Navigating the Fentanyl Crisis as a Young Person

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Key TakeawaysThe fentanyl crisis has had a significant impact on teens and young adults, whether they face opioid addiction or use other drugs.It takes a very small amount of fentanyl to cause an overdose, and tools like naloxone sprays are becoming more prevalent in discussions of harm reduction.Those with lived experience are advocating for more education about its effects, especially on mental health.

Key Takeaways

The fentanyl crisis has had a significant impact on teens and young adults, whether they face opioid addiction or use other drugs.It takes a very small amount of fentanyl to cause an overdose, and tools like naloxone sprays are becoming more prevalent in discussions of harm reduction.Those with lived experience are advocating for more education about its effects, especially on mental health.

“At that point, I’d stopped caring about doing other drugs and, any other substance, it was like, ‘Yeah, fentanyl is the thing I want to do'…Everything was okay because I was feeling like I was on cloud nine and then, pretty quickly, things started to shift.”

The issue is particularly acute in youth and young adults and severely impacts the mental health of those who go through the experience.

Why is Fentanyl So Deadly?

Fentanyl has played an outsized role in these deaths. This is because fentanyl is a syntheticopioidthat is 50-100 times stronger than heroin,so it takes a tiny amount to cause an overdose. “Fentanyl is a potent opioid,” says Eric Collins (MD), an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia University and chief medical officer atRecoveryEducation.com, “By potent, We usually mean that it takes small microgram amounts to produce a significant effect. Less potent opioids, like morphine, require milligram amounts.”

Before digging deeper into the mental health impacts of fentanyl, it’s important to know the signs of an overdose.The Centers for Disease Control (CDC)has a resource that lists symptoms, including shallow breathing, and small pupils. Collins says that the issue is so widespread it’s gotten to the point where it is rational for an overdose to be a default consideration in some circumstances.

“When you see someone not breathing at all, these days especially, you should always wonder if there’s been a fentanyl overdose,” he says.

China Brezner (LMFT), a clinical director at Clear Recovery, believes that part of the issue for drug users is that many of her clients are unaware of how commonplace it is for other drugs to be laced with fentanyl.

“What I’m seeing too, especially in detox, is that people are coming in saying, ‘I’m just a cocaine user,’ but then fentanyl is showing up on their drug test.So, they don’t even realize that it’s cut in the drugs they’re doing.”

Collins says that mental healthtraumacan often occur when someone witnesses an overdose and that prevention is a key tool to support both the physical and mental well-being of those facing addiction.In other words, the consequences of addiction expand far beyond the addict themself.

Chrina Brenzer, LMFTWhat I’m seeing too, especially in detox, is that people are coming in saying, ‘I’m just a cocaine user,’ but then fentanyl is showing up on their drug test.So, they don’t even realize that it’s cut in the drugs they’re doing

Chrina Brenzer, LMFT

What I’m seeing too, especially in detox, is that people are coming in saying, ‘I’m just a cocaine user,’ but then fentanyl is showing up on their drug test.So, they don’t even realize that it’s cut in the drugs they’re doing

“I do think this creates a real significant trauma problem for people who have witnessed even just one overdose, felt helpless and didn’t know what to do, or didn’t have Naloxone and watched someone not breathe and die in front of them. I mean, it’s terrible,” says Collins.

Education is critical at the intersection between mental health, addiction treatment, and the rise in fentanyl, according to McCaskill.“I felt like I was so left in the dark and I didn’t have that kind of previous education. And then, once I got into treatment centers and stuff, I started to learn more,” Collins says.

Treatment for Opioid Addiction

The Healing Power of Community Outreach

William Perry is one of the people working on the ground to reduce fentanyl-related deaths. He co-foundedThis Must Be the Place, an Ohio-based non-profit that provides Naloxone (commonly known as Narcan) to people across the country while providing education about the impacts of fentanyl and other opioids. Perry says that what led him to addiction was partially the result of his lack of self-assuredness in his youth.

“I started using them just out of the spirit of camaraderie, but I realized really quickly that the drugs could validate me when I did not feel great about myself. I didn’t have to make a friend [I realized] that a substance could make it for me," says Perry.

This Must be the Place partnered with Hikma Pharmaceuticals to obtain 10,000 doses ofKloxxado, which is, in effect,  a double dose of Naloxone. He says that much of the work is to educate people about just how common fentanyl is, a change from when Perry was first working on getting sober in the mid-2000s. For him, fentanyl came at a time when access to life-saving drugs like naloxone were not available.

“To say I lost everyone is almost an understatement, and I felt helpless learning about that," Perry shares.

Perry says that stabilizing his mental health, and finding what gave him fulfillment, was what eventually led to the work he’s doing now.

“Working on a lot of my mental health issues made me realize that what gave me fulfillment was helping others facing addiction. This also helped me maintain my own personal sobriety. I love feeling like I’m empowering them to potentially save the life of someone they love."

Howard Barker, director of community relations atNew Life Houseechoes the sentiment that the fentanyl epidemic is getting worse. In his experience, when he first started using a wide array of drugs, fentanyl was occasionally available, via a source at a hospice care facility or somewhere similar, but it wasn’t nearly as pervasive.

He now works at the same place where he was able to get tools to manage his addiction. In his role, he goes to schools and community events to talk to youth about the dangers of fentanyl and other opioids.

Barker says that because of the pervasiveness of the issue, those looking for support need to have the non-profit, public, and private sectors working together.

