Cruciality of substance use in teenagers

Abstract

Substance abuse chances increase during adolescence and teenage. It erupts life compromising deadly physical, mental, and emotional irreversible health effects. Usual factors inducing substance abuse vary from teenager’s characteristics to environmental triggers. Close attention toward teenagers' behavior, and activities and clear continuous bonded interactions can help prevent substance abuse indulgence, and addiction. Confirmed cases of teenage substance abuse need an empathetic overview, holistic treatment plan, unconditioned selfless support from family and loved ones, and motivation to engage in the therapy sincerely to rekindle life back to its hope-filled substance-free optimum state.

Introduction

Teenage is a vulnerable period consisting of a lot of physical, psychological, social, and emotional adaptive changes. It also brings a sense of experimentation, exploring newness, unfirm decision-making capability, making immature choices, not thinking pros and cons of action, desiring social inclusion, and trying to fit in the peer group. All these difficult emerging thoughts and coping mentality increase the proneness and affection towards using and getting dependent upon illegitimate substances which affect life detrimentally.

Substance abuse is the use of chemical ingredients to change psychological functions which are medically not recommended. It is a global health crisis affecting almost 190 million people worldwide.

Teenage helplessness

The brain of an adolescent is not fully developed like an adult, it is tensile with the presence of less mature brain areas. Reward and pain feelings grow during childhood. The development of the prefrontal cortex helps with situation assessment, correct decision-making, and controlling emotions and impulses remains incomplete throughout the teenage years till the mid-20s. During the confused state of adolescence, a teenager wishes to experience pleasure and protect themselves against pain but they lack firm judgment and right choice-making skills. All these together make teenagers the best prey for drug-abusive behavior.

Usual drug abuse responsible factors

It varies from easy availability to drug usage family history, living in physically or mentally improper environments, having a genetic predisposition, weak mental makeup, poor self-esteem, aggressive and impulsive nature, craving to feel included and socially accepted, and encountering continuous failure in every aspect of life.

1. Feel good factor- acts on the brain neurons and produces pleasure and euphoria.

2. Feel fine factor: helps get easy relief from fear, anxious feelings, stress, and pain.

3. Do the best factor- assist improve performance and keep going tendency.

4. Let us experiment factor: offers a way to attain thrilling, chilling, and daring instincts

5. Inclusion factor- improves social acceptance by everyone

Health-threatening effects- it can be short-term or long-term depending upon the duration and type of substance abuse.

Provisioner effects- cause a change in appetite, sleep, and speech disturbance, below optimum cognitive abilities, temporary spike in positive feeling, bad communication skills and interpersonal relationships, struggle to maintain personal hygiene, unreasonable weight loss, more risk-taking urge, and lack of interest in earlier enjoyable fun activities.

Prolonged effects- development of depression, anxiety, panic attacks, paranoia, hallucinations, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory discomforts, kidney and liver disorders the emergence of frequent accidents, poor family ties, not abiding by legal rules and laws, and attracting financial breakdown. 

Popular substance abuse options

It ranges from alcohol consumption, tobacco smoking, ingesting hallucinogens, anabolic steroids, methamphetamine, marijuana, prescription drugs, cocaine, opioids, and inhaling inhalants.

Substance abuse advancement to addiction

During in positive state of mind, the happy hormone dopamine is released reinforces the reward system, and gives immense pleasure. Teenagers get this high cheerful feeling daily by spending time with their friends, playing sports, listening to music, and accomplishing academic heights. This is needed for learning, healthy well-being, and building social bonds. A teenager living under tremendous stress and negative mental status grows an affinity towards seeking this feel-good high instantly from unethical substances and drugs. Substance use enhances the desire to repeat the substance-induced reward experience. Slowly the brain neuron connection between pleasure and drug intake becomes stronger with the passing of time leading to an addiction habit formation. Teenager engages themself in the vicious cycle of substance abuse and lose self-control and regulation and despite their willingness, they find it difficult to say no to abusive substance usage.

Alarming symptoms of substance abuse

These signs and symptoms develop slowly, and silently and if attended timely and not overlooked then substance abuse harmful effects can be decreased miraculously.

Teenager starts using substances to feel high regularly, avoid family and friends, restrict eye contact while interacting, sleep and eat less, go into new peer groups, get always ready to take risks, miss school and professional commitments, show a decline in performance, like to spend long aloof time in bedroom and toilet, have injection marks on hand, stay in mental confusion and withdrawal mode and develop recurrent health complications. 

Lifesaving substance abuse treatment

Therapy for substance abuse needs to be individual-specific including recognition of the current substance abuse stage, and physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual characteristics hampered complications. Simultaneously family, friends, and professional impact should also be considered and found out. Relapse reoccurrence possibilities also need to be taken care of empathetically. An individual-centered integrated intervention will help the teenager to accomplish a positive, content, meaningful, substance-free life and strong closely bonded self and interpersonal relationships.

