Search Results for: Drug Use
Substance use in TV and the Media
Substance use is represented everywhere. Drugs and alcohol are mentioned in music, movies, TV shows, and on social media. Though some substance use in media is meant to be educational, often, casual appearances of substances can glorify substance use. Can seeing substances in movies, TV, or music videos actually impact substance use amongst our population? […]
Use, Misuse, and Abuse
There are a number of different terms associated with substance use and substance use disorder. Distinguishing between substance use, substance misuse, and substance abuse can be a key component to education. Substance use is as simple as it sounds: using drugs and alcohol. This would include any kind of alcohol, marijuana, heroin, prescription opiates, or […]
Military Life and Substance Use
Approximately one in ten veterans have been diagnosed with a substance use disorder, which is slightly higher than the general population. This can be because this particular population is often more directly affected by issues such as PTSD, long-lasting or chronic pain, suicidal ideation, and homelessness – which can all directly correlate to increased substance […]
How Childhood Development Can Impact Substance Use in Adults
Child development is marked by important transitions between developmental periods and the achievement of successive developmental milestones. How successfully or unsuccessfully a child meets the demands and challenges arising from a given transition, and whether the child meets milestones on an appropriate schedule, can affect his or her future course of development, including risk for substance use or other mental, emotional, or behavioral problems during adolescence. […]
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Screening for Substance Use in the Pain Management Setting
While there are evidence based screening tools validated for internal medicine settings, more research is needed to determine best screening practices in patients needing pain management. Many demographic, physical, and psychosocial factors can predict opioid misuse in patients with chronic pain. […]
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What Happens to the Brain When a Person Uses Substances?
Most substances affect the brain’s “reward circuit,” causing euphoria as well as flooding it with the chemical messenger dopamine. A properly functioning reward system motivates a person to repeat behaviors needed to thrive, such as eating and spending time with loved ones. Surges of dopamine in the reward circuit cause the reinforcement of pleasurable but unhealthy behaviors like taking substances, leading people to repeat the behavior again and again. […]
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What Factors Increase the Risk for Substance Use Disorders?
Although we know what happens to the brain when someone becomes addicted, we can’t predict how many times a person must use a substance before developing a Substance Use Disorder. A combination of factors related to your genes, environment, and your personal development increases the chance that taking substance will lead to addiction. […]
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How Common Are Substance Use Issues at the Same Time as Other Mental Illnesses?
Many people who have a substance use disorder also develop other mental illnesses, just as many people who are diagnosed with mental illness are often diagnosed with a substance use disorder. For example, about half of people who experience a mental illness will also experience a substance use disorder at some point in their lives and vice versa. […]
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Could Your Kids Be at Risk for Substance Use or Misuse?
Parents are often concerned that their children will start (or are already) using drugs such as tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, and others—including the misuse of prescription drugs. Research supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) shows the important role that parents play in preventing drug use in their children. […]
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Substance Use in College-age Young Adults
This section features the most recent Monitoring the Future (MTF) national survey results on substance use in college-age adults ages 19 to 22, including patterns of marijuana and alcohol use, nicotine use, and nonmedical use of prescription drugs. It also covers newer trends, such as use of e-vaporizers and hookahs. In 2018, the survey identified statistics related to e-vaporizer use of nicotine and marijuana separately from other smoking forms. […]
Principles of Substance Use Treatment for Criminal Justice Populations
Substance use is implicated in at least three types of drug-related offenses: (1) offenses defined by substance possession or sales, (2) offenses directly related to substance use (e.g., stealing to get money for substances), and (3) offenses related to a lifestyle that predisposes the individual to engage in illegal activity, for example, through association with other offenders or with illicit markets […]
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Principles of Substance Use Treatment for Adolescents
Adolescence is a key window of vulnerability for using substances and developing substance use issues. The still-developing teenage brain is prone to act on impulse, take risks, and follow the influence of peers. […]
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Words Matter – Terms to Use and Avoid When Talking About Substance Use
Learn background information and tips to keep in mind while using person-first language, as well as terms to avoid to reduce stigma and negative bias when discussing Substance Use Disorders. […]
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What Does the Life Course Perspective Show About Risk for Substance Use and How to Prevent It?
Child development is marked by important transitions between developmental periods and the achievement of successive developmental milestones. How successfully or unsuccessfully a child meets the demands and challenges arising from a given transition, and whether the child meets milestones on an appropriate schedule, can affect his or her future course of development, including risk for substance use or other mental, emotional, or behavioral problems during adolescence. […]
Substance Use and Mental Health Problems Often Happen Together
Many people who have substance use issues also have other mental health problems like depression, anxiety or Bipolar disorder. […]
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How Can the Community Evaluate the Impact of Its Program on Substance Use?
