ABSTRACT
The circumstances in which pharmacological interventions are required by young people are uncommon, and clinicians may well be faced with complex situations and pressure to intervene medically. There are few controlled trials to guide practitioners and minimal research has been conducted in the UK. The role of doctors in prescribing and the prescribed medication is, clearly, a very important part of the whole treatment plan. However, the treatment plan tends to be most successful, when led, sequenced and delivered alongside other social and environmental interventions delivered by professionals from a range of youth services. This is, undoubtedly, an area of medical practice that raises complex and specialist treatment issues, and clinicians may feel daunted by these challenges. There are a number of ways in which young substance misusers differ from adults. Young people who present for potential pharmacological intervention often use a number of substances.
