essay on the menace of drugs among youth

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Substance Abuse Amongst Adolescents: An Issue of Public Health Significance

1 School of Epidemiology and Public Health, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Datta Meghe Institute of Medical Sciences, Wardha, IND

Sonali G Choudhari

2 School of Epidemiology and Public Health; Community Medicine, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Datta Meghe Institute of Medical Sciences, Wardha, IND

Sarika U Dakhode

3 Department of Community Medicine, Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Memorial Medical College, Amravati, IND

Asmita Rannaware

Abhay m gaidhane.

Adolescence is a crucial time for biological, psychological, and social development. It is also a time when substance addiction and its adverse effects are more likely to occur. Adolescents are particularly susceptible to the negative long-term effects of substance use, including mental health illnesses, sub-par academic performance, substance use disorders, and higher chances of getting addicted to alcohol and marijuana. Over the past few decades, there have been substantial changes in the types of illegal narcotics people consume. The present article deals with the review of substance abuse as a public health problem, its determinants, and implications seen among adolescents. A systematic literature search using databases such as PubMed and Google Scholar was undertaken to search all relevant literature on teenage stimulant use. The findings have been organized into categories to cover essential aspects like epidemiology, neurobiology, prevention, and treatment. The review showed that substance addiction among adolescents between 12 to 19 years is widespread, though national initiatives exist to support young employment and their development. Research on psychological risk factors for teenage substance abuse is vast, wherein conduct disorders, including aggression, impulsivity, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, have been mentioned as risk factors for substance use. Parents' attitudes toward drugs, alcohol, academic and peer pressure, stress, and physical outlook are key determinants. Teenage drug usage has a significant negative impact on users, families, and society as a whole. It was found that a lot has been done to provide correct intervention to those in need with the constant development of programs and rehabilitative centers to safeguard the delicate minds of youths and prevent them from using intoxicants. Still, there is much need for stringent policy and program guidelines to curb this societal menace. 

Introduction and background

Drug misuse is a widespread issue; in 2016, 5.6% of people aged 15 to 26 reported using drugs at least once [ 1 ]. Because alcohol and illegal drugs represent significant issues for public health and urgent care, children and adolescents frequently visit emergency rooms [ 2 ]. It is well known that younger people take drugs more often than older adults for most drugs. Drug usage is on the rise in many Association of Southeast Asian Nations, particularly among young males between the ages of 15 and 30 years [ 3 ]. According to the 2013 Global Burden of Disease report, drug addiction is a growing problem among teenagers and young people. Early substance use increases the likelihood of future physical, behavioral, social, and health issues [ 4 ]. Furthermore, recreational drug use is a neglected contributor to childhood morbidity and mortality [ 5 ]. One of the adverse outcomes of adolescent substance use is the increased risk of addiction in those who start smoking, drinking, and taking drugs before they are of 18 years. Moreover, most individuals with Substance Use Disorders begin using substances when they are young [ 6 ]. Substance use disorders amongst adolescents have long-term adverse health effects but can be mitigated with efficient treatment [ 7 ].

Childhood abuse is linked to suicidal thoughts and attempts. The particular mental behavior that mediates the link between childhood trauma and adult suicidal ideation and attempts is yet unknown. Recent studies show teens experiencing suicidal thoughts, psychiatric illness symptoms like anxiety, mood, and conduct disorders, and various types of child maltreatment like sexual abuse, corporal punishment, and emotional neglect that further leads to children inclining toward intoxicants [ 8 ]. Although teen substance use has generally decreased over the past five years, prolonged opioid, marijuana, and binge drinking use are still common among adolescents and young adults [ 9 ]. Drug-using students are more prone to commit crimes, including bullying and violent behavior. It has also been connected to various mental conditions, depending on the substance used. On the other hand, it has been linked to social disorder, abnormal behavior, and association with hostile groups [ 10 ]. Adolescent substance users suffer risks and consequences on the psychological, sociocultural, or behavioral levels that may manifest physiologically [ 11 ]. About 3 million deaths worldwide were caused by alcohol consumption alone. The majority of the 273,000 preventable fatalities linked to alcohol consumption are in India [ 12 ], which is the leading contributor. The United Nations Office on Drug and Crime conducted a national survey on the extent, patterns, and trends of drug abuse in India in 2003, which found that there were 2 million opiate users, 8.7 million cannabis users, and 62.5 million alcohol users in India, of whom 17% to 20% are dependent [ 13 ]. According to prevalence studies, 13.1% of drug users in India are under the age of 20 [ 14 ].

In India, alcohol and tobacco are legal drugs frequently abused and pose significant health risks, mainly when the general populace consumes them. States like Punjab and Uttar Pradesh have the highest rates of drug abuse, and the Indian government works hard to provide them with helpful services that educate and mentor them. This increases the burden of non-communicable illnesses too [ 15 ]. In addition, several substances/drugs are Narcotic and Psychotropic and used despite the act named ‘Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. 

This review article sheds light on ‘substance abuse’ amongst adolescents as an issue of public health significance, its determinants, and its implications on the health and well-being of adolescents.

Methodology

The present article deals with the narrative review of substance abuse as a public health problem, its determinants, and implications seen among adolescents. A systematic literature search using databases such as PubMed and Google Scholar was undertaken to search all relevant literature on teenage stimulant use. The findings have been organized into categories to cover essential aspects like epidemiology, neurobiology, prevention, and treatment. Various keywords used under TiAb of PubMed advanced search were Stimulants, "Drug abuse", "Psychotropic substance", "Substance abuse", addiction, and Adolescents, teenage, children, students, youth, etc., including MeSH terms. Figure ​ Figure1 1 shows the key substances used by youth.

Reasons for abuse

People may initially choose to take drugs for psychological and physical reasons. Psychological issues, including mental illness, traumatic experiences, or even general attitudes and ideas, might contribute to drug usage. Several factors can contribute to emotional and psychosocial stress, compelling one to practice drug abuse. It can be brought on by a loss of a job because of certain reasons, the death of a loved one, a parent's divorce, or financial problems. Even medical diseases and health problems can have a devastating emotional impact. Many take medicines to increase their physical stamina, sharpen their focus, or improve their looks.

Students are particularly prone to get indulged in substance abuse due to various reasons, like academic and peer pressure, the appeal of popularity and identification, readily available pocket money, and relatively easy accessibility of several substances, especially in industrial, urban elite areas, including nicotine (cigarettes) [ 16 , 17 ]. In addition, a relationship breakup, mental illness, environmental factors, self-medication, financial concerns, downtime, constraints of work and school, family obligations, societal pressure, abuse, trauma, boredom, curiosity, experimentation, rebellion, to be in control, enhanced performance, isolation, misinformation, ignorance, instant gratification, wide availability can be one of the reasons why one chooses this path [ 18 ].

The brain grows rapidly during adolescence and continues to do so until early adulthood, as is well documented. According to studies using structural magnetic resonance imaging, changes in cortical grey matter volume and thickness during development include linear and nonlinear transformations and increases in white matter volume and integrity. This delays the maturation of grey and white matter, resulting in poorer sustained attention [ 19 ]. Alcohol drinking excessively increases the likelihood of accidents and other harmful effects by impairing cognitive functions like impulse control and decision-making and motor functions like balance and hand-eye coordination [ 20 ]. Lower-order sensory motor regions of the brain mature first, followed by limbic areas crucial for processing rewards. The development of different brain regions follows different time-varying trajectories. Alcohol exposure has adversely affected various emotional, mental, and social functions in the frontal areas linked to higher-order cognitive functioning that emerge later in adolescence and young adulthood [ 21 ].

Smoking/e-cigarettes

The use of tobacco frequently begins before adulthood. A worryingly high percentage of schoolchildren between 13 and 15 have tried or are currently using tobacco, according to the global youth tobacco survey [ 22 ]. It is more likely that early adolescent cigarette usage will lead to nicotine dependence and adult cigarette use. Teenage smoking has been associated with traumatic stress, anxiety, and mood problems [ 23 ]. Nicotine usage has been associated with a variety of adolescent problems, including sexual risk behaviors, aggressiveness, and the use of alcohol and illegal drugs. High levels of impulsivity have been identified in adolescent smokers.

Additionally, compared to non-smokers, smoking is associated with a higher prevalence of anxiety and mood disorders in teenagers. Smoking is positively associated with suicidal thoughts and attempts [ 24 ]. Peer pressure, attempting something new, and stress management ranked top for current and former smokers [ 25 ]. Most teenagers say that when they start to feel down, they smoke to make themselves feel better and return to their usual, upbeat selves. Smoking may have varying effects on people's moods [ 26 ]. Teenagers who smoke seem more reckless, less able to control their impulses, and less attentive than non-smokers [ 27 ].

Cannabis/Marijuana

Marijuana is among the most often used illegal psychotropic substances in India and internationally. The prevalence of marijuana usage and hospitalizations related to marijuana are rising, especially among young people, according to current trends. Cannabis usage has been connected to learning, working memory, and attention problems. Cannabis has been shown to alleviate stress in small doses, but more significant amounts can cause anxiety, emotional symptoms, and dependence [ 28 ]. Myelination and synaptic pruning are two maturational brain processes that take place during adolescence and the early stages of adulthood. According to reports, these remodeling mechanisms are linked to efficient neural processing. They are assumed to provide the specialized cognitive processing needed for the highest neurocognitive performance. On a prolonged attentional processing test, marijuana usage before age 16 was linked to a shorter reaction time [ 29 ]. Cannabis use alters the endocannabinoid system, impacting executive function, reward function, and affective functions. It is believed that these disturbances are what lead to mental health problems [ 30 ].

MDMA (Ecstasy/Molly)

MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine) was a synthetic drug used legally in psychotherapy treatment throughout the 1970s, despite the lack of data demonstrating its efficacy. Molly, or the phrase "molecular," is typically utilized in powder form. Serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine are produced more significantly when MDMA is used. In the brain, these neurotransmitters affect mood, sleep, and appetite. Serotonin also causes the release of other hormones that may cause emotions of intimacy and attraction. Because of this, users might be more affectionate than usual and possibly develop ties with total strangers. The effects wear off three to six hours later, while a moderate dose may cause withdrawal symptoms to continue for a week. These symptoms include a decline in sex interest, a drop in appetite, problems sleeping, confusion, impatience, anxiety, sorrow, Impulsivity and violence, issues with memory and concentration, and insomnia are a few of them. Unsettlingly, it is rising in popularity in India, particularly among teenagers [ 31 ].

