Substance Abuse
Globally, the statistical reports indicate that the level of happiness has declined substantially in America, and it ranks the nineteenth position (Kaminer, n.p.). Also, internationally people aged between fifteen to sixty-five years abused drugs, translating to five point five percent of the world’s population (Kaminer, n.p.). Therefore, there exists a massive concern about the happiness reduction level on the primary causes of unhappiness. Despite America being one of the wealthiest countries, the level of people’s wellbeing continues to deteriorate immensely. The American youth have escalated depression resulting from substance abuse. Substance abuse refers to the use of either legalized or illicit substances without a physician’s prescription for personal refreshment, relieving stress, and delusion. The report data indicate the American youths as top-ten most addicted groups internationally. The commonly abused drugs among teens include cocaine and opium. The article will analyze the causes, impacts, and solutions to substance abuse among American youths.
Therefore, there dwell several root causes of drug abuse, including social, psychological, and biological factors. The crucial contributors to social elements to the drug abuse among the youths include peer pressure, imitation, social attitude, celebrations, conflicts, lack of family support, among others. According to the research, most of the individuals use drugs for consciousness alteration and recreational purposes. For many people, drug use is not only about refreshment and having fun, but rather about one’s identity, for acceptance, and to decrease psychological distress (Kaminer, n.p.). The common psychological determinants include curiosity, disobedience, early initiation, poor control, and stress management, low-self esteem, sensation seeking, and fatigue relieving. According to the statistical data reports, ninety-six percent used drugs for relaxation, and ninety-five percent for intoxication (Kaminer, n.p.). Also, ninety percent for socialization purposes, eighty-eight percent to enhance their activities, and eighty-six percent to alleviate mood depressions (Kaminer, n.p.).
The people, especially the youths, use the drugs for experimental purposes and to seem grown-up due to peer pressure. Some teens also use the drug to show their rebellious actions and reduce life frustrations, such as lack of job and family members (Sullivan et al., 43). Nowadays, youths also use drugs since they believe them to have curative properties for some chronic diseases. At the time of family celebrations and partying, drugs get used for relaxation, and refreshment, to create happiness and reduce boredom (Sullivan et al., 43). Finally, the drug abuse results from the biological elements, such as withdrawal effects, genetic predisposition, drug reinforcement impacts, and pre-existing psychiatric disorders (Zapolski et al., 1703). For example, due to the elevated people transferred for rehabilitation centers for recovery, people tend to go back to drug abuse, thus escalating their unhappiness level.
There lacks sufficient research substance abuse concerning social, economic, health, and psychological effects. Internationally, alcohol death results stand at 2.6 million years annually (Hall et al., 607). More than three hundred and twenty thousand people globally (ageing between fifteen and twenty-nine years) die annually due to substance abuse (Hall et al., 607). Substance abuse leads to an array of social, occupational, and physical adversities, among others. In academics, youths experience minimal grades, college/university escalate absenteeism, and an elevated possibility of college drop out due to substance abuse. The statistical reports indicate that substance abuse lowers the education committee and maximizes the truancy rate, especially among the American youths (Zapolski et al., 1710). More so, alcohol and other drug abuse lead to cognitive and behavioural problems, thus higher chances of learning obstacles and interfering with academic performance.
Besides, substance abuse results in the alteration of individual feelings and conducts due to the effects it has on the central nervous system. The direct damage to the brain by drug abuse leads to massive complications, such as injuries resulting from physical disabilities, accidents, and disease infection. The statistical reports indicate that many youths involved in alcohol abuse in America have an escalated death uncertainties via illness, homicide, and suicide (Hall et al., 610). Besides, substance abuse results from violent acts, trauma, cancer infection, unprotected sexual activities, premature death, and nutritional defects. The escalated number of HIV/AIDS infection transmission has resulted from the injection of the unsterile equipment with infected people when injecting drugs (Zapolski et al., 1708). Mood altering, poor judgment, and impulse control by inducing psychoactive drugs by the youths leads to disease infection and having unwanted pregnancies among teens. The treatment of the diseases renders families to financial uncertainties leading to family distress, healthcare costs, and loss of productivity.