Advice for Parents and Caregivers

Brezner, who also has her own experiences with addiction, says that parents often need or want coaching on how to do what she calls “hold the line” in order to give their children the best success in recovery. Doing so, means sharing what may be harmful to a young person in recovery.

“‘If you love me, you wouldn’t do this’ would definitely go in the no category because if love was enough to conquer addiction, we’d have a lot less people dead. Love is not enough.” Says Brezner, adding that significant boundary setting can be a good step, including making sure that they are not enabling the addiction..

“And I’m not suggesting that every family financially cut their children off, but I’ve sat with parents who have had the mentality of, ‘ I’m going to go help my kid get drugs because he’s sick.’ Which you would think, a parent would do that? Yeah, actually.”

Perry says that, for him, one way to combat the fentanyl epidemic is to empower parents with the tools to talk to their kids and use preventative measures like naloxone.

“They are empowered to do something about it, you know, because they’ve seen a whole bunch of other grieving parents on the news, and don’t want to become one of those. So they’re, they’re already fearful, you know, but maybe they don’t know how to broach or have that conversation with their children, or maybe they already have, and they know they’re still going to do it [drugs].”

What This Means For You

Navigating the Fentanyl Crisis as a Young Person

5 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Friedman J, Godvin M, Shover CL, Gone JP, Hansen H, Schriger DL.Trends in drug overdose deaths among us adolescents, january 2010 to june 2021.JAMA. 2022;327(14):1398. doi:10.1001/jama.2022.2847United States Drug Enforcement Administration.Fentanyl.Nolan ML, Shamasunder S, Colon-Berezin C, Kunins HV, Paone D.Increased presence of fentanyl in cocaine-involved fatal overdoses: implications for prevention.J Urban Health. 2019;96(1):49-54. doi:10.1007/s11524-018-00343-zManchikanti, L., Sanapati, J., Benyamin, R. M., Atluri, S., Kaye, A. D., & Hirsch, J. A.Reframing the prevention strategies of the opioid crisis: focusing on prescription opioids, fentanyl, and heroin epidemic.Pain Physician.2018;21(4):309.Nairn SA, Audet M, Stewart SH, et al.Interventions to reduce opioid use in youth at-risk and in treatment for substance use disorders: a scoping review.Can J Psychiatry. 2022;67(12):881-898. doi:10.1177/07067437221089810

5 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Friedman J, Godvin M, Shover CL, Gone JP, Hansen H, Schriger DL.Trends in drug overdose deaths among us adolescents, january 2010 to june 2021.JAMA. 2022;327(14):1398. doi:10.1001/jama.2022.2847United States Drug Enforcement Administration.Fentanyl.Nolan ML, Shamasunder S, Colon-Berezin C, Kunins HV, Paone D.Increased presence of fentanyl in cocaine-involved fatal overdoses: implications for prevention.J Urban Health. 2019;96(1):49-54. doi:10.1007/s11524-018-00343-zManchikanti, L., Sanapati, J., Benyamin, R. M., Atluri, S., Kaye, A. D., & Hirsch, J. A.Reframing the prevention strategies of the opioid crisis: focusing on prescription opioids, fentanyl, and heroin epidemic.Pain Physician.2018;21(4):309.Nairn SA, Audet M, Stewart SH, et al.Interventions to reduce opioid use in youth at-risk and in treatment for substance use disorders: a scoping review.Can J Psychiatry. 2022;67(12):881-898. doi:10.1177/07067437221089810

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Friedman J, Godvin M, Shover CL, Gone JP, Hansen H, Schriger DL.Trends in drug overdose deaths among us adolescents, january 2010 to june 2021.JAMA. 2022;327(14):1398. doi:10.1001/jama.2022.2847United States Drug Enforcement Administration.Fentanyl.Nolan ML, Shamasunder S, Colon-Berezin C, Kunins HV, Paone D.Increased presence of fentanyl in cocaine-involved fatal overdoses: implications for prevention.J Urban Health. 2019;96(1):49-54. doi:10.1007/s11524-018-00343-zManchikanti, L., Sanapati, J., Benyamin, R. M., Atluri, S., Kaye, A. D., & Hirsch, J. A.Reframing the prevention strategies of the opioid crisis: focusing on prescription opioids, fentanyl, and heroin epidemic.Pain Physician.2018;21(4):309.Nairn SA, Audet M, Stewart SH, et al.Interventions to reduce opioid use in youth at-risk and in treatment for substance use disorders: a scoping review.Can J Psychiatry. 2022;67(12):881-898. doi:10.1177/07067437221089810

Friedman J, Godvin M, Shover CL, Gone JP, Hansen H, Schriger DL.Trends in drug overdose deaths among us adolescents, january 2010 to june 2021.JAMA. 2022;327(14):1398. doi:10.1001/jama.2022.2847

United States Drug Enforcement Administration.Fentanyl.

Nolan ML, Shamasunder S, Colon-Berezin C, Kunins HV, Paone D.Increased presence of fentanyl in cocaine-involved fatal overdoses: implications for prevention.J Urban Health. 2019;96(1):49-54. doi:10.1007/s11524-018-00343-z

Manchikanti, L., Sanapati, J., Benyamin, R. M., Atluri, S., Kaye, A. D., & Hirsch, J. A.Reframing the prevention strategies of the opioid crisis: focusing on prescription opioids, fentanyl, and heroin epidemic.Pain Physician.2018;21(4):309.

Nairn SA, Audet M, Stewart SH, et al.Interventions to reduce opioid use in youth at-risk and in treatment for substance use disorders: a scoping review.Can J Psychiatry. 2022;67(12):881-898. doi:10.1177/07067437221089810

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