Opium 

In addition to being a top producer of illicit opium, India is a significant drug consumer. In India, opium has a long history. The most common behavioral changes are a lack of motivation, depression, hyperactivity, a lack of interest or concentration, mood swings or abrupt behavior changes, confusion or disorientation, depression, anxiety, distortion of reality perception, social isolation, slurred or slow-moving speech, reduced coordination, a loss of interest in once-enjoyed activities, taking from family members or engaging in other illegal activity [ 32 ]. Except for the chemical produced for medicinal purposes, it is imperative to prohibit both production and usage since if a relatively well-governed nation like India cannot stop the drug from leaking, the problem must be huge in scope [ 33 ].

Cocaine is a highly addictive drug that causes various psychiatric syndromes, illnesses, and symptoms. Some symptoms include agitation, paranoia, hallucinations, delusions, violence, and thoughts of suicide and murder. They may be caused by the substance directly or indirectly through the aggravation of co-occurring psychiatric conditions. More frequent and severe symptoms are frequently linked to the usage of cocaine in "crack" form. Cocaine can potentially worsen numerous mental diseases and cause various psychiatric symptoms.

Table ​ Table1 1 discusses the short- and long-term effects of substance abuse.

Other cheap substances ( sasta nasha ) used in India

India is notorious for phenomena that defy comprehension. People in need may turn to readily available items like Iodex sandwiches, fevibond, sanitizer, whitener, etc., for comfort due to poverty and other circumstances to stop additional behavioral and other changes in youth discouragement is necessary [ 42 - 44 ]. 

Curbing drug abuse amongst youth

Seventy-five percent of Indian households contain at least one addict. The majority of them are fathers who act in this way due to boredom, stress from their jobs, emotional discomfort, problems with their families, or problems with their spouses. Due to exposure to such risky behaviors, children may try such intoxicants [ 45 ]. These behaviors need to be discouraged because they may affect the child's academic performance, physical growth, etc. The youngster starts to feel depressed, lonely, agitated and disturbed. Because they primarily revolve around educating students about the dangers and long-term impacts of substance abuse, previous attempts at prevention have all been ineffective. To highlight the risks of drug use and scare viewers into abstaining, some programs stoked terror. The theoretical underpinning of these early attempts was lacking, and they failed to consider the understanding of the developmental, social, and other etiologic factors that affect teenage substance use. These tactics are based on a simple cognitive conceptual paradigm that says that people's decisions to use or abuse substances depend on how well they are aware of the risks involved. More effective contemporary techniques are used over time [ 46 ]. School-based substance abuse prevention is a recent innovation utilized to execute changes, including social resistance skills training, normative education, and competence enhancement skills training.

Peer pressure makes a teenager vulnerable to such intoxicants. Teenagers are often exposed to alcohol, drugs, and smoking either because of pressure from their friends or because of being lonely. Social resistance training skills are used to achieve this. The pupils are instructed in the best ways to steer clear of or manage these harmful situations. The best method to respond to direct pressure to take drugs or alcohol is to know what to say (i.e., the specific content of a refusal message) and how to say it. These skills must be taught as a separate curriculum in every school to lower risk. Standard instructional methods include lessons and exercises to dispel misconceptions regarding drug usage's widespread use. 

Teenagers typically exaggerate how common it is to smoke, drink, and use particular substances, which could give off the impression that substance usage is acceptable. We can lessen young people's perceptions of the social acceptability of drug use by educating them that actual rates of drug usage are almost always lower than perceived rates of use. Data from surveys that were conducted in the classroom, school, or local community that demonstrate the prevalence of substance use in the immediate social setting may be used to support this information. If not, this can be taught using statistics from national surveys, which usually show prevalence rates that are far lower than what kids describe.

The role social learning processes have in teen drug use is recognized by competency-improvement programs, and there is awareness about how adolescents who lack interpersonal and social skills are more likely to succumb to peer pressure to use drugs. These young people might also be more inclined to turn to drug usage instead of healthier coping mechanisms. Most competency enhancement strategies include instruction in many of the following life skills: general problem-solving and decision-making skills, general cognitive abilities for fending off peer or media pressure, skills for enhancing self-control, adaptive coping mechanisms for reducing stress and anxiety through the use of cognitive coping mechanisms or be behavioral relaxation techniques, and general social and assertive skills [ 46 ].

Programs formulated to combat the growing risk of substance abuse

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare developed Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram for teenagers aged 10 to 19, with a focus on improving nutrition, sexual and reproductive health, mental health, preventing injuries and violence, and preventing substance abuse. By enabling them to make informed and responsible decisions about their health and well-being and ensuring that they have access to the tools and assistance they need, the program seeks to enable all adolescents in India in realizing their full potential [ 47 ].

For the past six years, ‘Nasha Mukti Kendra’ in India and rehabilitation have worked to improve lives and provide treatment for those who abuse alcohol and other drugs. They provide cost-effective and dedicated therapy programs for all parts of society. Patients come to them from all around the nation. Despite having appropriate programs and therapies that can effectively treat the disorder, they do not employ medication to treat addiction.

Conclusions

Around the world, adolescent drug and alcohol addiction has significantly increased morbidity and mortality. The menace of drugs and alcohol has been woven deep into the fabric of society. As its effects reach our youth, India's current generation is at high stake for the risk associated with the abuse of drugs like cannabis, alcohol, and tobacco. Even though the issue of substance abuse is complicated and pervasive, various stakeholders like healthcare professionals, community leaders, and educational institutions have access to a wealth of evidence-based research that can assist them to adopt interventions that can lower rates of teenage substance misuse. It is realized that while this problem is not specific to any one country or culture, individual remedies might not always be beneficial. Due to the unacceptably high rate of drug abuse that is wreaking havoc on humanity, a strategy for addressing modifiable risk factors is crucial. Because human psychology and mental health influence the choices the youth make related to their indulgence in drug misuse, it is the need of the hour to give serious consideration to measures like generating awareness, counseling, student guidance cells, positive parenting, etc., across the world. It will take time to change this substance misuse behavior, but the more effort we put into it, the greater the reward we will reap.

The content published in Cureus is the result of clinical experience and/or research by independent individuals or organizations. Cureus is not responsible for the scientific accuracy or reliability of data or conclusions published herein. All content published within Cureus is intended only for educational, research and reference purposes. Additionally, articles published within Cureus should not be deemed a suitable substitute for the advice of a qualified health care professional. Do not disregard or avoid professional medical advice due to content published within Cureus.

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Home — Essay Samples — Psychology — Adolescence — The Use Of Drugs Among Teenagers

The Use of Drugs Among Teenagers

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Teen Substance Use Is Declining, But More Dangerous Drug Abuse Is Emerging

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There have been “promising” declines in high school students’ overall use of illicit substances, concludes a report from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Since 2013, the percentage of students who reported drinking alcohol, using marijuana, or using select illicit drugs at any point has decreased. Since 2017 and 2019, respectively, the percentage of students who had ever misused or currently are misusing prescription opioids decreased, according to the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey.

That survey draws on data collected every two years among a nationally representative sample of U.S. high school students. The 2023 survey had more than 20,000 respondents and was conducted in the spring.

Still, many students continue to use substances and the lack of progress in some areas is concerning, according to the report.

The findings come as schools continue to face challenges in curbing students’ substance abuse , which could negatively affect learning, memory, and attention, according to experts. It could also be a sign of mental health challenges.

While student substance abuse isn’t a new challenge for school districts, the substances that adolescents are experimenting with now are much more dangerous, said Darrell Sampson, the executive director of student services for the Arlington public schools in Virginia.

“It’s not necessarily that more kids are using substances than in prior years,” Sampson said. “It’s the lethality of the substance itself that has caused higher levels of concern.”

Research has shown rising overdose deaths among teens even as their substance use is declining. Those deaths have been linked to the increase in illicit fentanyl and other synthetic opioids. School districts have been pursuing several strands of legal action against companies that manufactured and marketed addictive opioids that have led to tens of thousands of deaths and countless more addiction struggles in the last two decades.

Beyond the legal actions, schools also continue to provide prevention and education programming for students and families, Sampson said. There’s “a glimmer of hope” that those measures are working, he said, based on the declines in the CDC data.

Experts recommend starting education about substance abuse as early as possible

In the Arlington, Va., district, students in grades 6 through 10 learn about substance abuse challenges as part of the health curriculum, Sampson said. The district has also slowly expanded that program to 5th and 4th grades and are looking into whether there’s capacity to start that education as early as 3rd grade.

“We know that the more we can at least open that conversation with our families and our students, the better off our students are going to be,” Sampson said. “It’s not just a message [they’re hearing] starting in middle school, but it’s a message [they’re hearing] over time.”

The district is expanding programming with 11th and 12th graders, too, because the information they got when they were in 10th grade could be outdated by then, Sampson said.

In addition, the district has substance abuse counselors who meet with students and try to explore the reasons they might be using substances, Sampson said.

Experts say it’s also important to think about how to incorporate student voice in any prevention or intervention programming.

Teens are more than twice as likely to go to their friends or peers for help or support when experiencing distress from their substance use than they are to go to a behavioral health provider or a family member, according to a survey from the Bipartisan Policy Center conducted in June among 932 teens (13- to 17-year-olds) and 1,062 young adults (18- to 26-year-olds). More than a quarter of teens said they didn’t go to anyone for help or support when they experienced distress from substance use.

Sophie Szew, a junior at Stanford University and the Bipartisan Policy Center’s mental health and substance use task force youth adviser, said those survey results “really underscore the importance of investing in those peer support networks and resources.”

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A Front-Row Change Agent of the Drug Epidemic

Dr. robert dupont shifted the paradigm from demonization to treatment of users..

Updated August 19, 2024 | Reviewed by Hara Estroff Marano

• What Is Addiction?
• Find a therapist to overcome addiction
• In the 1970s, people addicted to opioids were demonized, considered hopeless. Some still believe this.
• Setting high standards and following addicted patients for five years helps doctors know what treatments work.
• Prevention is key to success in substance abuse, and it’s important to encourage non-use among teens.

In the United States, people addicted to opioids were once demonized as hopelessly bad, and treatment was virtually nonexistent. No one may have done more to change both matters than psychiatrist Robert DuPont, M.D, who, in 1969, during an unexplained surge in crime in the nation's capital, was working with prisoners in the District of Columbia Department of Corrections. DuPont decided to test incoming inmates for drugs and was shocked to learn that nearly half (45%) were addicted to heroin. Desperate for heroin, they turned to crime for money.

