Telepathy Game questions

What Is Substance Abuse?

Substance abuse isn't something you should take lightly. It occurs when you use alcohol,
prescription medicine, and other legal and illegal substances too much or in the wrong way.

Substance abuse differs from addiction. Many people with substance abuse problems are able to
quit or can change their unhealthy behavior. Addiction, on the other hand, is a disease. It means
you can’t stop using even when your condition causes you harm.

Commonly Abused Drugs

Both legal and illegal drugs have chemicals that can change how your body and mind work.
They can give you a pleasurable “high,” ease your stress, or help you avoid problems in your
life.

Alcohol

Alcohol affects everyone differently. But if you drink too much and too often, your chance of an
injury or accident goes up. Heavy drinking also can cause liver and other health problems or lead
to a more serious alcohol disorder.
If you’re a man and you drink more than four drinks on any day or more than 14 in a week,
you’re drinking too much. For women, heavy drinking means more than three drinks in one day
or more than seven drinks a week.

One drink is:

 12 ounces of regular beer

 8-9 ounces of malt liquor, which has more alcohol than beer
 5 ounces of wine
 1 1/2 ounces of distilled spirits like vodka and whiskey

 Take medicine prescribed for someone else

 Take extra doses or use a drug other than the way it’s supposed to be taken
 Take the drug for a non-medical reason

Types of prescription drugs that are most often abused include:

 Opioid pain relievers
 Medicine used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
 Anxiety and sleep medicines
The most commonly abused OTC drugs are cough and cold medicine that
have dextromethorphan, which in high doses can make you feel drunk or intoxicated.

Heroin

This illegal drug is the natural version of manmade prescription opioid narcotics. Heroin gives
you a rush of good feelings at first. But when it wears off, everything slows down. You’ll move
and think more slowly, and you may have chills, nausea, and nervousness. You may feel a strong
need to take more heroin to feel better.  Learn more about the symptoms of heroin withdrawal.

Cocaine

This drug speeds up your whole body. When you use cocaine, you may talk, move, or think very
fast. You may feel happy and full of energy. But your mood may then shift to anger. You may
feel like someone is out to get you. It can cause you to do things that don’t make sense.

Using cocaine for a long time will lead to strong cravings for the drug.

Marijuana

A growing number of states have legalized medical uses of marijuana. A handful of states also
allow recreational pot. But in most states, it’s still illegal.

Marijuana can make you feel silly and laugh for no reason. Or you may feel sleepy and forget
things that just happened. Driving while high on pot is just as dangerous as drunk driving. And
heavy marijuana use can leave some people “burned out” and not think or care about much.

Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products

You may not think of these as drugs. But tobacco has a chemical called nicotine that gives you a
little rush of pleasure and energy. The effect can wear off fast and leave you wanting more. You
can abuse and get addicted to the nicotine in cigarettes, just like other drugs.

Signs of a Substance Use Problem

When you first start taking a substance, you may think you can control how much you use. But
over time, you may need more of the drug to get the same feeling or effect. For some people, that
can lead beyond abuse to addiction. Signals that you may have a problem with substance abuse
include if you:

 Lack interest in things you used to love

 Change your friends a lot
 Stop taking care of yourself
 Spend more time alone than you used to
 Eat more or less than normal
  Sleep at odd hours
 Have problems at work or with family
 Switch quickly from feeling good and bad

 Crave or strongly desire to use the substance 

Harmful effects

Health officials consider substance use as crossing the line into substance
abuse if that repeated use causes significant impairment, such as:

 Disabilities
 Failure to meet responsibilities
 Health issues
 Impaired control
 Risky use
 Social issues

The Dangers of Illegal Drugs

Generally, when most people talk about substance abuse, they are referring
to the use of illegal drugs. Drugs of abuse do more than alter your mood.
They can cloud your judgment, distort your perceptions, and alter your
reaction times, all of which can put you in danger of accident and injury.

These drugs got to be illegal in the first place because they are potentially
addictive or can cause severe negative health effects. Some believe the use
of illegal substances is considered dangerous and, therefore, abusive. 2

Recreational Use: Is it Abuse?

Others argue that casual, recreational use of some drugs is not harmful and
is merely use, not abuse. The most vocal of the proponents of recreational
drug use are those who smoke marijuana. They argue that marijuana is not
addictive and has many beneficial qualities, unlike the "harder" drugs.

