Drug abuse (also known as substance abuse) is the use of any controlled substance such as narcotics, prescription medication, over-the-counter medications, or hormones such as anabolic-androgenic steroids, in a manner that is deemed harmful to the user or others. Drug abuse is more commonly associated with addictive substances, including Heroin, Methamphetamine, Cocaine, Ecstasy, GHB, Oxycontin, Valium, as well as Xanax, Marijuana, and many others, including alcohol.
Drug abuse (like alcoholism ) and addiction are often seen as strictly a social problem. Parents, teens, older adults, and families often characterize people who use drugs as morally deficient or as having criminal tendencies. There is a belief that drug abusers and addicts should automatically be able to stop taking drugs if they are willing to change their behavior.
These misconceptions not only stereotype individuals suffering from drug abuse or addiction-related problems, but cast a shadow on their families, their communities, and even the health care personnel with whom they work. Drug abuse is viewed by many in society as a major public health problem that affects millions of people. It places enormous financial and social burdens on society, and it can destroy families, cripple the economy, victimize communities and suffocate the educational, criminal justice, and social services systems.
Drug abuse vs. drug addiction
The question “When does drug abuse become drug addiction?” may simply be answered as “When the individual using the drugs no longer has a choice in its use”. Self-diagnosis of drug addiction is often problematic because of the psychological limitations that characterize the drug addict, such as denial, rationalization and the changes wrought on the brain of the addict by those drugs. There is substantial evidence that in addition to interfering with normal brain function by creating immediate euphoria, drugs also have long-term effects on brain metabolism and activity. This indicates that extended drug abuse creates drug addiction, a chronic illness typified by frequent withdrawal and relapse.
Therefore, the ability to stop using drugs for short periods of time does not exempt a drug abuser from being an addict.
Treatment of Drug Abuse
No matter whether an individual believes oneself as merely a drug abuser rather than a drug addict, drug treatment can have a profound effect on the individual as well as society as a whole. Immediate effects of ending drug abuse are improved social and psychological function, decrease in criminality and violence, as well as a reduction of the spread of disease such as HIV and Hepatitis-C.
Understanding drug abuse is the key to prevention. Unfortunately, it is the very nature of drug addiction that presents a difficulty of immediately treating it. Without adequate addiction treatment such as relapse prevention, many addicts often find themselves in an endless chain of detox, rehab and treatment centers, incarceration and sustained abstinence, only to begin the cycle all over again when their lives improve.
With the complications involved in drug addiction, prevention of drug abuse is never an exact science. There are numerous treatments to drug addiction, with varying success. Relapse prevention increases the effectiveness of any treatment.
If you need information about Drug Abuse, Drug Addiction and Addiction Treatment options, please call us toll free at (888) 755-3334 and speak to a counselor who will be considerate in answering any specific questions you may have, as well as provide a referral or schedule a confidential interview.