At the behest of the district's mayor, DuPont developed a D.C.-based clinic, the Narcotics Treatment Administration. It treated more than 15,000 heroin addicts over the next three years, and the D.C. crime rate plummeted by 50%, in a direct correlation.

Helping Medical Professionals Do Better

Robert L. “Bob” DuPont, born in 1936, graduated from Emory University and Harvard Medical School and completed his psychiatric training at the National Institutes of Health. He became the first director of the newly-created National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), where he created a first-of-its-kind comprehensive training program for doctors, nurses, and counselors working in addiction treatment programs. Drug overdose deaths began declining, from from 6,413 to 2,492 by 1980.

In 1978, DuPont left government service to create the Institute for Behavior and Health (IBH), a think tank focusing on drug policy. Dupont has published more than 400 journal articles and 15 books, most recently Chemical Slavery: Understanding Addictions and Stopping the Drug Epidemic (2018).

The IBH conducted the first national study of doctors dependent on drugs and alcohol , their treatment, and five-year outcomes. “Physicians are given a comprehensive assessment by a team of professionals and get treatment for comorbidities, but the focus is on their addictions. They typically attend a month or more of residential treatment and, as outpatients, are monitored for five years with random drug and alcohol testing. If they miss a scheduled test or test positive for any drug, including alcohol, they are taken out of their practice again, assessed, and sent back to treatment.”

DuPont points out that many doctors who entered the program were initially resentful because they didn’t think there was anything wrong with them—typical of individuals with substance use disorder from all walks of life. Yet, most physicians greatly value their medical license, and the overwhelming majority cooperated because participation and success meant they could continue to practice medicine.

His study of nearly 1,000 drug-addicted physicians closely monitored for five years showed what is possible for the rest of the population. Seventy-eight percent never tested positive for drugs or alcohol, an excellent record. In addition, of those who did have a positive or missed drug test, nearly two-thirds never had a second positive test.

A follow-up study of physicians who successfully completed treatment and monitoring contracts five or more years ago showed that more than 95% were still in recovery. Physicians rated the treatment they had received as important to their recovery but said the most valued part of their care was involvement in the 12 steps.

Lessons Learned About Substance Abuse

DuPont says many people don’t realize that it’s rarely just one drug abused by most problematic substance users. And that is particularly true of individuals who die from drug overdoses, in whom two or more drugs are often identified post-mortem.

He also notes that many drugs used today are not in their natural forms but instead are ultra-potent synthetics, like fentanyl. In 2022, about 111,000 people died, and in 2023, about 108,300 people died of drug overdose. .

Early diagnosis and treatment is key

The earlier patients are diagnosed and treated, the better their chances of achieving and sustaining recovery, says DuPont. Many people can stop using substances for some period. However, the real problem is not drug withdrawal, as many people believe, but, instead, the repeated relapses . Yet he has known many individuals with seemingly hopeless drug or alcohol issues who emerged sober and productive. He largely credits organizations like Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous.

Prevention is best

Whenever possible, prevention of drug use is best, particularly among young people. Not only is adolescence a time when most addictions begin, it's also a time when the brain is uniquely vulnerable..

DuPont now focuses on youth substance-use prevention: no alcohol, nicotine, marijuana/THC, or other drugs by those under age 21. He notes that the percentage of 12th graders who report never using in their lifetime has increased from around 26% in 2018 to 32% in 2023. The trend is also evident in younger students. DuPont emphasizes, “This trend is key to reversing decades of pain, suffering, and addictions.“

At age 88, Robert DuPont, M.D., advocates for treatment research, long-term treatment with outcome reporting, mental health treatment parity (as important as physical health), and prevention. Recovery, he insists, is possible.

Levy S, Campbell MD, Shea CL, DuPont R. Trends in Abstaining From Substance Use in Adolescents: 1975-2014. Pediatrics. 2018 Aug;142(2):e20173498. doi: 10.1542/peds.2017-3498. PMID: 30026244.

DuPont RL, McLellan AT, White WL, Merlo LJ, Gold MS. Setting the standard for recovery: Physicians' Health Programs. J Subst Abuse Treat. 2009 Mar;36(2):159-71. doi: 10.1016/j.jsat.2008.01.004. PMID: 19161896.; DuPont RL, Compton WM, McLellan AT. Five-Year Recovery: A New Standard for Assessing Effectiveness of Substance Use Disorder Treatment. J Subst Abuse Treat. 2015 Nov;58:1-5. doi: 10.1016/j.jsat.2015.06.024. Epub 2015 Aug 1. PMID: 26277423.

Compton WM, Valentino RJ, DuPont RL. Polysubstance use in the U.S. opioid crisis. Mol Psychiatry. 2021 Jan;26(1):41-50. doi: 10.1038/s41380-020-00949-3. Epub 2020 Nov 13. PMID: 33188253; PMCID: PMC7815508.

DuPont RL, Lieberman JA. Young brains on drugs. Science. 2014 May 9;344(6184):557. doi: 10.1126/science.1254989. PMID: 24812368

Mark S. Gold, M.D., is a pioneering researcher, professor, and chairman of psychiatry at Yale, the University of Florida, and Washington University in St Louis. His theories have changed the field, stimulated additional research, and led to new understanding and treatments for opioid use disorders, cocaine use disorders, overeating, smoking, and depression.

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Sticking up for yourself is no easy task. But there are concrete skills you can use to hone your assertiveness and advocate for yourself.

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Friday essay: Bad therapy or cruel world? How the youth mental health crisis has been sucked into the culture wars

Professor of Psychology, The University of Melbourne

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Rates of mental ill health among young people are on the rise. Between the years 2020 and 2022, 39% of Australians aged 16 to 24 had a mental disorder in the previous year , compared to 26% in that age range in 2007, and 27% of those aged 18–24 in 1997.

The recent Lancet Psychiatry commission on youth mental health documents equally steep increases in mental illness in the United States, UK and Denmark. Governments, mental health services, educational institutions and parents are struggling to respond. But what is behind these trends?

Two accounts seem to be emerging. According to one, which I’ll call the “cruel world” narrative, young people are distressed because the world is in bad shape and getting worse.

Facing climate emergency, unaffordable housing, precarious employment, rising inequality and other dire mega-trends, they are canaries in a societal coalmine. By this account, the mental health crisis is the direct result of systemic adversity.

The alternative, which I’ll call the “cultural trend” narrative, is a little less bleak. Young people are experiencing more mental illness not primarily because the world is grim and getting grimmer, but because cultural shifts have shaped how they perceive and inhabit it.

This narrative suggests a culture preoccupied with harm creates vulnerability and leads people to view life problems through a psychiatric lens. Adversity and social dislocation undoubtedly contribute to young people’s distress, but the way therapeutic culture frames their suffering makes it worse.

The two narratives offer different prescriptions.

From the “cruel world” perspective, the ultimate causes of the mental health crisis are the basic structures of our society, economy and ecology. Only systemic, macro-level changes can arrest them.

For proponents of the “cultural trend” narrative, the focus of intervention is more micro. We should challenge the social practices and technologies that create vulnerability and undermine mental health.

As a social psychologist, I take it as self-evident that adverse social environments play a leading role in the creation of mental ill health: that we can’t isolate human misery from its broader context. However, I’m equally certain that culture plays a crucial part.

A range of cultural changes that could plausibly undermine mental health are well underway: increased immersion in the digital world, rising political polarisation and preoccupation with risk and harm, among others. Separating them from the tangled skein of factors that contribute to the youth mental health crisis is a matter of urgency.

Abigail Shrier’s new book Bad Therapy , a forceful exposition of the “cultural trend” narrative, provides a golden opportunity to explore some of them.

Youth mental health and the culture wars

Journalist and cultural critic Soraya Chemaly’s recent book The Resilience Myth exemplifies the first narrative. Young people are distressed “because the world is distressing, and adults have failed them”. Their sensitivity and emotional honesty place them at higher risk of distress than their elders, and the ubiquity of trauma, oppression and existential climate threat tip that risk into illness.

Chemaly’s solutions lean towards the revolutionary. Her targets include individualism, rigid gender ideologies, capitalism and white supremacy.

Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation presents a version of the second narrative. Haidt does not deny the magnitude of the challenges young people face. However, he questions whether their rising rates of mental ill health directly follow increases in adversity.

This inflection point in the trajectory of young people’s mental ill health appears to have occurred in the early 2010s. However, many of the systemic trends now held responsible for the crisis – like climate change and rising income inequality – have been building over a much longer period, when rates of ill health were relatively stable. By implication, the precipitating causes must be more specific, recent developments.

Haidt identifies two such changes: the advent of smartphones and “safetyism”. His focus on smartphones has been widely reported . But his equally important emphasis on the cultural preoccupation with protecting us from harm has received less attention.

Haidt argues that parental and institutional over-protection hampers the development of young people’s resilience and autonomy. Citing the idea of “anti-fragility” he proposes that risk, challenge and failure are required to build strength.

By now, it should be obvious that the youth mental health crisis has become politicised, sucked into the vortex of the culture wars.

The crisis can be attributed either to an uncaring system that oppresses the most vulnerable, or to emerging social trends that do young minds no favours. It can be addressed either by progressive social change, such as economic redistribution and environmental protection, or by winding back some damaging cultural developments, such as promoting unsupervised play for children and restricting access to smartphones in schools .

Blaming ‘bad therapy’

Whereas Haidt spends much of his book on the damage done by young people’s immersion in the digital world, in Bad Therapy, Shrier castigates mental health experts for contributing to the crisis they claim to be addressing.

Shrier is a controversial figure. Her previous book Irreversible Damage drew protests and bans for critiquing youth gender medicine and arguing that social contagion plays a role in the rise of girls seeking gender transition.

The former lawyer and Wall Street Journal columnist, who has not previously written at length on mental health, is just as fierce in prosecuting the case against the growing influence of mental health expertise.

Bad Therapy begins by arguing that the rise in mental ill health among young people is not merely a response to deepening life challenges. Instead, Shrier writes, it is driven by destructive cultural shifts and misguided experts. She suggests many people who are experiencing ordinary problems in living have been led to believe their unhappiness is psychiatric in nature.

Shrier is quick to clarify that distress often is genuinely severe. There are “two distinct groups of young people”, she argues: those experiencing “profound mental illness” and “the worriers; the fearful; the lonely, lost, and sad”.

This second group is Shrier’s battleground. These “worriers” have fallen victim to shifts in education and parenting, and to the expansionism of the mental health field. On this point, she doesn’t mince her words. “No industry refuses the prospect of exponential growth,” she writes, and “the mental health industry is minting patients faster than it can cure them.” As a result, “we rush to remedy a misdiagnosed condition with the wrong sort of cure”.

