In the last post, I wrote about the correlation of substance abuse with mental illness, I promised to continue with the topic as time goes on and just maybe you haven't read that publication, you can read up here, so you will get where we are coming from. In that post, we laid emphasis on the details and the misuse of substances, but today we will be laying more emphasis on the prevention and possible treatment of substance abuse, especially with the use of awareness scheme.
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Prevention is extremely important, in the workplace, and the community as a whole, prevention is a vital component when it comes to substance use disorder and its component.
Community mobilization, and awareness creation, informing people that substance addiction is a form of the disease, that is treatable and essential, as a matter of fact, not all treatments are expensive, some could be gotten at a cost-effective rate, and in some cases, simple policies and lifestyle changes will make a difference.
Community is a strong contact point when dealing with substance abuse, it doesn't matter if it is a local or an exposed region, it could be rampant regardless of the location. Based on a community-based survey, highlights serious problems emerging from special populations like females, children, and the elderly. Judging from the type of environment I grew up in, the spread of substance abuse in such a region is highly critical, especially amongst young guys, any young guy who was not a victim at the time was majorly fortunate.
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For regions like this, awareness is critical, because most of the people who become addicts usually start with an innocent mind and with the convention that they can never become addicted, but when they are aware that, getting started with alcohol and other drugs could result in addiction, it would help out. The community is also a strong place to target because when a member of the community begins to act under the influence of abuse, the family would want to cover it up or community members would begin to introduce different sorts of home remedies instead of seeking appropriate solutions.
The essence of tackling the community whilst dealing with substance abuse, according to this publication, is to prevent the growth of problems in the community, and then call for a multi-prolonged approach that needs to be addressed. This should be done through the;
Awareness that is strictly school-based, focused on sending the message of impartation to children at an early age for them to make smart and wise choices in life and regarding their health as they grow up.
Involving religious community heads, who are willing to be of assistance to the cause.
Youths who grew up in the community and are now doing well for themselves, are significant role models that can be used to make the awareness program a success, and it will also be a fast tool to spread the message.
Mothers are highly significant, and getting them into a self-help group in order to educate them, will help other members of the family.
Public health offices have to be equipped with appropriately trained staff, to aid with advice and swift treatment depending on the case at hand.
NGOs should as well be legalized to work in communities and to be made a major point of contact.
Substance misuse issue is not only limited to the hard drug we know, but alcohol can also be misused, and prescribed medications used inadequately are also a problem of drug misuse. Substances can be clasiffied based on their pharmacological and behavioral effects, we have;
Nicotine, under this category we have chewing tobacco, snuff, cigars, vapor-cigarettes.
Alchohol, various forms of distilled liquors alongside different types of wines and beer fall under this category.
Cannabinoids includes hash oil, edible cannabinoids and Marijuana.
Opioid include VIcodin, Lortab, Heroin amongst others.
Depressants include Benzodiazepines.
Stimulants and Hallucinogens.
Science has made available a range of highly effective treatments, behavioral therapies, medication, and support systems that will make it possible for recovery to happen even from the most chronic substance abuse case. Substance use disorders range from mild, temporary, to severe and then to chronic. We have an addiction case when substance disorders become chronic.
For further studies.
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/189961
https://www.turnbridge.com/news-events/latest-articles/coping-skills-for-substance-abuse/
https://substanceabusepolicy.biomedcentral.com/articles
https://www.helpguide.org/articles/addictions/drug-abuse-and-addiction.htm
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5844172/
Hi, I am Tobi a writer, speaker, relationship blogger, and lover of good music. I love making friends and learning from people. Want to hear me speak on relationships and general life issues, you can find my youtube channel where you can listen and watch any episode for free, please, If do not forget to subscribe, friends. I sincerely appreciate every love I get from here, kindly do well to keep them coming.