Substance Abuse Education and Counselling

Substance Abuse Definition

• Substance abuse is defined as a maladaptive pattern of substance use with recurrent and significant adverse consequences.
• These consequences may be occupational, legal, or social.

Substance Abuse Counselling

• Substance abuse counselling helps individuals recover from alcohol and other drug abuse.
• This type of intervention focuses on abstinence or reduction of substance use through various approaches.

Diagnosing Substance Abuse

• The DSM-5 no longer uses the terms substance abuse and substance dependence.
• It refers to substance use disorders classified as mild, moderate, or severe, with levels of severity determined by the number of diagnostic criteria met.

Substance Abuse Education

• Substance abuse education aims to teach individuals about drug and alcohol abuse and how to avoid, stop, or get help for substance use disorders.
• Education initiatives are implemented in various stages, including parental education, primary school programmes, secondary school curriculum, and adult learning opportunities.

Misconceptions About Drugs

• All drugs should be covered in education regardless of their perceived strength or risk of harm.
• "Minor drugs" like marijuana and alcohol can be addictive and frequently abused.
• Social factors such as childhood abuse, alcoholic parents, and stress contribute to the risk of alcohol addiction and drug abuse.
• Teenagers are more vulnerable due to their underdeveloped brains, especially the frontal regions responsible for impulse control and assessing risk.

Process of Addiction

• Addiction often develops gradually, with people being desensitized to substances over time.
• Addicts lose control and compulsively seek out drugs despite consequences.
• Addiction changes the brain, making it difficult to quit.
• It involves a complex interplay of neural pathways related to pleasure, reward, and stress.
• Drugs can hijack the brain's reward system, leading to cravings and an overreliance on substances to avoid negative feelings.
• Repeated substance use can damage the prefrontal cortex, a key region for decision-making and recognizing the harms of addictive substances.
• Dopamine plays a crucial role in the control of movement, cognition, motivation, and reward.
• Excessive dopamine levels can lead to nervousness, irritability, aggression, paranoia, hallucinations, and bizarre thoughts.
• Insufficient dopamine can result in tremors and paralysis.
• When someone takes drugs, their brain releases extreme amounts of dopamine, leading to a reduction in dopamine production and the cycle of addiction.

Addiction and Behaviour Changes

• An addicted brain causes behavioral changes that can manifest in academic, social, and personal domains.
• Brain imaging studies show physical changes in areas critical for judgment, decision-making, learning, and memory.
• These changes affect the brain's functioning, leading to compulsive and destructive behaviors.
• Addiction results in intense and persistent cravings, often causing users to seek out drugs regardless of the consequences.

Warning Signs of Addiction

• Warning signs of addiction include sleep difficulties, anxiety, depression, memory problems, mood swings, irritability, and frequent requests for refills or prescriptions.

Examples of Compulsive and Destructive Behaviors of Addiction

• Academic decline, social withdrawal, stealing, lying, and neglecting responsibilities are examples of destructive behaviors associated with addiction.

What is Withdrawal?

• Withdrawal occurs when a physically dependent individual stops taking a substance, leading to unpleasant physical and psychological symptoms.
• This can happen due to attempts at quitting or lack of access to the drug.

Four Major Routes of Administering Drugs

• The four most common routes of administering drugs are:
  • Oral consumption (swallowing)
  • Intranasal consumption (snorting)
  • Inhalation into the lungs (smoking)
  • Intravenously via hypodermic syringe (injecting)
• For drugs to have an effect, they must reach the brain.
• Swallowed substances pass through the digestive tract, and some are broken down in the process.
• Inhaled substances enter the bloodstream through the nasal mucosa.

Legal & Illegal Drugs

• Drugs are categorized as either legal or illegal depending on their legal status and regulated use.

Substance Abuse & HIV/AIDS

• Substance abuse increases the risk of contracting and spreading HIV/AIDS.
• Injecting drug use is a major risk factor for HIV transmission due to shared needles and potential contamination.
• Substance abuse also weakens the immune system, making individuals more vulnerable to infection.

Opioids

• Opioids are a class of drugs that include heroin and opium.
• Common street names for heroin include smack, horse, brown sugar, dope, H, junk, skag, skunk, white horse, China white, and cheese.
• Opium is available in various forms, including laudanum, paregoric, black stuff, block, gum, and hop.
• Opioids can be administered through injection, smoking, or snorting.
• Acute effects include euphoria, drowsiness, impaired coordination, dizziness, confusion, nausea, sedation, and slowed breathing.
• Health risks include constipation, endocarditis, hepatitis, HIV, addiction, and fatal overdose.

Stimulants

• Stimulants are a class of drugs that increase heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, and metabolism.
• They can cause feelings of exhilaration, increased energy and mental alertness, tremors, reduced appetite, irritability, anxiety, panic, paranoia, violent behavior, and psychosis.
• Health risks include weight loss, insomnia, cardiac or cardiovascular complications, stroke, seizures, and addiction.
• Cocaine use can lead to nasal damage from snorting.
• Methamphetamine use can result in severe dental problems.

This quiz covers essential aspects of substance abuse, including its definition, the importance of counselling, diagnosing substance use disorders, and educational initiatives aimed at prevention and recovery. It provides insight into the impacts of substance misuse and effective strategies for those affected.