Shrier challenges the common view that mental health interventions – therapy for short – are invariably beneficial. She reviews evidence suggesting therapy is less helpful than it is touted to be, and that it can sometimes be actively harmful. For instance, “psychological debriefing” immediately after exposure to traumas can interfere with recovery .

Mental health treatment can undermine recovery, she suggests, by “hijack[ing] our normal processes of resilience” and creating dependency on professionals. It can crystallise illness by applying diagnostic labels too liberally.

Diagnoses may bring relief to anxious and desperate parents, but they can also affect how their children perceive themselves and are perceived by others. Much like therapeutic staples such as trauma and chemical imbalance , diagnostic terms can convey the view that young people are fundamentally damaged and have little control over their predicaments.

Many of these critiques of therapy chime with familiar attacks on medicalisation . But Shrier also advances some newer criticisms. Mental health treatment can induce rumination and a passive focus on feelings: common features of anxiety and depression. “Bad therapy encourages hyperfocus on one’s emotional states, which in turn makes symptoms worse.”

Therapy can also affirm young people’s worries and encourage public sharing of distress in ways that can entrench unhelpful patterns. “A dose of repression,” Shrier counters, “appears to be a fairly useful psychological tool for getting on with life.”

Mental health workers overlook the possibility that talk therapy can have these adverse consequences, Shrier argues – although it is no less plausible that some psychological treatments may do harm than that some medications can have adverse side effects. Without questioning therapists’ desire to help, she takes the hardheaded view that they have incentives not to acknowledge the harm they may be causing.

Should teachers be delivering therapy?

The clear implication of Shrier’s argument is that we should challenge, rather than expand, therapeutic approaches to young people’s mental health. Instead, she finds that American schools are riddled with bad therapy, often under the banner of “social-emotional learning”.

Shrier maintains that social-emotional learning licenses psychologically untrained teachers to work in a therapeutic mode. It encourages excessive self-focus, demands emotional disclosure and can expose children to dual relationships, all out of view of their parents.

Social-emotional learning and related elements of therapeutic schooling don’t just encourage unhelpful inwardness, she argues. She contends they also use questionable teaching methods and draw time and energy away from academic learning.

Of one effort to smuggle emotional learning into a maths class, Shrier writes: “I began to wonder whether this wasn’t some sort of ploy by the Chinese Communist Party to obliterate American mathematical competence.” She concludes that

social-emotional learning turns out to be a lot like the Holy Roman Empire. Neither social, nor good for emotional health, nor something that can be learned.

Schools’ therapeutic missions also undermine how they educate disadvantaged students. Shrier contends that some “trauma-informed” practice prejudges students who have experienced hardship as fragile and in need of blanket mental health interventions, while lowering expectations for their behaviour and academic achievement. Meanwhile, classroom chaos is created by excessive accommodation of disruptive students.

Shrier takes aim at the outsized role “trauma” plays in currently popular accounts of mental ill health. She reserves some of her sharpest criticism for psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk , whose bestselling book, The Body Keeps the Score, places trauma front and centre in mental ill health, and physician Gabriel Maté , who claims trauma contributes to everything from cancer to ADHD.

Seeing childhood trauma as the buried root of most adult mental health problems conflicts with copious evidence that resilience is the normal response to adversity – and that trauma memories tend to be recalled accurately, rather than locked voiceless in the body. Shrier maintains that the concept of trauma has become trivialised through over-use. She chastises experts for characterising problems ranging from anger outbursts to procrastination as trauma responses.

In the school environment, the consequences of elevating trauma are troubling:

under the banner of “whole child” education and “trauma-informed” care, educators greet every child with the emotional analogue of a gurney, all but begging kids to hop in. They never wait to see who might be injured because every child is encouraged to see herself as overtaxed and worn out. They encourage every child, constantly, to think about herself and her struggles.

Against ‘gentle’ parenting and ‘overmanaged’ kids

Shrier condemns schools for usurping parental authority, but argues that contemporary parenting also subverts itself.

“Gentle” styles of child-rearing end up creating anxious, unresilient children whose demands are endlessly accommodated and whose dependency is reinforced. A strange combination of permissiveness and over-involvement makes for exhausted parents who are unwilling to exercise adult authority or to impose consequences on behaviour, she argues.

Liberal American parents may look askance at earlier styles of parenting, but by placing emotional wellness front and centre in their relationships with their children, they are making their task harder and more thankless.

As Shrier observes:

forty-year-old parents – accomplished, brilliant, and blessed with a spouse – treat the raising of kids like a calculus problem that was put to them in the dead of night: Get it right or I pull this trigger .

Ultimately, the failures of therapeutic parenting are another strike against the mental health experts who advocated for it. Shrier urges parents to cut themselves loose from the advice of parenting sages, for the good of their children: “love means occasionally telling an expert to get lost”.

Concretely, parents should step back, stop compulsively monitoring and over-praising their children, reduce scheduled activities, enforce consequences and encourage independent behaviour. She writes: “if you could do something at their age, let them give it a whirl”.

A parent’s goal should be to set their children free from an “overmanaged, veal-calf life” and ensure they experience “all of the pains of adulthood, in smaller doses, so that they build up immunity to the poison of heartache and loss”.

Not all therapy is bad therapy

Bad Therapy is an unashamedly polemical book. Shrier has strong views on what is wrong with the culture of mental health in the US –  and takes these supposed failings as examples of broader progressive trends she opposes.

The mental health crisis troubles her not only for its human costs, but because it erodes key conservative values: self-reliance, strength, parental authority and freedom from institutional compulsion.

Shrier’s rhetoric is sharp-elbowed, with a memorable turn of phrase. Some villains are identified and savaged, though the criticised cabal of mental health experts is often a faceless mass. The book is studded with revealing case studies and she interviews many leading scientists, like Paul Bloom, author of Against Empathy , memory expert Elizabeth Loftus , leading trauma psychologist Richard McNally , and generational difference researcher Jean Twenge .

Though she presents herself as defending science against ideology, at times Shrier’s claims run ahead of the data. There is little evidence that mental health interventions are creating ill health on a large scale, for example, or that increases in self-diagnosis among young people account for increases in their levels of distress.

Some schools may implement socio-emotional learning in problematic ways. But studies typically find that they benefit academic achievement . And though there is evidence that today’s young adults are reaching some developmental milestones later than earlier generations, there is little direct evidence that gentle parenting is responsible for the delays.

Shrier tends to present the mental health world as a monolith. But anyone working in it knows it to be criss-crossed with divisions: between researchers and practitioners, consumers and professionals, medical and non-medical workers, and numerous disciplines and therapeutic tribes.

The idea that this Babel of voices is united in a process of crisis creation is hard to credit. Not all therapy is bad therapy. Indeed, many of the positions Shrier espouses – for facing challenges head on and experiencing the consequences of our behaviour, and against safetyism, over-medication and the therapeutic excavation of our childhoods – are gospel for mainstream cognitive behaviour therapists.

Correcting concerning trends

Even so, for all its exaggerations and simplifications, Bad Therapy is a timely corrective to some real and concerning trends. It is increasingly clear that over-diagnosis of mental illness is common, especially among young people, and that diagnostic labelling can have adverse implications .

It now seems likely that campaigns to boost mental health awareness sometimes backfire and pathologise ordinary unhappiness. School-based prevention initiatives are sometimes ineffective and can even reduce wellbeing.

Most of all, it is becoming obvious that although there is a high unmet need for treatment, simply expanding the current mental health system – training more therapists, funding more sessions and services, further boosting awareness of mental health, embedding a therapeutic sensibility in more of our institutions – cannot be relied on to substantially reduce mental ill health.

Research on the so-called “treatment-prevalence paradox” demonstrates that large increases in service provision have failed to reduce rates of mental illness. Current treatment practices have only modest efficacy in real-world settings. Reasons likely include the complexity and recurring nature of many mental health problems, and the low quality implementation and short-lived benefit of many treatments.

Some treatments also clearly do more harm than good, for some patients. A recent evaluation of Australia’s Better Access program, which gives Medicare rebates to help people access mental health care, found that patients who sought help for relatively mild distress were three times more likely to deteriorate than to improve (patients in more severe distress typically improved).

In this context, Shrier has some grounds to be sceptical that doing more of the same will turn around the mental health crisis. There is no question that more needs to be done – but believing that the solution is to scale up current practice seems, as Samuel Johnson said of a second marriage, a triumph of hope over experience.

Shrier addresses her concluding chapters to parents, urging them to reclaim the confidence that they know what’s right for their child. The trouble is, parents rarely know to which of Shrier’s “two distinct groups of young people” their child belongs.

How could they know? No bright line separates the supposed victims of therapy culture from the profoundly ill. Faced with a loved one’s distress, what can parents do but seek the forms of help that are currently available?

Our young people will continue to be funnelled toward mental health treatment in alarming numbers. We can only hope it will become more effective and less necessary.

• Overdiagnosis
• Gentle parenting
• Friday essay
• Youth mental health crisis

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Reasons Behind Youth’s Engagement to Drug Abuse in the 21st Century Essay

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Question at Issue

• Unemployment and Drug Abuse among Youths in the 21st Century

Peer Pressure and Drug Abuse among Youths

Family lifestyle and drug abuse among youths, works cited.

What are the reasons behind youths’ engagement in drug abuse in the 21st century?

Although youths in the 21 st century engage in drug abuse due to several factors, it suffices to declare factors such as the rising unemployment status, peer pressure, and their hiked tendency to copy their parents’ behaviors as the principal drivers of drug abuse. However, one would wish to know why.

Unemployment and Drug Abuse among Youths in the 21 st Century

Eighner’s words of people being satisfied with what they have and or letting go of what their financial ability cannot afford do not seem to apply in the life of youths in the 21 st century.

Youth joblessness has become a key issue in the 21 st century. It has continued to have serious effects on development potential of young people. The increased rate of unemployment among young people encourages them to use drugs to change the way they feel or they way they perceive their incapacitated situation rather than accepting the situation and or using the right means of overcoming it.

They have to carry on with offensive acts and prostitution to sustain themselves. Drug abuse has physical, mental, and social effects. Physical injury also results from accidents that youths encounter while they are drunk. Joblessness and poverty also make the youths resort to self-treatment following the evident absence of funds for appropriate therapeutic treatment.

Morrel et al. confirm the existence of a “link between unemployment and increased drug, tobacco, and alcohol use” (237). Unemployment leads to stress, which makes youths use drugs hoping to feel better. However, on the contrary, they end up being drug addicts. Unemployment makes youths become vulnerable to drug abuse because they have a lot of free and idle time on their hands, which gives them the chances to involve themselves in socially deviant behaviors with drug abuse being one of those behaviors.