Evaluating community prevention programs can be challenging. Community leaders often consult with evaluation experts, such as local universities or State agencies, to assist in evaluation design. […]
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Commonly Used Substances
Many substances can alter a person’s thinking and judgment, and can lead to health risks, including addiction, drugged driving, infectious disease, and adverse effects on pregnancy. Information on commonly used substances with the potential for misuse or addiction can be found here. […]
Comorbidity: Substance Use Disorders and Other Mental Illnesses
Substance use disorders change the brain in fundamental ways, changing a person’s normal needs and desires and replacing them with new priorities connected with seeking and using the substance. This results in compulsive behaviors that weaken the ability to control impulses, despite the negative consequences, and are similar to hallmarks of other mental illnesses. […]
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Why Do People Use Substances?
Using a substance can feel really good for a short time. That’s why people keep taking them—to have those good feelings again and again. But even though someone can take more and more of a substance, the good feelings don’t last. Soon the person is taking the substance just to keep from feeling bad. […]
National Drug Early Warning System (NDEWS)
The National Drug Early Warning System (NDEWS) was first funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) in 2014 as an expansion of its longstanding Community Epidemiology Workgroup (CEWG). Ongoing data collection will provide an integrated and comprehensive characterization of drug use and availability by synthesizing traditional, indirect sources with new, direct sources of data, as well as on-the-ground epidemiologic investigations within high-priority areas of concern. […]
Understanding the Basics of Substance Use Disorders
Substance Use Disorder is not a choice. Nobody is born with the idea that they want to choose to become addicted and lose control over their desire, intense desire to take substances. It’s something that you may have the vulnerability because actually, you have a genetic risk, family history, or because you have a very stressful environmental upbringing. The choice starts, and again it’s relative when you are exposed for the first time to the substance. And then some people become addicted and others do not. And that’s where a lot of the research is going. To try to understand what are the differences in that transition. […]
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Why is Early Childhood Important to Substance Use Prevention?
Abundant research in psychology, human development, and other fields has shown that events and circumstances early in peoples’ lives influence future decisions, life events, and life circumstances—or what is called the life course trajectory. People who use substances typically begin doing so during adolescence or young adulthood, but the ground may be prepared for substance use much earlier, by circumstances and events that affect the child during the first several years of life and even before birth. […]
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Substance Use in Youth: What Are Risk Factors and Protective Factors?
Risk and protective factors can affect children at different stages of their lives. At each stage, risks occur that can be changed through prevention intervention. Early childhood risks, such as aggressive behavior, can be changed or prevented with family, school, and community interventions that focus on helping children develop appropriate, positive behaviors. If not addressed, negative behaviors can lead to more risks, such as academic failure and social difficulties, which put children at further risk for later substance use. […]
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Do I Have a Substance Use Disorder?
If you can’t stop using a substance, even if you want to, or the urge to use a substance feels too strong to control, you could be struggling with a substance use disorder. Ask yourself questions like: 1. Have I ever tried to stop using this substance but couldn’t? 2. Have I ever thought you couldn’t fit in or have a good time without using a substance? […]
Can Substance Use be Treated?
Yes! People who get treatment and stick with it can stop using or misusing substances. Recovery from substance use is a commitment to stopping use and learning new ways of thinking, feeling and dealing with problems. […]
Women and substance use
Gender-related substance use treatment should attend not only to biological differences but also to social and environmental factors, all of which can influence the motivations for substance use, the reasons for seeking treatment, the types of environments where treatment is obtained, the treatments that are most effective, and the consequences of not receiving treatment. […]
I’m a Teen With a Substance Use Issue… Where Do I Start?
Asking for help is the first important step. If you have a good relationship with your parents, you should start there. […]
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Does My Loved One’s Relapse Mean They Won’t Ever Get Over Their Substance Use?
It’s common for a person to relapse, but relapse doesn’t mean that treatment doesn’t work. As with other chronic health conditions, treatment should be ongoing and should be adjusted based on how the patient responds. Treatment plans need to be reviewed often and modified to fit the patient’s changing needs. […]
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My Child or Loved One Has a Substance Use Issue… How Will We Pay for Treatment?
If your child has health insurance, it may cover substance use treatment services. Many insurance plans offer inpatient stays. When setting up appointments with treatment centers, you can ask about payment options and what insurance plans they take. They can also advise you on low-cost options. […]
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