Substance Abuse Prevention Lecture PDF

# **Prevention of Substance Abuse** ## **Learning Outcomes** By the end of the module participants should be able to: 1. Define substance abuse 2. Describe the symptoms and signs of substance abuse 3. Understand the initiation of substance use 4. Identify the reasons why people use alcohol and ot...

# **Prevention of Substance Abuse** ## **Learning Outcomes** By the end of the module participants should be able to: 1. Define substance abuse 2. Describe the symptoms and signs of substance abuse 3. Understand the initiation of substance use 4. Identify the reasons why people use alcohol and other drugs 5. Recognize the risk factors and protective factors of substance abuse 6. Understand the consequences of substance abuse 7. Recognize the prevention of substance abuse. ## **Definition of Substance** A substance refers to any chemical, drug, or compound (natural or synthetic) that can alter an individual's physical, mental, or emotional state when consumed. These substances may be legal (such as alcohol or prescription medications) or illegal (such as cocaine or heroin). ## **Definitions of Substance Abuse** * **Substance abuse:** It is the behavior of excessive use of a substance to modify or control mood or state of mind in a manner that is illegal or harmful to oneself or others. ## **Symptoms and signs of Substance Abuse** Abuse of alcohol and other drugs affects people: * **Emotionally:** such as aggression, burnout, anxiety, depression, paranoia, and denial * **Behaviorally:** Slow reaction time, impaired coordination, Slowed or slurred speech, irritability, excessive talking, inability to sit still, limited attention span, and lack of motivation or energy. * **Physically:** Weight loss, sweating, chills, and smell of alcohol. ## **Tolerance** * "Tolerance" describes changes in the way an addict reacts to a drug, where he needs more of the drug to get the same effect as before. * When after repeated administration, increasingly larger doses of a drug must be administered to obtain the same effects as the original use. ## **Most Common Abusive Substances** * **Cannabis (Marijuana):** Derived from the *Cannabis plant,* it contains THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), which produces psychoactive effects. * **Cocaine:** A powerful stimulant derived from the *coca plant,* often in the form of a white powder. * **Heroin:** An opioid made from *morphine,* it is often injected, snorted, or smoked. * **LSD (Lysergic Acid Diethylamide):** A *hallucinogen* that alters perception, mood, and thought processes. * **Synthetic Cannabinoids ("Spice" or "K2"):** Synthetic chemicals sprayed on plant material to mimic cannabis effects. * **Alcohol:** A legal *depressant* and addictive liquid, commonly consumed as beverages by many people. It causes impaired judgment at acute consumption and liver damage at chronic consumption. * **Tobacco:** Prepared from dried leaves of *plant Nicotiana tabacum* which contains Nicotine as addictive substance. Smoking of tobacco causes lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), heart disease, and strokes; Chewing of tobacco is linked to oral cancers, gum disease, and tooth loss. ## **"Substance Dependence"** The physiological state of *neuro-adaptation* produced by repeated administration of the drug necessitates continued administration to *prevent the appearance (symptoms) of the withdrawal syndrome.* * **Alcoholism** means alcohol dependence. ### **Additional Problems:** * Experiences *withdrawal* when not using. * *Withdrawal:* The psychological and physiological reactions to abrupt cessation of a dependence-producing drug. * Showing *Rebound*. * *Rebound:* The exaggerated expression of the original condition sometimes experienced by patients immediately after cessation of an effective treatment. * Seems *unable to stop*. * Preoccupied by "getting" and "using". * *Tolerance* (needs more to get the same effect). * Gives up important things to use. * *Compulsions or cravings* to keep using. ### **Addiction to alcohol and other drugs could be:** * **Chronic:** Once you have developed an addiction problem to deal with it, recovery requires *life long abstinence* (refraining from engaging in certain behaviors or activities) and *active participation in recovery groups.