Lack of employment is among the factors that influence their feeding habits and hence their health. In fact, Eighner has come in handy to address the issue of healthy eating habits that even the jobless youth should use (6). However, he also points out financial issues that arise because of lack of jobs that determine what people or rather youth will choose to consume (drugs) based on their little or no cash at all (7).

Many youths who have no employment end up abusing drugs because they need to survive and or keep on pressing in this life. When youths are growing from being children to adults, they have a lot of hopes and aspirations, which fade off as time goes by as they involve in drug abuse as a way of forgetting their unemployment status.

Moreover, congruent with Eighner’s words, a decent job can help add to habitable earnings, civilized shelter, and high-quality social sustenance, which can help promote health and wellbeing of the youths, help them recover from mental health problems, and avoid substance abuse-related harms (6).

However, youths still abuse drugs despite some having good employment. In fact, Wells and Stacy say, “Finding meaningful employment will not solve all problems, but it’s a very important part of the bigger picture for many people” (164). Congruent with Curry’s Why We Work, it is possible for youths to experience stress to the extent of demanding ‘time offs’ (23) in their jobs. As a result, majority will use this opportunity to use stimulants as a way of relieving themselves from stress. Stimulants will make a youth forget his or her situation.

On the other hand, depressants like prescription of sleeping pills can give the youth a good and extended night’s sleep, which is especially common to unemployed young people for they want to remain sleepy so that they do not think much of their situation. They prefer taking depressants to escape their problems. As they repeatedly take the pills, they end up being drug addicts. Research done by Florida found out, “states with higher unemployment rates do tend to have higher rates of drug use” (Wells and Stacy 163).

Peer pressure is among the strongest predictors of drug use during adolescence. Peers initiate youths into drugs, provide drugs, model drug- using behaviors, and shape attitude about drugs. Currently, youths are adopting a common lifestyle.

Most adolescents are drained by this lifestyle not because they lack something essential in their lives like a job or because they have a genuine reason as to why they have adopted to that very lifestyle but because they want to fit into their peer group for acceptance. Peer pressure leads to the abuse of drugs by teenagers. Teens engage in drugs in order to rhyme with their peers. The extensive and continuous use of these drugs lands them to drug addiction.

A drastic rise in drug abuse among teens in the 21 st century has been noted following their parting with their parents to join their peers at school. On the contrary, Cisneros’ The Storyteller is an article that features the life of a young tutor who has been far from her parents for a while. Although Cisneros has peers in her workplace, she is an epitome of young people who choose to go against the norms to do what is right no matter the pressure (Cisneros 153) of experimenting things along with her peers.

According to Morrel et al., “teenagers seem to have more problems with peer pressure because they are just beginning to learn about whom they are and what their belief systems are” (240).

Peer pressure stands out as among the principal causes that can drive the present-day knowledgeable youths towards drugs dependence. When educated youths are through with their studies, they start hunting jobs. Sometimes, the jobless time can extend due to rapid changes in the job market thus leading them to start experiencing headaches, depressions, and confusion.

At this stage, the peers who seem to be helping them to overcome the situation lead the educated youths into the act of abusing drugs. By the time they realize they are abusing drugs, they already have reached the addiction stage. Peer pressure qualifies as one of the central roots of drug abuse among youths because many teenagers try drugs because they were given by their friends. Unfortunately, what people believe their peers want them to do is often the cause of what they actually do.

The way family functions can have a strong impact on a teenager. Teenagers coming from families where there is minute parental management and attention have high chances of misusing drugs in relation to teens from homes with more parental participation. Teens who spent the better part of the day without their parents have high chances of participating in hazardous behaviors. Tough folk relations can help prevent drug abuse.

Coming from a home that stresses on using of harmful substances has a tendency to make a young person perceive it as up to standard. Detrimental family pressure may be an aspect in a teen’s early drug testing. In fact, “Exposure to family members who reach for a substance to cure every pain of ailment can cause a teen to do the same” (239). Young people acquire many of their principles from parents and other mature influences.

They often mimic what they see. In addition, adolescents who have the perception that they are not close to or treasured by their parents are at a larger hazard because they have low self-esteem, which leads to depression and hence drug addiction. A teen may also engage in a drug abuse act when he or she comes from a family with poor familial factors like poor communication strategies between youths and their parents.

In conclusion, youths lie within a delicate age set, which is prone to many dangers especially drug abuse. The paper has discussed drug abuse as the main challenge facing youths in the 21 st century. It has clearly described how youths engage in drug abusing activities. Three reasons behind this engagement have been addressed.

Unemployment is one of the issues discussed in this paper whereby many unemployed persons engage in abusing drugs as a way of getting consolation. Peer pressure also plays a big role in the act of drug abuse among the youths. Lastly, family lifestyle has a major influence on teens and their likelihood of abusing drugs.

Curry, Andrew. Why We Work. London: Routledge, 2010. Print.

Cisneros, Sandra. “The Storyteller.” The Oprah Magazine 10.3(2009): 153. Print.

Eighner, Lars. “On Dumpster Diving.” The Threepenny Review 1.47(1991): 6-8. Print.

Morrel, Stanley, Jack Taylor, and Kerr Bill. “Jobless. Unemployment and Young People’s Health.” Medical Journal of Australia 168.5(1998): 236-40. Print.

Wells, Brian, and Barrie Stacy. “A Further Comparison of Cannabis (marijuana) Users and Non users.” British Journal of Addiction to Alcohol and Other Drugs 71.2(1976): 161-165. Print.

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IvyPanda. (2018, November 28). Reasons Behind Youth’s Engagement to Drug Abuse in the 21st Century. https://ivypanda.com/essays/reasons-behind-youths-engagement-to-drug-abuse-in-the-21st-century/

"Reasons Behind Youth’s Engagement to Drug Abuse in the 21st Century." IvyPanda , 28 Nov. 2018, ivypanda.com/essays/reasons-behind-youths-engagement-to-drug-abuse-in-the-21st-century/.

IvyPanda . (2018) 'Reasons Behind Youth’s Engagement to Drug Abuse in the 21st Century'. 28 November.

IvyPanda . 2018. "Reasons Behind Youth’s Engagement to Drug Abuse in the 21st Century." November 28, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/reasons-behind-youths-engagement-to-drug-abuse-in-the-21st-century/.

1. IvyPanda . "Reasons Behind Youth’s Engagement to Drug Abuse in the 21st Century." November 28, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/reasons-behind-youths-engagement-to-drug-abuse-in-the-21st-century/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Reasons Behind Youth’s Engagement to Drug Abuse in the 21st Century." November 28, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/reasons-behind-youths-engagement-to-drug-abuse-in-the-21st-century/.

English Essay on “The Drug Menace amongst the Youth of Today” English Essay-Paragraph-Speech for Class 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 CBSE Students and competitive Examination.

The Drug Menace amongst the Youth of Today

As the whole world entered a new millennium and celebrated the setting of a new dawn, one corner that still remains dark and ignored is the increasing menace of drug addiction amongst the youth of today.

The problem has attained epidemic proportions with many people from all strata’s of the-society, across the globe taking to drugs. It is a means of escape from the tensions and trauma in-our day-to-day lives, that seem to be only increasing with the ballooning population and, hence, competition.

The problem Is even grave amongst adolescents and teenagers who are the edifice of any society. A major cause for their addiction to -drugs is peer pressure and insistent friends who make drugs a fashion statement.

The addicted person is a patient whose life becomes a total wreck. He is isolated by the society which embitters him even further and he takes to anti-social activities. Apart from being extremely injurious to health, drugs cause mental trauma to the friends and relatives of the addict.

The problem has been there and glaring at us in our faces for a long time now. What we need is a conscious and concerted effort at eradicating it. Instead of ostracizing and branding the addicts, we must create a support system to help them overcome their urge and be accepted by the society. Apart from this more rehabilitation units should be opened for the addicts to relieve their stress. Such measures can ensure a society free of drug addicts and only then the light of .dawn would be able to remove all darkness.

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THE PROBLEM OF DRUG ABUSE AMONG NIGERIAN YOUTHS: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

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CHALLENGES OF DRUG ABUSE AMONG THE YOUTH

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Immaculate Nakibuuka

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Many youths in informal settlement in Kenya are involved in a number of social vices. These vices may include but not limited to robbery with violence, early marriages, dropping out of school and joining outlawed gangs. Youth involvement in social vices presents great concern to parents, government and non-governmental organizations. With increased prevalence of social vices in informal settlements in Kenya, this study was motivated to investigate the influence of psychosocial factors on drug abuse among the youths in Mathare informal settlements of Nairobi County, Kenya. This study sought to determine the effect of peer pressure as a psychosocial factor on drug abuse among the youths in Mathare informal settlement. The unit of analysis were persons of both gender falling between 18 years and 35 years of age. The target population was 17,894 youths of which a sample of 391 respondents was selected using proportionate stratified random sampling method. Data was collected using structured questionnaires and analysed using the linear regression analysis where hypotheses were tested at the .05 level of significance. The Content Validity Index (CVI) was utilized for the purposes of validity. The validity of the instruments was checked by the researcher who also sought the opinion of experts from the School of Education in Laikipia University. The reliability coefficients for questionnaire was estimated through Cronbach's alpha. The resultant alpha for youth questionnaire was r= .827. The questionnaires were considered reliable after yielding a reliability coefficient alpha of at least 0.70. Both the descriptive statistics and inferential statistics was used by the study. The descriptive statistics that was used included the mean, standard deviations and frequency distributions. From the data analysis it was evident that peer pressure contributes to 2.6% of drug abuse cases among youth in Mathare informal settlements. The study recommends that county Government of Nairobi in collaboration with NACADA should engage experts or qualified personnel with right information to have face to face meetings with local community leaders who will relay information to the youths on the harmful consequences of abusing drugs. Mass media approach can also be used through magazines, radio and roadside advertising hoardings to serve as infotainment technique.

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Substance abuse among the youth is emerging as one of the gravest social and Public Health global concerns. This paper aims to share the psychological experiences of the youth who used a newly invented local drug called nyaope in rural communities, Limpopo province, South Africa. A qualitative study, using focus group discussion was conducted among nyaope users between 18-35 years. Thematic data analysis was applied to develop themes, sub-themes, and categories. Findings indicated that nyaope users encountered devastating psychological experiences such as; self-blame, stress, mental relaxation, drug dependency, and addiction. Furthermore, the life of nyaope users seem to revolve around acquiring more nyaope than seeking rehabilitative interventions to counteract the addiction. The Ubuntu theory was used to guide intervention in combating the nyaope problem. It is essential to recruit, train and capacitate more social workers and social auxiliary workers who would specialize in substance abuse services and prevention programmes. There should also be more rehabilitation centres to curb the growing number of drug addicts in the local communities as well as increased funding for non-government organizations that render substance abuse prevention services.

