Substance Abuse

Sreelakshmi R Nair
Social science
ADOLESCENTS ( MEANING,DEFINITIONS,
CHARACTERISTICS)
Adolescent-Meaning
• The term adolescene comes from the Latin word “adolescere” which means “to
grow up or grow into maturity”.
• Adolescence is that span of years during which boys and girls move from
childhood to adulthood mentally, emotionally, socially and physically.
• It is a period of transition when changes of attitude and behaviour are most
rapid.
• Stanley Halis calls this the period of great stress and strain,storm and strife.
• Holling worth calls this the period of temporary insanity.
• It emerges from the later childhood and merges into adulthood.
• It is the period of development from the oneset of puberty to the age of maturity.
• Adolescence is divided into two subdivisions –early and late adolescene.
• Early adolescene extends roughly from thirteen to sixteen or seventeen years.
• Late adolescene covers the period from then until eighteen,the age of legal
maturity.

Definitions
• The World Health Organization(WHO) defines an adolescent as any person
between ages 10 and 19.This age range falls within WHO’s definition of
young people, which refers to individuals between ages 10 and 24.
• Oxford dictionary defines adolescene as life between childhood and
adulthood.
• “Adolescence is that period of life of an individual when society no longer
views him as a child but doesn’t yet concede him either the roles or the
functions inherent in the status of adult”- Holinshead
CHARACTERISTICS OF ADOLESCENTS
(PSYCHOLOGICAL)
1. Adolescence is a period of recapitulation.
2. An adolescent is intensily emotional.
3. An adolescent is essentially a hero-worshipper.
4. There is craving for recognition
5. Sex-consciouness become too intense at this time.
6. Self-consciousness is too much developed during adolescence.
7. Show interest in physical attractiveness and good grooming.
8. There is a strong tendency of self-assertion.
9. Intense peer group relationships.
10. There is a tendency to revolt against authority.
 D E V E L O P M E N TA L C H A R A C T E R I S T I C S

1.Physical and motor development

• Physical growth reaches its peak as body takes it final shape.
• Growth and functioning of organs and the glands become extremely active.
• Attains biological maturation.
2. Emotional development
• Adolescents emotions are often intense, uncontrolled and irrational.
• Their emotions fluctuate very frequently and quickly.
• They develop an increased capacity for sharing emotional experiences with
others.
3.Intellectual development
• It is a period of great intellectual advancement.
• They engage in hypothetical deductive reasoning.
• The adolescents learn to reason and seek answers to everything
scientifically.
4.Social development
• The individual becomes self-conscious of his place in the society.
• Adolescence is a period of establishing hetero-sexual relationship.
• There is an increased influence of peer groups during adolescence.
5.Sexual development (3 stages)
• Stage of auto-erotism:Self love,self decoration.
• Stage of Homo-sexuality: Attracted to the members of their own sex.
• Stage of hetero-sexuality: Attracted to the members of opposite sex.
 ADOLESCENTS IN INDIA
• India has 243 million adolescents more than any other country and
equivalent to the combined populations of Japan, Germany and Spain.
• Every fifth adolescent in the world is an Indian.
• Indian adolescents constituted 20% of the world’s 1.2 billion adolescents.
Problems of Indian adolescents
• Substance abuse Adolescent pregnancy.
• Information overloading. Peer pressure
• Depression. Sexual abuse
• Stress. Online game addiction
• Aggression and violence. Academic underachievement
• Internet addiction. Suicidal tendency
S U B S TA N C E A B U S E

Definitions
• According to World Health Organisation (WHO), substance abuse
refers to the harmful or hazardous use of psychoactive substances,
including alcohol and illicit drugs.
• Psychoactive substance use can lead to dependence syndrome.
• It is characterized by cluster of behaviour, cognitive and physiological
symptoms such as strong desire to take the drugs , difficulties in
controlling its use.
• Substancee abuse is “persistent or sporadic drug use inconsistent with or
unrelated to acceptable medical practice.”
• Substance abuse is a complex phenomenon which has various ,
social,cultural, biological,geographical, historical and economic aspects.
DEFINITIONS CONTINUED..
• “Substance abuse is the continued use of drugs, including alcohol,even
when such use cause problems. If a person experiences unusual tolerance
or withdrawal, the substance use has probably progress to
addition.Addiction is a chronic disease which is often progressive or fatal.”
• Also be called drug abuse.
• Substance abuse is the excessive consumption or misuse of substance for
the sake of its non-therapeutic effects on the mind or body especially drugs
or alcohol
• OR
• Taking drugs that are not prescribed by medical officer/practitioner
• OR
• Deliberate and indiscriminate use of natural and chemical substances for
non-medical purpose.
 I C D ( 1 0 ) C L A S S I F I C AT I O N O F
P S Y C H O A C T I V E S U B S TA N C E

1. Alcohol. 9.Volatile solvents

2. Cannabinoid/Cannabis 10.Others
3. Cocaine
4. Caffeine
5. Hallucinogens
6. Opioids
7. Sedative
8. Tobacco
TYPES OF DRUGS
 T Y P E S O F S U B S TA N C E C O N T I N U E D . .