Substance abuse treatment essentials

1. Promptly identify, attentively address, and maturely intervene in substance abuse at the earliest

2. Accurately monitor and not underestimate even a single incidence of substance abuse

3. Regularly screen the teenager for substance abuse, in case of drug indulgence meet the expert immediately

4. Encourage willingness towards the interventions and motivate them to stick to the whole treatment process

5. Suggest every recommendation as the teenager's strengths and weaknesses

6. Help realize the big picture of life and larger goals

7. Aid developing substance refusal, support unavoidable triggers, offer the right positive rewarding activities to prevent relapse, enhance solution-finding attitude and teach the ways to improve relationships

8. Effectively treat comorbid physical, mental, and emotional health conditions

9. Handhold the teenager throughout the substance abuse treatment journey sensitively

Family and caregiver care

Teenagers dealing with substance abuse deserve unconditioned support from family, friends, and loved ones. It will help the teenager to achieve their treatment targets, avoid cravings, improve quality of life, and develop the correct cognitive abilities. Empathetic support from well-wishers will help the teenager complete the treatment and recovery process, feel hopeful, and lead an optimally secure and happy life.

Healthcare professional support

Medical caregivers play a crucial role in designing, managing, and implementing substance abuse treatment. It is time-consuming and requires a lot of one-to-one interaction and a holistic approach.

1. Correct screening- Timely checkups and routine annual assessments can help identify substance usage evidence and its severity and diminish the stigma associated with it.  

2. Quick intermediation- Help reduce substance use and risky behavior associated with it. Awareness regarding the short and long-term harmful effects of substance abuse will motivate teenagers to stay away from substance abuse.

3. Appropriate referral- Maturely equips to find out and handle relapse, treatment deviations, and dropout cases through regular follow-up sessions.

4. Benefitting medications- Supports prescribing appropriate formulations to take care of the concomitant health conditions. Involves family and friends regarding the medications and instructs them to help the teenagers follow the dosage schedule strictly.

Therapies to encourage substance avoidance behavior

This instigates the teenager to take part in every treatment process wholeheartedly, enhance their substance-resisting abilities, and inculcate improved stress-handling abilities naturally.

Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach (A-CRA)

Gives healthy lifestyle, social, educational, or vocational positive stimuli, and the focus is being made on encouraging teenagers to participate in good social and stress-relieving activities.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)

Teaches better coping techniques and problem identification and training is being given for anger management, trigger identification, emotion regulation, and substance avoidance.

Contingency Management (CM)

Offers small incentives while achieving the treatment goals which motivates teenagers to continue the entire treatment period.

Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET)

Through continuous impersonal empathetic sessions with the therapist, the teenager is motivated to join the treatment and carry on with it. 

Brief Strategic Family Therapy (BSFT)

A one-to-one interaction is being done with the teenager's family members and problematic behavior patterns are being identified. Advice is also provided on the positive interaction patterns between every member.

Functional Family Therapy (FFT)

Clear undistracted attention is given towards enhancing the teenager’s family’s involvement in the treatment journey. Along with this attention is provided towards improving communication skills and preventing relapses.

Multisystemic Therapy (MST)

Thorough family and community-specific treatment is given to the teenager. Many therapy sessions are being conducted with the family and the teenager and they are motivated to continue the entire treatment span.

Medicines for substance abuse

Several pharmacological formulations have been developed to counteract substance abuse from opioids, alcohol, and nicotine but there is no medication available for drug abuse.

• Buprenorphine – helps decrease opioid withdrawal symptoms and side effects

• Methadone – increases opioid receptor activity in the brain and aids reduce opioid craving.

• Naltrexone- prevents opioid relapse and induces its detoxification.

• Acamprosate – motivates to reduce alcohol consumption.

• Disulfiram- disrupts alcohol metabolism if consumed after intake, hence reducing the addiction habit.

• Naltrexone – causes a reduction in happiness attained after alcohol consumption.

• Bupropion- assists in controlling nicotine craving.

• Nicotine Replacement Therapies and Varenicline- lead to brain nicotine receptor activation and reduction in smoking urge.

Conclusion

Substance abuse is life-endangering and in the case of teenagers, it is even worse due to the physical, mental, and emotional vulnerability. Factors can be many and unavoidable but with inquisitive identification, timely guidance, and care-driven interventions, the threat of substance abuse can be prevented in teenagers. In the case of established teenage substance abuse cases, comprehensive treatment is needed involving equally determined participation from the healthcare professional, the teenager affected, his family, and the people who care for him.

References

1. Impact of Society and Popular Media Culture on Substance Use Among Teenagers: A Holistic Field Study. International Journal of Innovation and Multidisciplinary Research (IJIAMR),2023;3(1): ISSN 2583-4452

2. World Drug Report 2018. World Drug Report 2018. Published March 11, 2018. https://www.unodc.org/wdr2018

3. Principles of Adolescent Substance Use Disorder Treatment. Published March 11, 2014. Accessed February 16, 2024. https://archives.nida.nih.gov/sites/default/files/podat-guide-adolescents-508.pdf

4. Substance abuse in children and adolescents the emerging demons. Substance abuse in children and adolescents the emerging demons. Substance-Abuse-in-Children-Adolescents-2021.pdf. Published March 11, 2021. Accessed February 16, 2024. https://www.iapdelhi.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Substance-Abuse-in-Children-Adolescents-2021.pdf

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