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Gone are days when it was thought that drug abuse was a Western World phenomenon. The abuse of drugs among students is not only an African issue but also a Kenyan problem. Frequent media reports in this country on drug abuse show that the vice is becoming worrying. This research was carried out in the old Kitui district which is now part of the Kitui County. The objectives of the research were to investigate the sources of drugs of abuse among secondary school students in Kitui district and to establish the factors influencing drug use in the same district. The design of the study was descriptive survey which enabled the researchers to gather information, summarize, present, and interpret for the reasons of clarification. Out of the twenty-nine (29) boys’ and girls’ boarding schools, six (06) were purposively sampled representing 20.7 %. Some twenty-five (25) form four students were randomly sampled from each school. The questionnaires were scrutinized for validity by the university...

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International Journal of Contemporary Research and Review

Zipporah Wawira

Drug and substance abuse is a global problem and is one of the major problems affecting the youth both in school and out of school as a result of drug and substance abuse. The purpose of the study was to determine the knowledge on use and effects of drugs and substance abuse among the youth aged 13-24 years in Raila village, Kibera slum, Nairobi. The study hoped to provide additional information to the already existing records about drug and substance abuse which can be of much importance to future scholars and those interested in researching on the same issue and the relevant authorities like the Ministry of Health to find out the effective measures to put in place in order to solve this issue. The study used a descriptive cross-sectional study design, involving both quantitative and qualitative methods. The sample size used was 87 respondents. Random Sampling method was used to select the 87 subjects. Data was collected through interviewer administered questionnaires containing b...

SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF DRUG ABUSE AMONG YOUTH

Suleiman A H M E D Bakori

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Essay on Effect of Drugs on Youth

Students are often asked to write an essay on Effect of Drugs on Youth in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Effect of Drugs on Youth

Introduction.

Drugs have a significant influence on youth, often leading to harmful consequences. Young people are more susceptible to addiction due to their developing brains.

Physical Impact

Drugs can severely damage the health of young people. They can lead to heart diseases, lung problems, and other serious illnesses.

Mental Impact

Drugs can also cause mental health issues like depression, anxiety, and even psychosis. They can affect memory and learning abilities, hindering academic performance.

Social Consequences

Drug use can lead to strained relationships, isolation, and legal problems. It can also lead to risky behaviors, affecting the future of the youth.

250 Words Essay on Effect of Drugs on Youth

The allure and consequences of drug use.

The youth, often considered the backbone of society, are increasingly falling prey to the menace of drug abuse. The reasons behind this are manifold – peer pressure, curiosity, stress, and the desire for an ‘escape’ from reality. These substances, while offering temporary relief, have devastating long-term effects.

Physical and Psychological Impact

Drugs interfere with the normal functioning of the brain, leading to physical and psychological dependencies. Prolonged usage can cause severe health issues like liver damage, cardiovascular diseases, and even brain damage. Psychologically, drugs can lead to anxiety, depression, and suicidal tendencies.

Impact on Education and Career

Drug abuse also affects academic performance and career prospects. Concentration levels drop, grades plummet, and the ability to perform even simple tasks diminishes. This leads to a vicious cycle of poor performance and increased drug use.

The social implications are equally alarming. Drug abuse can lead to isolation, as relationships with family and friends deteriorate. It can also lead to criminal activities, as individuals resort to unlawful means to fund their addiction.

Conclusion: The Need for Intervention

The effects of drug abuse on youth are far-reaching and destructive. It is crucial to create awareness about the dangers of drug use, promote healthy coping mechanisms, and provide support for those struggling with addiction. This is not just an individual fight, but a societal one that requires collective action and commitment.

500 Words Essay on Effect of Drugs on Youth

Physical health consequences.

Youth is a critical period for physical development. Drug abuse can significantly hinder this process, leading to severe health problems. Drugs like alcohol, marijuana, and opioids can cause long-lasting damage to the brain, liver, heart, and other organs. The damage can be immediate, like alcohol poisoning, or long-term, such as liver cirrhosis or heart disease.

Mental Health Implications

The effects of drugs on youth extend beyond the physical to the psychological realm. Drugs can alter brain chemistry, leading to mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety, and psychosis. Moreover, the dependence on drugs can exacerbate feelings of isolation, loneliness, and low self-esteem, creating a vicious cycle of substance use and emotional pain.

Academic Performance and Future Prospects

Social relationships and crime.

Drug use can strain relationships with family and friends, leading to social isolation. Additionally, the illicit nature of drug use can expose youth to criminal activities and legal problems. The association between drug use and crime is well-documented, with young drug users more likely to engage in criminal behavior, further limiting their opportunities.

Prevention and Intervention

Given the profound impact of drugs on youth, prevention and intervention strategies are crucial. Schools, families, and communities need to work together to educate young people about the dangers of drug use. Early intervention programs can help identify at-risk youth, providing them with the necessary support to overcome potential drug problems.

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Essay on Drug Addiction in Youth

Essay on the Signs of Drug Addiction

Essay on the causes of drug addiction, essay on the effects of drug addiction.

• Essay on the Prevention of Drug Addiction
• Essay on the Treatment of Drug Addiction

The most disturbing thing about drug addiction is that people in different countries of the world are becoming addicted to all kinds of drugs. There are different types of street drugs such as – cocaine, meth, marijuana, crack, heroin etc. Heroin is one of the dangerous drugs that suppress your heart’s work and is appropriate to achieve narcotic effect.

The alarming rate of drug consumption has always been a problem and has detrimental effects on the society. Personal and family problems also lead to drug abuse among youngsters who fail to deal with personal problems. The physiological effects of drug addiction can be difficult to endure and this is why the addict must be treated for their condition. The worst thing is that drugs are that they affect youth in every country of the world.

The term drug not only means medicine, but fatal narcotics with different specifications. These drugs have their evil effects on mind and body cells of the addicts. The addict becomes dependent on the drug to a great extent that he/she cannot stop using it. Despite of having full knowledge of its effects on health, addicts use it on a regular basis.

Drug addiction is basically a brain disease that changes the functioning of brain. There is an uncontrollable desire to consume drugs, as a result of which addicted people engage in compulsive behavior to take drugs. The addicts find it impossible to control the intake of drugs, as a result of which they fail to fulfill day-to-day responsibilities in efficient manner. Drug addiction is also referred as drug dependency, as the addict develops dependency for particular substance.

Drug addiction is a compulsive disorder that leads an individual to use substance habitually to achieve desired outcome. Millions of people in the world are suffering with drug addiction and the number is expected to increase in the coming years. If the person is using drugs for a longer period, the outcome may change. For example – early experimentation with drugs is rooted in curiosity. However, as the frequency of substance becomes frequent – the body starts to depend in it to function properly.

The most common signs and symptoms of drug addiction are – obsession with a particular substance, loss of control over the usage of drugs, abandoning the activities which you used to enjoy, etc. Drug addiction may have long term impact on life and one may develop severe symptoms such as – fatigue, trembling, depression, anxiety, headache, insomnia, chills and sweating, paranoia, behavior changes, dilated pupils, poor coordination problems, nausea etc.

There are a number of reasons why youth and teenagers are addicted to drugs or related substances. Lack of self-confidence is considered as one of the primary causes of drug addiction. It can also be due to excessive stress, peer pressure, lack of parental involvement in child’s activities etc. some people consider drug addiction can be the cause of drug use and ignorance. The ignorance of drug addiction along with physical pain of condition becomes a primary cause of drug addiction. Here are some of the causes of drug addiction.

High Level Stress

Young people who have just started their college life or moved to a new city in search of job often face problems with life change. They are more likely to alleviate stress through the use of drugs and similar substances. Finding an easy fix often seems easier than facing the real problem and dealing with it. Trying illegal drugs can lead to addiction and becomes a long term habit.

Social Pressure

Today, we are living in a highly competitive world and it is difficult to grow in such world. There is always a peer pressure in young and old people. However, it is never visible. A lot of young people expect to experience the pressure to use drugs, smoke and drink alcohol. Young people find it difficult to be the person who doesn’t drink or smoke. As they feel isolated and like a social outcast, they make a habit of taking drugs.

Mental Health Conditions

Another primary reason for trying drugs is mental health condition. People who are emotionally weaker tend to feel depressed about the facts of the world. They look for ways to feel free and live life in a normal way as they go through the period of growing up. In such situation, they make a habit of taking drugs and can lead to addiction.

Psychological Trauma

A history of psychological trauma appears to increase the risk of substance abuse. More than 75% of people who suffered from psychological trauma use drugs as a part of self-medicating strategy or provide an avenue towards self-destructive behaviors. Women are more sensitive to drugs than men, and hence need less exposure to similar effects. The availability of these drugs plays an integral role in perpetuation of addictive behaviors within families.

Exposure to Drug Abuse

Exposure to drug abuse in which the young people are raised is another cause why young people get addicted to drugs. If the individuals grow up in an area where adults use drugs, then the person is likely to try the substance themselves. Setting a good example is extremely important to keep them off drugs and related substances. Providing genuine information about drugs is the best way to prevent drug addiction.

There are many negative effects of drug addiction on physical and mental health. As said, drug addiction refers to compulsive and repeated use of dangerous substances. The effects of drug addiction are wide and profound. The psychological effects of drug addiction comes form the reason that the user is addicted to drugs as well as the changes that take place in brain. Many people start using drugs to handle stress. However, the psychological effects of drug addiction involves craving of the substance and using it to the exclusion of all else.

Emotional Effects

The emotional effects of drug addiction include – mood swings, depression, violence, anxiety, decrease in everyday activities, hallucinations, confusion, psychological tolerance to drug effects etc. Besides these, there are many physical effects of drug addiction that are seen in the systems of the body. The primary effects of drug addiction take place in brain, which changes the brain functions and impacts how the body perceives pleasure.

Physical Effects

Other effects of drug addiction include – heart attack, irregular heartbeat, and contraction of HIV, respiratory problems, lung cancer, abdominal pain, kidney damage, liver problem, brain damage, stroke, seizures, and changes in appetite. The impact of drug addiction can be far-reaching and affects every organ of the body. Excessive usage of drugs can weaken immune system and increase susceptibility to infection.