But recent research has shown that even marijuana may have more harmful
physical, mental, and psychomotor effects than first believed. Each year,
new scientific studies find more ways that long-term marijuana use is
harmful to your health.
In addition, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) reports that
marijuana users can become psychologically dependent, and therefore
addicted. NIDA estimates that one in every seven users of marijuana
becomes dependent.

In the United States, the most commonly abused illegal drugs, in order, are:

 Marijuana
 Methamphetamine
 Cocaine
 Hallucinogens
 Ecstasy or Molly
 Heroin

Other Abused Substances: Some Are Not Drugs

at All
Alcohol, prescription, and over-the-counter medications, inhalants and
solvents, and even coffee and cigarettes can all be used to harmful excess.
In fact, many children have their first encounter with substance abuse by
using inhalants, simply because they are found in many common household
products and, therefore, readily available.3
In today's culture, we now have "designer drugs" and synthetic drugs, such
as bath salts and synthetic marijuana, which may not yet be illegal, but can
certainly be abused and can possibly be more dangerous. There are also
substances that can be abused that have no mood-altering or intoxication
properties, such as anabolic steroids.
The use of anabolic steroids to enhance performance or develop muscles and
strength is abusive because of the negative side effects of their use, which
can range from merely annoying to life-threatening in some cases. If it can
cause you harm, even in the long term, it is substance abuse. Theoretically,
almost any substance can be abused.
Yes, Alcohol Is a Drug
Alcohol is, of course, legal for adults over the age of 21 in the United States, and there is nothing
"wrong" with having a couple of drinks with friends or to unwind on occasion. But, it doesn't take much
alcohol to reach a harmful level of drinking, and that is when alcohol use can turn into alcohol abuse.

Drinking five or more drinks for men (four for women) in any one sitting is considered binge
drinking, which can be harmful to your physical and mental health in many different ways.

Nicotine Is the Most Abused Drug

Nicotine is the single most abused substance in the world. 4
 Although smoking has declined in recent years, it is estimated that 40 million Americans are still
addicted to nicotine in spite of its well-publicized harmful effects.

Again, just because it is legal, doesn't mean it can't be abused. The fact that
the negative health effects of nicotine take a long time to manifest probably
plays a role in the widespread abuse of tobacco.

Caffeine Is the Most Used Drug

Whereas nicotine is the most abused drug, caffeine is the most commonly
used mood-altering drug in the world. And yes, too much caffeine can be
harmful to your health.
Studies have also found a link between caffeine use and several psychiatric
syndromes, including caffeine-induced sleep disorder and caffeine-induced
anxiety disorder.5 Patients diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder, panic
disorder, primary insomnia, and gastroesophageal reflux are usually advised
to reduce or eliminate regular caffeine use.
Is It Causing You Harm?
For many legal substances, the line between use and abuse is not clear. Is
having a couple of drinks every day after work to unwind use or abuse? Is
drinking two pots of coffee in the morning, to get your day started, use or
abuse? Is smoking a pack of cigarettes a day substance abuse?

Generally, in these situations, only the individual himself can determine

where use ends and abuse begins. The question to ask yourself is, "Is this
causing me harm?"

If you or a loved one are struggling with substance use or addiction, contact
the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357 for information on support and
treatment facilities in your area.
For more mental health resources, see our National Helpline Database.
Society Pays a Price for Substance Abuse
When it comes to illegal substances, society has determined that its use is
harmful and has placed legal prohibitions on its use. 2

This is to both protect individuals' wellbeing and shield society from the costs
involved with related healthcare resources, lost productivity, the spread of
diseases, crime, and homelessness (although the impact of criminalizing this
use has been open to considerable controversy).
A Word From Verywell
Has your substance use become harmful? If you think this may be true for
you, you are certainly not alone. According to the latest estimates, about
27.1 million Americans—approximately one in every 10 people—are current
substance abusers.

Are you hesitant to seek help for your substance use? Again, you are not
alone. In 2015, an estimated 21.7 million people needed substance use
treatment, but only 3 million actually received any treatment. 6 If you have
tried to quit or cut back on your own and found you were not able to do so,
you may want to try other options and learn more about treatment for
substance abuse.
The most commonly used drug in the Philippines is a variant of
methamphetamine called shabu or “poor man’s cocaine.” According to a
2012 United Nations report, the Philippines had the highest rate of
methamphetamine abuse among countries in East Asia; about 2.2% of
Filipinos between the ages 16–64 years were methamphetamines users.