Assignment: SUBSTANCE USE AND MISUSE

Assignment: SUBSTANCE USE AND MISUSE

SUBSTANCE USE AND MISUSE Lorena Randazzo Health Promotion and Disease Prevention 12/17/2017 Introduction Adolescence comes with numerous challenges. For those young people who are not strong enough, they end up being carried away with adolescence related pressures. During this stage, young people face peer pressure from their colleagues. Many are lured into activities that they have never thought of. Young people found themselves engaged in drug and substance abuse without their will. Some end up involving themselves in illicit sexual activities, Tobacco use and many other funny activities. At this stage, ladies end up having unwanted pregnancies. Both young men and women may end up contracting deadly diseases. In this seminar, we shall expound on Substance use and misuse. 2 Substance use and misuse ➢ ➢ ➢ Substance use is refers to a situation one is simply consuming say alcohol or drugs. In this case, drugs may be used for medicinal purposes. It does not always result to an addiction. However, it has a risk factor of addiction. Substance misuse is when a person keeps consuming drugs or alcohol regularly to have fun. In the long run, the substance begins to bring some disorders in the body of this person. There are consequences with emerges as a result of over using substances. Alcohol for instance may easily lead to domestic violence. 3 Contributing Factors Sociocultural Factors ➢ These are factors associated with how the society and culture influence a person’s substance use and misuse. Peer pressure is a major contributor in this category. ➢ A section of the society is also associated with substance misuse. Take an example of celebrities. Many of them are more often faced in a vicious cycle of drug abuse. 4 Cont.: Contributing Factors Psychodynamic Factors ➢ These are factors are associated with a person’s psychological disorders, past history and emotional issues. ➢ People with mental problem end up using drugs to help them feel better. Without realizing that they are using drugs over and over, they end up being addicts (Kulig, 2005). 5 Prevalence of the health risk Alcohol ➢ Youth tend to use alcohol more than other drugs and substances. Alcohol still remains a major challenge as it is still the highest most misused substance among the youth. ➢ National Survey on Drug Use and Health conducted a research in 2009 which showed approximately 10 million youth whose age ranges from 12-20, representing about 27% involves themselves in drinking alcohol, (“Substance Abuse”, 2017) ➢ Young people who use drugs are likely to perform poorly in school and have a higher tendency of having so many sexual partners. 6 My role as a healthcare Practitioner As a health practitioner, I have several roles to play; i. Screen the adolescent patients for drug use. ii. Intervening to provide help to the addicted adolescent iii. Referral services whereby I direct the affected adolescent to see an appropriate practitioner for further help. iv. Follow-Up services- I am supposed to monitor how the patient is performing. If there exist prevalent signs of drug use, I refer him for further treatment. 7 How to Identify Substance misuse There are numerous physical and behavioral symptoms that when observed, they should signal you about substance abuse. Physical Symptoms ➢ Needle marks ➢ Red eyes ➢ Unusual weight loss ➢ Physical withdrawal 8 Cont.: How to Identify Substance misuse Behavioral Symptoms ➢ Constant demand of money ➢ Confusion ➢ Mood swings ➢ Anxiety ➢ Criminal activity ➢ Increased aggression. ➢ Changes in social network. 9 Addressing Substance Abuse The best thing a person can do is to overcome substance abuse. This will help them to establish stable homes and healthier lifestyle. Any person diagnosed with any signs of substance misuse should be given enough attention by a health practitioner to guide him through the rehabilitation process till he recovers fully (Worley,et al., 2015). 10 Project activity Task i. Identify a Drug and Substance Rehabilitation Center to be visited. ii. Identify a day that we should visit a this center. The purpose of this is to see the effects of substance misuse. Again, we should be able to access the conditions of newly admitted patients versus the ones who have stayed there for a while and see how people are recovering. 11 Reference Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (US). (2010). Youth exposure to alcohol advertising on television, 2001-2009. Kulig, J. W. (2005). Tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs: the role of the pediatrician in prevention, identification, and management of substance abuse. Pediatrics, 115(3), 816-821. Substance Abuse. (2017). Curry County Youth Services Parents in the Loop. Retrieved 17 December 2017, from http://www.parentscurrycounty.com/55-2/ Worley, M., Witkiewitz, K., Brown, S., Kivlahan, D., & Longabaugh, R. (2015). Social Network Moderators of Naltrexone and Behavioral Treatment Effects on Heavy Drinking in the COMBINE Study. Alcoholism: Clinical And Experimental Research. 12 …

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Assignment: SUBSTANCE USE AND MISUSE

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