Brain & Liver Damage

The effects of drug addiction are seen in people because the drug floods the brain repeatedly with chemicals such as – serotonin and dopamine. The brain becomes highly dependent on these drugs and cannot function without them. The effects of drug addiction are also seen in babies of drug abusers and can be affected throughout their life.

Drug addiction can cause the liver to work harder, causing significant liver failure or damage. Regarding brain function, drugs can impact daily activities by causing problems with memory, decision making, mental confusion and even permanent brain damage.

Short Term Effects

Different drugs affect body in different ways. There are some short term effects that occur in drug users depending on the amount of substance used, its purity and potency. Drugs can affect the person’s thinking, mood and perception to a great extent. Drugs can temporarily impair motor functioning and interfere with decision making and even reduce inhibition. The most common substances of drug addiction include – opiates, alcohol, barbiturates, inhalants etc.

A lot of people do not realize the damage caused by drug addiction because the short term effects are not apparent at first. The individual may feel quite invincible and unaware that drugs can actually affect almost every system in the body. The long lasting effects of drug addiction may not be known to addict. If treatment is not sought in time, the physical and emotional health will deteriorate.

Long Term Effects

The long term effects of drug addiction can have disastrous consequences on physical and mental health. As the body adapts to the substance, it needs increasing amount of it to experience the desired outcome. As the individual continues to increase the dosage, he/she may develop physical dependence. The individual may face deadly withdrawal symptoms, once he/she stops using the substance.

Legal Consequences

Drug abuse not only causes negative effects on your physical and mental health, but can have legal consequences. Individuals may have to deal with the legal consequences for the rest of their life. A lot of companies require the employees to take drug test before offering job. Driving under the influence of drugs can lead to serious legal action and even heavy fines.

By understanding the physical impact of the substance, individuals can make informed decision regarding their health. Remember that it is never late to seek help, when it comes to treat drug addiction. There are many rehabilitation centers that help you combat drug addiction in a supportive environment.

Essay on the P revention of Drug Addiction

As said, prevention is always better than cure. It is always best option to deter people from drug abuse. Though it is practically impossible to prevent everyone from using drugs, there are things we can do to avoid drug addiction. Here are some effective tips to prevent drug addiction.

Deal with Peer Pressure

The biggest reason why people start using drugs is because of their friends or colleagues who utilize per pressure. No one in this world likes to be left out, especially teens and youngsters. If you are in such situation, you should find a better group of friends who won’t pressure you into harmful things. You should plan ahead of time or prepare a good excuse to stay away from tempting situations.

Treat Emotional Illness

Individuals suffering with any mental condition such as – anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress etc. should seek help from a physiatrist. There is a strong connection between mental illness and drug addiction. Those with weak emotional status may easily turn to drugs.

Learn to Deal with Pressure

People of today’s generation are overworked and often feel like taking a good break. However, they make the mistake of turning to drugs and end up making life more stressful. Many of us fail to recognize this. The best way is to find other ways to handle stress. Whether it is taking up exercising or reading a good book, you should try positive things that help in relieving stress.

Understand the Risk Factors

If you are not aware of the risk factors of drug addiction, you should first know about drug abuse. Individuals who are aware of the physical and emotional effects of drug addiction are likely to overcome them. People take up drugs when something in their life is not going well and they are unhappy about their life. One should always look at the big picture and focus on priorities, instead of worrying about short term goals.

Develop Healthy Habits

Eating a well-balanced diet and doing regular exercise is the best way to prevent drug addiction. A healthy body makes it easier for people to deal with stress and handle life effectively, which eventually reduces the temptation to use drugs.

The above tips are a just a few ideas that can help prevent drug addiction. However, if the person has already developed drug addiction, he/she should seek drug detox treatment at the earliest.

Essay on the T reatment of Drug Addiction

Drug addiction can be managed effectively like other chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, asthma etc. Treatment of drug addiction is becoming personalized. The comprehensive treatment options not only address addiction, but treat the underlying issues resulting in addiction.

Though there are many options to treat drug addiction, it is not easy. Drug addiction is a chronic disease and one can’t stop using drugs within a few days. A lot of patients need long term or repeated care to stop using drugs completely. Drug addiction treatment depends on the severity of drug abuse. The treatment must stop the person from using drugs as well as keep him away from drugs.

Different treatment methodologies are employed in treating drug abuse. The treatment plan will be devised as per the condition of the addict. It is essential that the treatment is tailored to the unique individual as there is no single treatment that works for all.

Inpatient drug abuse treatment is one of the options that allow the addict to focus on his/her recovery. Attending this treatment facility can increase the chances of completing the drug addiction rehabilitation program, especially if the addict does not have good support system at home.

Outpatient drug abuse treatment is ideal for those addicts who have a supportive environment at home. It is usually recommended for those who want to attend short-term inpatient treatment program.

Cognitive behavioral therapy is another treatment option that is highly effective in treating drug addiction issues. CBT helps in controlling negative thought patterns that lead to drug abuse. Patients can identify the triggers that cause them to use drugs and learn to respond without the need to turn to the substance.

Drug addiction is a complex disease that results from a number of factors such as genetic predisposition, history of violence at home and stress. Researchers have been able to identify the factors that lead to drug abuse. Understanding the root cause of drug addiction is one of the best ways to improve treatment options and outcomes of drug addiction in future.

A lot of people do not understand why people get addicted to drugs and related substances. They mistakenly view drug abuse as a social problem and characterize the addict as a weak person. Though there is no scientific evidence on how exactly drugs work in brain, it can be successfully treated to help people stop abusing drugs. There are many treatments that help people counteract the disruptive effects of drug addiction and regain complete control over life.

Behavioral therapy is the best way to ensure success in most of the drug addicts. The treatment approaches are tailored to meet the drug abuse pattern of patients. It is not uncommon for an individual to relapse and start drug abuse again. In such case, an alternate treatment is required to regain control and recover completely.

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5 Ways to Empower the Youth Against Drug Abuse

Published by admin on June 27, 2023 June 27, 2023

In the shadows of society, a perilous menace silently thrives, gripping the lives of individuals, families, and entire communities.

This menace is drug abuse , a destructive force that rips apart dreams, erodes health, and corrodes the very fabric of society. But what lies beneath the surface of this seemingly invisible enemy? What fuels its relentless spread, leaving countless lives in ruins?

Drug abuse, simply put, is the harmful and excessive consumption of substances that alter the mind and body.

These substances, both legal and illegal, possess the power to induce euphoria, numb pain, or offer temporary escape from the burdens of reality.

However, when abused, they unleash a sinister cycle of addiction, leading individuals down a treacherous path where their lives become tangled in the web of illicit trafficking.

The detrimental impact of drug abuse and illicit trafficking on young individuals cannot be underestimated, making it crucial to prioritize their mental health and overall well-being.

Empowering Youth for a Drug-Free Future

Youth development plays a pivotal role in shaping the future of societies worldwide. However, the rise in drug abuse and illicit trafficking has emerged as a major setback, impeding the growth and potential of young individuals.

Addressing this issue requires a multifaceted approach, focusing on prevention, education, and support systems.

Prevention through Education

Education remains a cornerstone in the fight against drug abuse and illicit trafficking. Empowering young people with knowledge about the risks and consequences associated with substance abuse equips them to make informed decisions.

Schools and educational institutions should integrate comprehensive drug education programs that emphasize the physical, psychological, and social ramifications of drug abuse.

Creating Support Systems

Building robust support systems is essential to ensuring that young individuals facing drug-related challenges receive the help they need.

Governments, NGOs, and communities must collaborate to establish accessible and confidential helplines,counseling services, and rehabilitation programs.

By creating a safe space for open dialogue and support, we can encourage young people to seek assistance and embark on a journey of recovery.

Promoting Mental Health

Mental health is a vital aspect of youth development, and addressing it is crucial in combating drug abuse and illicit trafficking. Investing in mental health services, raising awareness about mental well-being, and reducing stigma are essential steps.

By fostering resilience, coping mechanisms, and emotional intelligence, we empower young individuals to navigate the complexities of life without resorting to substances.

Engaging Youth as Agents of Change

Young people possess immense potential to drive change in their communities. Engaging them in anti-drug campaigns, peer support networks, and advocacy initiatives allows them to become active participants in the fight against drug abuse and illicit trafficking.

By amplifying their voices and providing platforms for expression, we can harness their energy, creativity, and passion to make a lasting impact.

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Essays on Drug Addiction | Causes & Impacts of Drug Addiction in Youth

Drug addiction is the curse. It eats out the very fabric of our society. The following essay discusses the drug addiction with its underlying causes, its impacts and possible solutions for our youth. The essay is in simple language with easy to understand way. It would surely help primary, high school and college level students.

Drug addiction Essay; Major Causes, Impacts & Possible Solution

Drugs are very dangerous for health, addiction of drugs destroys the health.

Habitual drug users spend lot of money on buying drugs and they spend their accumulated wealth on drugs and when they become bankrupt they adopt illegal means of earning money.

The drugs which cause addiction are cocaine, meth, Marijuana, crack and heroin. All types of narcotics are fatal.

Causes of drug Addiction

The consumption of drugs often is observed when an individual specially youngster fail to cope up with personal problems.

Sometimes family issues are give birth to addiction of drugs. The youth throughout the world is vulnerable to drugs, mostly youngsters chose drugs to satiate their desires. Lack of self confidence is the root cause of addiction of drugs.

Due to pressure and excessive stress man often chose drugs and tries to lessen his or her stress by sing drugs. The high level stress compels an individual to use drugs. The social and personal pressure often result in smoking and drinking. It means when an individual start feeling isolated or is ignored in society he or she develop habit of using drugs.

The lack of parental involvement in child’s activities is also a cause of drug addiction in youngsters. Those who are emotionally weak they become drug addict. The availability and exposure of drugs is also a cause of addiction. An individual living in an area where drugs are available and people consume drugs there that individual will also develop habit of consuming drugs.

Effects of drug Addiction on Youth

The addiction of drugs leave adverse effects on the mind and body of an addict. It is a type of brain disease, regular consumption of drugs disrupts the proper functioning of brain.

The uncontrollable desire to consume drugs become worse day by day ultimately an addict find it impossible to control the intake of drugs.

A regular user of drug loses the efficiency of working. One who is drug addict can’t fulfill his or her responsibilities in good manner. The personal health of an individual is entirely lost when he or she become a drug addict. One who consumes more drugs often experiences anxiety, depression, fatigue, headache, sweating, insomnia etc.

