to her distress. Conclusion: The findings are discussed in relation to the literature with the intention to draw attention to the importance of coping support for mothers affected by adolescent substance abuse.

KEYWORDS:

• Parents
• phenomenology
• lived experience

Acknowledgments

I would like to acknowledge the substance abuse treatment centres and staff that were part of this study, as well as the study participants and their families. The support of the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Human Development at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in the Republic of South Africa is hereby acknowledged. Opinions expressed and conclusions arrived at, are those of the authors and are not to be attributed to the CoE in Human Development.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Human Development [P20170015];