* * **Progressive:** There are *signs and symptoms* of addiction, no known cure, affecting every area of addict's life: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Addiction gets worse over time, can be gradual or rapid, depending on the drug. Repeated use causes progressive damage. * **Primary:** It is the main problem that needs to be treated, not secondary to something else. * **Terminal/Permanent:** Once addicted to a drug, *always addicted* and to all drugs, not just the drug of choice. If not stopped, often leads to disease and possibly death. ### **Disease is marked by denial:** Denial is a common *psychological* response or characteristic associated with that disease. The individual may refuse to acknowledge the presence, severity, or consequences of the illness. ## **"Initiation of Substance Use"** * Smoking is the *most important factor* * The risk of moving on to marijuana is *65 times greater* for persons who smoke or drink. * The risk of moving on to cocaine is 104 *times greater for persons who use marijuana.* * The more risk factors someone has the greater likelihood to use substances. ## **Ways of Use of Substance** Ways that people use alcohol and other drugs: * Smoking or Inhaling * Snorting or Insufflation * Oral Ingestion * Injection ## **Why do people use alcohol and other drugs?** * Stress Relief and Coping Mechanism * Social Influence and Peer Pressure * Recreational and Pleasure-Seeking * Curiosity and Experimentation * Dependency and Addiction ## **Consequences of Substance Abuse ** In addition to effects on the body, other consequences occur at: * individual level * family level * community level. ### **Individual Level:** * Aggressiveness * Injuring himself or others * Risky driving leading to harming himself and others * Infections locally or blood-borne * Smoking leads to lung cancer * Life revolves around substance use ### **Family Level:** * Money on substance leads to family conflicts * Family conflict becomes *destructive* (emotionally and/or physically) * Money on substances *replaces other* family needs * Money on substance use treatment *drains family resources* ### **Community Level:** * To get money, substance abusers may *steal, use violence, or engage in crime*. * Drug syndicates may *commit violent crimes* and/or recruit youth for *illegal activities*. * Violence and illegal activity that may harm individuals and/or create an *environment of mistrust*. ## **Who Uses a Substance?** Dependent on the balance between Risk Factors and Protective Factors. ### **"Risk Factors"** 1. Chaotic home environment. 2. Ineffective parenting. 3. Little mutual attachment and nurturing. 4. Parental/sibling substance abuse or mental illness. 5. Academic failure. 6. Inappropriate/shy classroom behavior. 7. Poor social coping skills. 8. Perceived external approval of drug use. 9. Associations with deviant (misguided) people. ### **"Protective Factors"** 1. Strong family bonds. 2. Parental engagement in the child's life. 3. Clear parental expectations & consequences. 4. Academic success. 5. Conventional norms about drugs and alcohol. 6. Strong bonds with pro-social institutions (School, Community, Mosque). ## **Prevention of Substance Abuse** * Primary Prevention * Secondary Prevention * Tertiary Prevention ### **Primary Prevention** To prevent initiation of substance use or delaying the age at which use begins. **Two Strategies:** 1. To reduce supply 2. To reduce demand through: * Minimize the Risk Factors, and * Support the Protective Factors ### **Secondary Prevention** To target individuals in the *early stages* of *psychoactive substance use,* to prevent substance use from becoming a problem and thereby limit the degree of damage to the individual. ### **Tertiary Prevention** *To end dependence and minimize problems resulting from use/abuse.* This is to enable the individual to achieve and maintain an improved level of functioning and health. This is also called *rehabilitation and relapse prevention*. ## **Further Readings** * Wallace, R. B., & Kohatsu, N. (2011). *Wallace/Maxcy-Rosenau-Last public health & preventive medicine.* /editor, Robert B. Wallace ; associate editor, Neal Kohatsu ; editor emeritus, John M. Last ; Prevention_of Drug Use and Drug Use Disorders., section editors, Ross Brownson. (15th ed.). McGraw-Hill Medical. * Jai K., Rehana A. Salam, et al., Interventions for Adolescent Substance Abuse: An Overview of Systematic Reviews. *Journal of Adolescent Health* 59 (2016) S6leS75. * World Health Organization. Health for the world's adolescents: A second chance in the second decade. 2014. Available at: http://apps.who.int/adolescent/second-decade/. Accessed October 5, 2015 ## **Thank You!** The image shows a white robot holding a computer monitor that says "Thank You!" in blue text. The robot is smiling and pointing at the computer screen with its right hand. The robot's face is lit up with blue eyes. The background is white.