Substance Abuse - Alcohol and Drugs Essay Example for Free

Substance Abuse Alcohol and Drugs Essay World Health Organization has played a huge role in the management of substance abuse and its prevention especially among the vulnerable groups. It has supported countries to reduce and prevent problems caused by the use of psychoactive substances in terms of regulations and policy implementation. Its main mandate is to; â€Å"recommend reduction and prevention mechanisms which can able to prevent relapse and assess substance that highly contribute to relapse hence able to advise the U.N on what regulations to pursue†. The department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse under it has been mandated to overlook issues of curbing relapse and also substance abuse in general (Laws and Ward, 2000). The World Health Organization (WHO) defines substance abuse as â€Å"the harmful or hazardous use of psychoactive substances which include illicit drugs and alcohol†. A prolonged or repeated use of such substances can lead to addiction which is usually evident with continued use of the substances despite the fact that physical and mental deterioration is being noticed. In fact, various researchers in the world have come up with different conclusions and suggestions regarding the causes, effects, solutions and recommendations on how to deal with substance abuse (Laws and Ward, 2000). Substance abuse is a global issue. Reports reveal that the illegal drug business accounts for $400 billion of world trade, and is second only to the worldwide arms market, it is larger than the global iron and steel industries.(Cherry, Dillon, and Rugh, 2002) The 2000 World Drug Report noted that there were at least 180 million drug abusers globally, including 9 million heroin addicts, 29 million amphetamine users, and 14 million cocaine users (ODCCP, 2000)(Cherry, Dillon, and Rugh, 2002). Untreated cases of substance abuse, addiction and relapse add significant effects to communities and families. â€Å"The main effects that can be immediately noticed are; property and violence crimes, criminal and court related costs, health care utilization costs, lack of child support, prison   expenses for the government, welfare and foster care costs, child abuse, unemployment and emergency room visits† (Marks, A. Donovan, 2005). Treatment options Scientific research which has been conducted in the past have shown that effective treatment from substance abuse can help people completely recover from destructive behaviors after undoing   treatment or recovery process from substance abuse. People can successfully remove themselves from a life of substance abuse through effective treatment and long-term commitments. It includes the following; Pharmacotheraphies To a greater or lesser extent, certain drugs and alcohols have been developed and manufactured to assist in solving issues of relapse. They include opioid medications such as methadone, buprenorphine, morphine, oxycodone etc. which have been used as remedies of relapse. One of the most successful ones include bogaine which, according to medics, can help reduce the temptation of going back to substance abuse and is specifically suited for narcotics and alcohol. It is believed to interrupt  Ã‚   both psychological cravings and physical dependence on stimulants, nicotine and alcohol. Other antidepressants are able to moderate substance use particularly narcotics. All these Pharmacotheraphies have helped in the reduction of addiction and relapse of substance abuse for all genders. Rehabilitation Most of the judicial systems have been able to convict substance abusers to rehabilitation programs and to cope with withdrawal symptoms. The detoxification process of addiction involves the abrupt cessation of drug use and physical tolerance of the temptation. Medics promote the use of rehabilitation strategies to minimize effects of relapse since it is a slow but sure process of withdrawal. The method involves the use of psychological dependency which attempts to teach and train the victim new methods of freely interacting with a drug-free environment and avoid relapse. Isolation of victims or patients of relapse from people who are still substance abusers is very important as it prevents them from admiring the practice. In some organizations, moderations are utilized to allow substance abusers to re-examine their habits and compare themselves before and after stopping the practice. Many other programs utilize rehabilitation initiatives to make their initiatives more effective (Pham-Kanter, 2001). Justice systems Drug involved offenders have frequently been cycled through the judicial system whereby the substance abusers have become common to probation officers and police officers. This is an evidence that relapse is common and that the judicial system is doing very little to address it. As jails, prisons, juvenile detention centers and other correctional facilities get congested, all stakeholders in the medical field are examining newer solutions to prevent relapse. One of them is the criminal justice settings where substance abusers who are most likely to be criminals are only allowed to re-enter back into the community when they have completely recovered from substance abuse and are not likely to be affected by relapse. Relapse Prevention Therapy RPT was originally designed as a maintenance program for replace victims. It entails treatment of addictive behaviors which is used as stand-alone program that in most cases is designed to teach individuals to try and maintain changes initiated in the treatment process. Every individual has an effective response system to cope with incidences of high risk situations but the problem is the guts to do so. Post-implementation survey on suitability of RPT has shown that relapse had decreased significantly as a result of the program. RPT strategies are categorized to three groups; lifestyle modification, coping skills training and cognitive therapies. All of these strategies round up to both cognitive and behavioral techniques and approaches that provide victims of relapse with ways to reframe their habits once more and change processes in learning experiences with setbacks on how they can meet challenges of recovery. Life modifications strategies include; exercise, spiritual practices, meditation among others (Pham-Kanter, 2001). Side Effects of Addiction The most common side effect of substance abuse i.e. alcohol and drug is what is termed as substance relapse. Relapse is a situation of ‘converting back’ from a condition after a short or long abstinences. In drug addiction and substance abuse, it can be defined as â€Å"the resumption of the use of drugs after leaving it for some time† that is according to World Health Organization in the year 2004 (Laws and Ward, 2000). Substance abuse relapse is a condition where one feels to have failed to recover fully from addiction to drugs or substance abuse despite the fact that they have gone under a professional recovery plan. It means that individuals are tempted to use the drugs even after they have undergone a medical response process. Relapse to substance abuse is a common problem that can have devastating effects on the victim especially physical and emotional impacts. It requires good communication and counseling between the counselor and the patient. Recovery from substance abuse especially is not a complete failure to eradication but a step further; in real sense, a positive way to strengthen the process of recovery that is difficult to address given the complexity nature of the issue. There are three ways of severity of relapse which is normally used to determine the most suitable medical or counseling response. The first level is slip where the victim briefly resumes drug use but have no signs of drug dependence or symptoms of addiction.   The second level is several level of drug abuse. This is the most severe form because the victim resumes substance abuse for several days during the treatment process. This should be used as a learning process where the patient should learn from experience and prevent further relapse. The last level is the sustained drug use evidenced by resumption of addiction. The victims of substance abuse fully relapse to addiction and eventually drops out treatment and those medics and counselors need to start from scratch (Marks, A. Donovan, 2005). The Relapse Process Any use of a substance after a period of abstinence is a measure of the relapse rates. Previous research has indicated that temporal patterning of the relapse process and that the circumstances under which the process occurs across all the genders is under is difficult to comprehend especially by unprofessional persons and the victims themselves. Hence the commonalities across all substance abusers are an indication of the relapse rates and it involves a sense of perceived control and self-efficacy (Marks, A. Donovan, 2005).       Reference Cherry, A, Dillon, M, Rugh, D (2002): Substance abuse a global view. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press Laws, D. Ward, T. (2000): Remaking relapse prevention with sex offenders: The sourcebook. Newbury Park, CA; Sage Publications Marks, A. Donovan, D. (2005): Relapse prevention; Maintenance strategies in the treatment of addictive behaviors (2nd Ed.). New York: Guilford Press Pham-Kanter, G. (2001): Substance abuse and dependence. The Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine Second Edition Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group,