Drugs such as marijuana and heroin being psychoactive affect one’s mood. According to the research, the estimated global population of forty-three million adults had a mental disorder, and about eight million had substance use disorder or alternative mental illness (Hall et al., 607). The behavioural changes caused by drug abuse negatively affect the brain. The addictive drugs focus on the reward system of the brain. The drugs have addictive dopamine, which affects brain function, and the brain changes cause mental illness such as the alteration of body moods and behaviours such as pleasure and happiness. Therefore, drug abuse can have either have short-term or long term effects on mental health. According to the research, the short term effects include anxiety drug-induced disorder, which the heart rate becomes high, and one loses memory (Zapolski et al., 1703). Other short term mental effects include drug-induced psychosis (illusions and hallucinations) and mood disorders (depression and behavioural change) ((Hall et al., 611). According to the research, cannabis has high levels of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), which control the function of the brain, thus causing Schizophrenia. The other common mental health problems due to drug abuse include bipolar and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorders, paranoia, and aggression.
Substance abuse by American youths leads to social and economic consequences. Besides personal adversities, drug abuses affect the family operation, rendering them dysfunctional (Zapolski et al., 1703). Therefore, it drains family financial resources and emotions. Spending on resources on substance triggers psychological impacts in families, disturbing their emotional and mental states leading to reduced happiness. In America, the social and economic costs stand high due to the treatment, medical care, and dependability of youths from family members (Hall et al., 614). Also, there is severe delinquency among adolescents having drug abuse, thus experiencing juvenile justice arrest and adjudication. Substance abuse escalates violent activities and engagement into illegal income-generating operations by the youths. Also, the teens going to work do borrow money from colleagues, increasing their debt levels and quitting jobs.
The undertaking of social media campaign usage makes people aware of the adverse effects of drug abuse. Through collaborations and coalitions, community development strategies help reduce substance use among people (Dickerson et al., 27). Other key measures include family coaching, training, case management, and counselling help in their reduction. Schools can use classroom instructions as a mitigation strategy toward drug abuse reduction. The rehabilitation centers should also adopt behaviour modification and modelling strategies (Dickerson et al., 33). Finally, other necessary measures include the use of therapeutic lessons, tutoring and mentoring, having recreational activities, and discipline management.
Besides, youths should effectively tackle peer pressure impact. An increased number of teens abusing drugs is through imitation and learning from their colleagues. Therefore, they do so to acquire fit-in in certain groups. Therefore, youths need to find morally behaved groups that neglect harmful substances and make other children aware of the adverse effects of drug abuse (Blume, 47). Thus, teens should have extensive plans that make them shift from such situations. Also, youths need to deal with life pressure. Due to overworking or being overwhelmed, youth reward themselves by abusing drugs as a form of leisure, and end up making life more stressful (Dickerson et al., 27). Therefore, it is essential to undertake other forms of entertainment, such as reading books, having physical exercises, or having volunteer activities with needy in society. Therefore, positive and relaxing activities makes youth to shun from having drug stresses.
More so, youths should seek mental illness help from authorized medical physicians. Many adolescents experiencing mental illness end up abusing drugs as a way of relieving their pain. Therefore, individuals with mental illness disorders, like anxiety and depression, should seek professional treatment help before engaging in drug abuse (Blume, 47). The youths should perform risk factor evaluation on themselves. Each individual possesses either biological, physical, and environmental uncertainties linked to drug abuse (Dickerson et al., 30). For example, historical family lineage attached to substance drugs promotes one to experience the same situation. Therefore, early diagnosis of the problem leads to the planning of mitigation strategies. Youths should have well-balanced life by having positive engagement with challenges in life rather than undertaking drug abuse, which reduces their happiness level.
Work cited
Blume, Arthur W. “Advances in substance abuse prevention and treatment interventions among racial, ethnic, and sexual minority populations.” Alcohol research: current reviews 38.1 (2016): 47.
Dickerson, Daniel L., et al. “Integrating motivational interviewing and traditional practices to address alcohol and drug use among urban American Indian/Alaska Native youth.” Journal of substance abuse treatment 65 (2016): 26-35.
Hall, Wayne, and M. Weier. “Assessing the public health impacts of legalizing recreational cannabis use in the USA.” Clinical pharmacology & therapeutics 97.6 (2015): 607-615.
Kaminer, Yifrah, ed. Youth substance abuse and co-occurring disorders. American Psychiatric Pub, 2015.
Sullivan, Kristen A., Lynne C. Messer, and E. Byrd Quinlivan. “Substance abuse, violence, and HIV/AIDS (SAVA) syndemic effects on viral suppression among HIV positive women of colour.” AIDS patient care and STDs 29.S1 (2015): 42-48.
Zapolski, Tamika CB, et al. “Examining the protective effect of ethnic identity on drug attitudes and use among a diverse youth population.” Journal of youth and adolescence 46.8 (2017): 1702-1715.