Drug addiction is a complicated disorder which may involve practically every aspect of an individual’s life in the family, at work, and amongst friends. It is actually a brain disease as the abuse of drugs leads to changes in the structure and the functioning of the individual’s brain. Drug addiction costs taxpayers millions of dollars each year and is a major public health concern for all of us, as it is a chronic relapsing disorder, which means that it lasts a long time and individuals who are trying to quit are apt to start using drugs again.
Addiction
Drug abuse causes changes in the brain, which then leads to certain behaviour, like taking the drug compulsively, but drug addicts can learn to change their behaviour. This addiction is influenced by a range of factors which involve one’s genes, environment, and the age of the person when drugs were first used. Addiction to drugs and alcohol is a vicious cycle that can destroy lives, families, friendships, and anything else it comes into contact with, and the individual can become addicted to many drugs, not just so called street drugs like heroin. It should be understood as a chronic recurring illness. (more…)
Drug addiction is a complicated disorder which may involve practically every aspect of an individual’s life in the family, at work, and amongst friends. It is actually a brain disease as the abuse of drugs leads to changes in the structure and the functioning of the individual’s brain. Drug addiction costs taxpayers millions of dollars each year and is a major public health concern for all of us, as it is a chronic relapsing disorder, which means that it lasts a long time and individuals who are trying to quit are apt to start using drugs again.
Addiction
Drug abuse causes changes in the brain, which then leads to certain behaviour, like taking the drug compulsively, but drug addicts can learn to change their behaviour. This addiction is influenced by a range of factors which involve one’s genes, environment, and the age of the person when drugs were first used. Addiction to drugs and alcohol is a vicious cycle that can destroy lives, families, friendships, and anything else it comes into contact with, and the individual can become addicted to many drugs, not just so called street drugs like heroin. It should be understood as a chronic recurring illness. (more…)
Drug or alcohol addiction is no doubt a curse in one’s life. Such addiction not only spoils one’s life, but also drastically affects the lives of victims’ near-dear ones. With the progress of time, the victims gradually increase the consumption of drug or alcohol. That’s why, if you or one of your dear ones is addicted to drugs, then without any second thought you need to look into your option as per as detox is concerned.
An effective drug detox program is an absolute necessity for all the drug addiction affected people. In the present times finding out drug withdrawal information and the drug detox programs is not at all a tough job. A wide range of information about the detox process and the treatment center is available over the internet. But, before attending a program you need to properly verify the authenticity of the program.
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Introduction
Substance abuse among nurses has not been fully documented, but it is estimated that about 10% of the current nursing population is addicted to drugs and/or alcohol, with about 6-8% of those having a serious enough problem that it interferes with job performance.
Specifically, nurses as a population seem to be prone to addiction to prescription medications more than to alcohol or illicit drugs, as compared to the rest of the population. This may be due to the fact that they have easier access to prescription medications than does the general population. It’s also heartening to note that once in treatment, nurses are much more likely to remain sober and to avoid relapse or return to abuse than the general population is.
What causes substance abuse among nurses?
As a population, nurses tend to be highly caring individuals who have chosen to devote their lives to others in a caretaking role. Unfortunately, however, nurses who abuse drugs and/or alcohol seem to come from families that have had significant emotional turmoil, resulting in low self-esteem, and a struggle to “make things better” by becoming an overachiever and falling into unhealthy caretaking roles of other troubled family members (such as “taking care of” alcoholic parents, as one example). As an illustration of this, one study has shown that up to 80% of nurses come from families with at least one alcoholic member.
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When we hear about people who use drugs and alcohol, we have now become so jaded that it doesn’t really cause us to even blink an eye. Abusing drugs is not only detrimental to the health of the person who is addicted to drugs, it is also detrimental to the health of those who love and care about that person. Instead, rather than waiting for something bad to happen (I.e. someone getting admitted to a drug and alcohol rehab facility), why not do something about it beforehand? Get behind the influence!
Getting behind the influence can also be interpreted to mean preventing something bad from happening. Look for signs that there may be problems in a person’s life. If you know that one of your best friends loves hanging out every Friday to go and watch a movie and suddenly they skip out on hanging out two weeks in a row without giving a reason, this may be a sign that something unusual is going on. Another part of getting behind the influence is simply being a good friend. Good friends keep up with each other whether it’s by phone, email or meeting face to face. They are able to open up to one another and divulge certain intimate details of their life without fear of being judged. If you know what’s going on, then you can work with that person to prevent it from turning into something worse.
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You may rightfully get upset when you find out someone you love is an addict. You may think that the person chooses to take drugs for fun. Choosing to take drugs is not a choice in the life of an addict. He or she is addicted to drugs and it should be treated like a disease.
Estimates of the total overall costs of substance abuse in the United States exceed half a trillion dollars each year. That includes $181 billion for illicit drugs, $168 billion for tobacco and $185 billion for alcohol. What is important to know though is the cost of drug addiction extends to every citizen in the United States of America. We pay for the drug addiction through family disintegration, loss of employment, failure in school, domestic violence, child abuse, and other crimes.
Drug addiction changes the structure and function of the brain and is frequently referred to as a disease because of these characteristics. The brain’s communication system is disrupted and changed from repeated use of substances and so when the addict stops using drugs, a craving is induced. It is for this very reason that addicts are compelled to do whatever it takes to purchase more drugs; prostitution, theft or other crimes. In fact, most incarcerations are somehow directly or indirectly tied to addiction.
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Being addicted to drugs can ruin your life and the lives of others. What happens if a woman is a drug user and she becomes pregnant? Further drug use will risk the life of her child. So what does she do?
Drug detox during pregnancy must be treated with extreme caution. Although at this stage if the woman wants to carry on with the pregnancy, some form of Drug Detox becomes essential. To continue taking drugs during pregnancy would cause severe hazards to the unborn child as any substances consumed by mother can be carried into the fetal blood stream. This can result in severe abnormalities, developmental disabilities, severe mental retardation, even death. After birth, drugs can pass to the baby during breast feeding.
Abrupt withdrawal should be avoided, especially if the woman is on hard drugs such as heroin. There is less risk of miscarriage if detoxification is done during the second trimester. Miscarriage and premature labor risk is greatly reduced at this time.
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