Teenagers face heavy challenges dealing with the pressures of life. Not only do they have to excel in academics, they sometimes get to think of how they will raise up a family and survive in this increasingly difficult world. All these stress factors make life difficult for young people and one of the outcomes is sleep deprivation. And today, there is sufficient evidence to show that teenagers who are deprived of sleep will very likely be substance abusers.

The CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey notes that just about 27.5% of middle and high school students slept up to eight hours every night in 2015. Such a situation according to researchers exposes most adolescents to obesity, behavioral problems and poor academic performance. And in a bid to deal with these conditions, these youngsters easily tend to drugs and other substances to get some relief.

While the National Sleep Foundation recommends eight to 10 hours of sleep every night, most adolescents do not get that. Research shows that common problems like obesity, depression and other conditions that destabilize the mood of a teenager play a major role in causing teenagers to sleep less. These same factors will likely lead a teenager to substance abuse; not because they really want to, but as an option to deal with their mood changes and their lack of adequate sleep.

It is established that young people who do not sleep enough will likely engage in substance abuse. Unfortunately, many of these young people are victims of this situation but cannot even identify that they have such a problem. Teenagers are the most vulnerable group of people so they need to be particularly watchful.