Drug Abuse – Prescription, Treatment and Teen Drug Abuse

Published May 13, 2010

What kinds of people are prone to addictions or substance abuse? Many people are susceptible to these problems, especially people who suffer from depression, low self-esteem, loneliness, excessive stress, or are in a relationship they don’t like and don’t feel they can get out of. Young people who have difficulty fitting in, are constantly under attack by bullies and peer pressure, have a lot of stress at home or are extremely unhappy with themselves are also individuals to watch for signs of possible addiction or substance abuse.

Can We Stop Our Youth From the Perils of Drug Abuse?

Teen Drug Abuse

A teenager with a family history of drug abuse and a lack of social skills can move rapidly from the level of experimentation to grave abuse or dependency. Some other teenagers, who have no family history of such abuse, may also reach the level of utter dependency. Although any prediction is almost impossible, teenagers with a family history of alcohol or drug abuse should especially abstain and refrain from experimenting.

The Drug Abuse Warning Network, which is a Public Health Surveillance System indicate that the Emergency Department episodes in drug-abuse have more than doubled since the previous years as per the surveys taken from 21 Metropolitan Cities in U.S. However amongst youth ages 12 to 17 drug-related episodes have alarmingly quadrupled! Who is to blame? Is our child’s destiny a product of chance or a culmination of parental care?

How Addiction Affects the Brain

When a chemical enters the brain, it is absorbed through receptor site. Drugs entering these receptors are believed to act on the brain like the body’s natural chemicals (such as endorphins and dopamine) that are involved in producing the sensation of pleasure. When the body getting such chemicals from an outside source, the brain produces much less of its own and becomes dependent on the outside source. As the brain adapts to the drugs presence, the person using the drug builds tolerance and must continually increase the dosage in order to produce the initial pleasure sensations.

Treatment For Addiction

There are many types of treatment available, beginning with Medical Detoxification, Short Term Residential, Long Term Residential, Outpatient Treatment and often times a combination of these options is the best course to take. There are professional intake screening and referral agencies which can help people to find the best course of treatment for them.

Alcoholic rehabilitation can only commence once an intervention has occurred, especially if the alcoholic is in denial of his or her use. Talking about the problem in a non-judgmental way can encourage the addict to get the help that he or she needs. Alcohol rehabilitation and treatment can be administered in a variety of methods. Group therapy such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) can be beneficial to alcoholics because they are surrounded by people with similar problems looking to find treatment.

Prescription Drug Addiction

When it comes to prescription painkillers, we really seem to be between a rock and a hard place. After God knows how many people were killed, injured or turned into drug addicts with OxyContin, doctors started looking for alternatives. Many chose methadone. Now methadone is a big factor in prescription drug addiction epidemic, and the overdose statistics are alarming. Methadone users would be wise to get into a drug addiction treatment center that can help them get off it.

Some kids start taking OxyContin because a friend gave it to them, some get them from their parents’ or friends’ medicine cabinets and others get hooked after being given them by a doctor for a injury. If your son or daughter is a college athlete who’s had an injury, there’s a good chance they were prescribed OxyContin for the pain. If they take it for a very short time it isn’t necessarily that excruciating to stop. But sometimes even taking them for a couple of weeks can lead to prescription drug addiction.

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Drug Abuse – Prescription, Treatment and Teen Drug Abuse

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