1.Alcohol Consumption- alcohol use leads to a wide range of diseases, health conditions
and high risk behaviours,from mental disorders and road traffic injuries to liver
diseases and unsafe sexual behaviour.
• Alcohol Consumption at unsafe level is a major cause of premature illness,
disability,death and wide range of social problems.
• Liver and pancreas disease.
• Cancer of the mouth, throat and breast.
2.Cannabis –The likelihood of death due to cannabis intoxication alone is very low,
although combination with other drugs can result in overdose and death.
3.Cocaine- Cocaine is a stimulant drug.There is a significant risk of toxic complications
and sudden death, usually due to cocain’s effect on cardiovascular system.
4.Amphetamine type stimulants (ATS ) can lead to a wide range of physical and mental
health problems.
5.Inhalants- Cover all volatile solvents that can be inhaled or breathed in.The
most commonly used volatile substances include petrol,solvents,glues,sprays
and paint thinner containing toluene.The most common way they are used is to
sniff them from a container, although some may beathe them through a plastic
bag.
• The short term effects include nausea, vomiting, headaches and diarrhoea.
• Higher doses can cause slurred speech, disorientation, confusions,delutions,
tremor, headaches and visual hallucinations.
• Ultimately use can cause coma or death from a heart failure.
• 6.Sedatives and sleeping pills- Tolerance and dependence on sedatives or
sleeping pills can develop after a short period use and withdrawal from these
drugs can be extremely unpleasant.
• Withdrawal symptoms include severe anxiety and panic, insomnia, depression,
headache,
Sweating and fever, nausea , vomiting and convulsions.
7.Hallucinogens- These are the group of drugs that affects the users
perception of reality by distortion of one or several of the five
senses(vision, hearing,smell, touch and taste) resulting in
hallucinations.
8.Opioids - use of street or non-prescribed opioids(heroin and opium)
can cause many problems for users, particularly as they are generally
injected or smoked which can create further problems for the user.
FA C T O R S C O N T R I B U T I N G T O
S U B S TA N C E A B U S E
• Poverty
• Lack of parental supervision
• Curiosity
• Escapism: family issues,low self-esteem,
• Attention
• Lack of education
• Experimentation
• To feel grown up
• Performance improvement
• Depression
M E T H O D S O F S U B S TA N C E U S E

1. Injected with a needle under the skin into a vein or muscle.

2. Smoked or inhaled through the mouth or nose or inhaled by
placing a bag over the head (bagging).
3. Placed on mucus membrane (Such as inside the anus or vagina the
nose or under the eyelid)
4. Chewed, swallowed or dissolved slowly in the mouth.
5. Rubbed in to the skin
 S Y M P T O M S O F S U B S TA N C E A B U S E

1. Changes in eating or sleeping patterns.

2. Decreased personal grooming and worsening physical appearance.
3. Dry eyes.
4. Slurred speech ,tremors,poor coordination.
5. Sniffing or runny nose.
6. Sudden change in weight – weight gain or loss.
7. Mood swings, irritability.
8. Anxiety , depression.
E F F E C T S O F S U B S TA N C E A B U S E
( H E A LT H )
EFFECTS CONTINUED
• Psychological: Shame,guilt,low self esteem, depression and anxiety.
• Cognitive difficulties: Attention and memory problems interfere with learning at
school or acquiring work skills.
• Academic poor performance:Low grades, learning difficulties,at risk of drop out.
• Familial: Mistrust of parents, scolding, relationship problems.
• Social:Loss of relationship with non-substance using peers,out- cast.
• Anti social activities:May engage in stealing /lying to procure substance.
• Risky behaviours: Accidents,road rage,violence,unsafe sex,HIV, teenage
pregnancy.
• Health damage: Lowered immunity,risk of infectious illness.
• Sudden death may occur with inhalant use,due to suffocation,choking,heart rate
disturbances.
 K E Y O B S E R VAT I O N S
• Substance use appears to be increaing among childen and adolescents ,with an
upward trend seen in recent surveys.
• Substance use is higher in street children.
• Substance use is seen in both rural and urban areas .
• There are likely to be regional variations in the prevalence and pattern of
substance use.
• Tobacco followed by alcohol and cannabis appears to be common substances of
abuse in these age groups.
• Inhalant are emerging as a common substance of use in higher children,
especially among those who are vulnerable and underprivileged.
• Treatment seeking is low in adolescents.Those who seek treatment are likely to be
cannabis , inhalant or opioid users including injecting drug users.
• According to a study conducted by the National Commission for
Prevention for Child Rights,13.1% of the people involved in
substance abuse in India are below 20 years of age.
• A clinic based survey revealed that 63.6% of the substance users
taking treatment were introduced to drugs at a young age when they
were 15 years or younger.
• Smokeless tobacco in the form of guktha is commonly used by
children and adolescents in some certain states.
• Drug-crime correlation has been noted with the consumption of
substances such as cannabis with murder,inhalants with rape and
opioids with snatching related crimes.
 M A J O R D R U G P R E V E N T I O N S T R AT E G I E S

1. Dissemination of drug information.

2. Cognitive and behavioural skills training programs for
youth,parents, professionals and mass media.
3. Leadership training.
4. Grass roots citizen participation.
5. Mass media programming.
6. Policy analysis and reformulation.
 CONCLUSION
• The problem of substance use among adolescents needs to be addressed
from multiple perspectives.The key ministries to be involved in a joint
effort to treat and prevent substance use among adolescents are the
ministries of Social Justice and Empowerment, Health,Women ans Child
Development,Human Resource Development,Youth Affairs and Sports,
Labour and Employment and the Department of AIDS Control.The need
for effective coordination between the different ministries cannot be over-
emphasized for dealing with the problem of adolescent substance abuse.
REFERENCES
• Assessment of pattern and Profile of Substance Use among children
In india-Conducted by NCPCR,New Delhi.
• www.drugabuse.gov/publications/principles-substance
–abuse -prevention-early-childhood /chapter 2.
• www.emedicinehealth.com
• www.drugabuse.gov/publications/preventing drug abuse among chil
dren-adolescents/chapter 1
.
• Psychological Bases of Education-Dr NK Arjunan.