The repeated and regular use of drugs leave psychological effects on an individual too. Many physical and mental disorders appear in an individual who uses drugs on regular basis.

Many respiratory diseases, heart attack, lung cancer, kidney failure, liver problems and brain damage are often caused of intake of drugs in excess. The immune system of man is badly affected because of drugs.

Solutions; How to Control Drug Addiction

Drug addiction is very hard to quit, those who are addicted they must be treated tenderly to quit bad habit. One who consumes more drugs he or she must be informed of ill effects of drugs. It is necessary to keep drugs off so that one who is not indulged in it remain far from it.

Though addiction of drugs is very difficult to prevent but there are some steps that can be taken to help stop consumption of drugs.

All individuals who are suffering from mental disorders or are victim of depression and stress must be taken to psychiatrist so that their mental illness is cured and they become able to quit drugs.

People must learn to deal with pressure and stress, the best way to get rid of stress is to handle it properly not to take drugs. There is ignorance among people, they are not known of the risk factors of addiction of drugs, they don’t know the abuse of drugs.

Drug addiction is one the gravest issues that our youths are facing these days. It brings a lot of problems in our lives. Therefore, every possible effort must be made in order to contain this issue forever.

Paragraph On Drug Addiction | Short & Long Paragraphs On Drug Addiction, Causes & Impacts

Any substance consumed by a person which is harmful to his health is called a drug. When one consume these dangerous substances regularly is called an addiction.

Users are mostly addicted in alcohol, cocaine, heroin, nicotine, opioid, painkillers etc. All these drugs are very harmful for physical and mental health. Drugs affect the mental cognition of a user, an addict can’t take good decisions nor he can retain information.

Signs of a drug Addict

The most vivid signs of a drug addict are red eyes, increased heart rate, anxiety, depression, paranoia and inactivity. Their memory power reduces, they feel difficulty in remembering something.

A drug addict can’t work properly without injecting it, he lack to properly coordinate with others. Due to drug addiction, the user become victim of erratic sleep patterns.

Apart from it a drug addict become happy and sad quickly. Sometimes they lose their consciousness, they are not aware of their surroundings and they forget their very existence.

Why Addiction of Drugs is Caused?

Drug addiction is mainly caused to feel happier, when an individual faces loss in life or fails to get something. He feel dejected, sad and unhappy.

In order to overcome this condition the individual start using drugs to feel happy because drugs contain a chemical called dopamine which induces happiness in the consumer and he feel happy. Slowly and gradually he become addicted and doesn’t feel happy until and unless he doesn’t consume the drug.

Effects of Drug Addiction

Drug addiction is very harmful, it not only destroy health but also leave many negatively influences on the psyche of the user.

Mostly drug addicts engage in reckless activities like gambling, stealing, adultery etc. Because of these activities they lose their respect and lose many relationships. Due to addiction of drugs many problems in personal and public relationships are created.

Their personality is badly affected by the excessive consumption of drugs, they stop caring of their hygiene. In both conditions while injecting any drug or without injecting it, a drug addict can’t communicate properly nor can Converse with anyone soundly.

It is observed that as the addiction increases the user lose interest in doing all activities which he loved to do. The addiction of drugs is fatal, it is a life-threatening act because it can kill a person.

All fatal and deadly diseases like kidney failure, lung diseases, heart diseases, brain damage, respiratory problems etc are caused by addiction of drugs.

A drug consumer feel difficulty in breathing, he feel lazy and inactive all the time and can’t perform any work in good way. Memory loss and speech problems affect the user’s personality.

Above all, the users of drugs become moody, hyperactive and victim of hallucinations.

Drug addiction is fatal, we must take steps to control addiction of drugs. Behavioral counseling is the most effective way to treat this disease, it is very important to have counseling with the user and motivate him to quit it before it takes his or her life.

Only the family members and friends can do this, if you find your loved ones addicted make a behavioral counseling with them and motivate them to quit it. Family members and friends can encourage them and can help them to get rid of bad addiction.

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Why Are Kerala’s Teenagers Turning To Drug Abuse?

There were 26,629 cases of teenage drug abuse reported in 2022, a 300% rise since 2016.

Kerala has been dealing with an unprecedented rise in the number of cases registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. According to latest statistics, there were 26,629 cases in 2022, which is almost 300 per cent more than the cases reported in 2016.

What is more concerning though is that more and more children are falling into the trap of drug addiction, and being used by drug gangs to sell the contraband. According to a survey conducted earlier this month by the Kerala police, among drug users below the age of 21, 40 percent were children below 18 years of age.

For instance, in the Samurtha Children's Care Centre , Changanacherry, a de-addiction centre for those under the age of 18, headed by T.M Mathew, there has been a steady rise in the admission of young drug users after the pandemic. The centre was set up in 2021 and is Kerala's only such institution to care for children below 18 years of age.

Mathew said that there are currently about 11 children between the ages of 11 to 18 years, who are admitted here. Reverend Shiji, a Christian priest, who runs another de-addiction centre said that the youngest child admitted there was just nine years old.

Reverend Moncy Jacob, Director of another rehabilitation centre in Kerala said, "When we used to go to schools three years ago, there was just about one student in each school who was abusing drugs. Now there are about three in each school.

“Also, earlier it was just boys, now girls have started abusing drugs too. There is a huge shift in the behaviour of these children. Teachers have started complaining about it too."

A survey conducted by the Excise Department in January 2023, found that among the teens, ganja (cannabis) accounted for 80 percent of drug use. However, now students are turning to more experimental drugs. Mathew said, “they are also trying out their own drugs and synthetic drugs like MDMA which are more harmful than ganja”

Some other substances abused include glue, petrol, eraser fluid, and aerosols, which are inhaled for intoxication-like effects. Hashish and ‘brown sugar’ are some of the other drugs being used by children.

Students are also accessing drugs in the form of analgesics, stimulants, cough syrups, nasal decongestants and sleeping pills from medical shops. Dr Shahool Ameen, a psychiatrist who deals with drug addiction in children said that they have also started using drugs like LSD, mushrooms and meth.

Reverend Shiji, in-charge of the de-addiction centre called G.J.A.M Aswas De-addiction Centre, Kollam said, “in Kerala, most children are first introduced into the world of drugs through smoking. Then they start taking drugs like ganja, which is most common among children and teens. They go on to take high drugs like LSD or MDMA. I believe that in the next few years, they will start using these substances more."

How are these drugs accessed? There is undoubtedly a flourishing drug trade in Kerala. In fact, even the state’s Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan stated in the Assembly last November that Kerala had become a hub for narcotics and psychotropic substances. He went on to add that drugs are being sold directly in classrooms.

Most of the drugs are reportedly procured from the vicinity of the schools, from bakeries, medical shops, fancy stores, snack joints, and street vendors who are looking to make more profit. Students are also accessing drugs on the dark net.

According to media reports in October last year, drug peddlers have been luring students on routes taken by them while returning from school. They know that there is strict monitoring inside the schools, but once on the street on their way back home, the students are vulnerable to being approached.

According to C, John, Deputy Superintendent of the Narcotics Department , more girl children are being targeted by drug gangs and used as carriers. In a report published in Mathrubhoomi newspaper this month, a Class 9 girl was targetted by the drug mafia through an instagram app. A friend added her to the group and then the peddlers started meeting her outside the school premises.

She soon became a ‘carrier’ and started selling drugs to her friends. The report also mentioned that information about where to meet and procure the drugs were exchanged through Instagram chats. It was only after the girl started showing signs of abnormal behaviour that her parents realised what was happening and reported it to the police.

Teenage girls are also increasingly becoming drug addicts because they are lured by their boyfriends. John said, “children have started trusting strangers too quickly. If a girl meets a boy, without knowing anything about him, they hang out and she eats and drinks anything that is offered, and before you know it, she becomes an addict.”

Girls are also sexually exploited because of this. Once they get hooked on the drugs, their boyfriends exploit them because the girls are desperate for more drugs. Dr Shiji added, “in my opinion, one of the reasons why girls have started using drugs more is because of the influence of the media. If you see movies that have been released in the last three years, almost all movies show actresses using drugs.

“Drug use affects girls the most. Apart from other health issues, it also affects their reproductive system in the long run. Even in case they give birth, the child will have addictive behaviour.”

When asked what could be the contributing factors to students taking to drugs, Dr Shaool Ameen, a psychiatrist who deals with drug addiction in children said, “most patients I've seen are from broken families with parents who are divorced. So there's obviously a lack of parental control. Then there's peer pressure.”

Children are lured by their friends to try drugs. Mathew said that at first, the drugs are supplied by students from lower income backgrounds who are trying to make money out of it and then they gradually influence their peers to start using it. “They first offer it for free so that students are attracted to it and once they get addicted, they start charging them,” he said.

The other side to it is that the wealthier kids are being given more pocket money by their parents and can afford to buy these drugs from the student carriers. Rev. Shiji said, “children are given more money than what they need. So what else can we expect? They deviate first because of family values and then deviate in the society. When you give more money to children than they need, they will misuse it. Anybody would do that, even adults.”

Mathew added that many teens who become drug users are dropouts and those who are not interested in academics. They wander around in shopping malls, eateries and entertainment areas where the drug dealers target them. However, it all boils down to lack of supervision and easier access.

Drug use among children is known to have several negative impacts psychologically, behaviourally and affects their academics and future. According to Dr Shahool Ameen, a counsellor at the centre, "Most of these drugs affect the children's attention and memory and therefore impact their academic performances.

“There is a hypothesis that once their network expands, the teens get access to more and more extreme drugs. There can also be behavioural impact depending on which drug the teens are using. In the case of ganja for instance, the user’s reaction time slows down, they can become violent or confused. They can cause or be in an accident. Some students have been inhaling glue and whiteners. These can affect the brain, the sense of smell and the users’ lungs as well.”

Mathew says that the children in his centre are facing all kinds of psychological and health issues. "It also affects their behaviour, a lot of them are showing criminal tendencies. Once they start using some of these drugs, they don't feel hungry anymore.

“They then start having stomach pains, and liver issues. A lot of them have vitamin deficiencies, and suffer from memory loss,” he said

Rev. Shiji added, "these are psychotic drugs. So it really affects their mental health totally. They forget their past and can't think about their future. They can only think about their present and only want pleasure for that moment. They also develop major psychiatric illnesses gradually.

“Other changes we have seen are in their sexuality. When they start using these chemicals, it reinforces their behavioural patterns. There is a lot of curiosity in children and the biggest curiosity is about their own bodies. We have seen changes in sexuality quickly develop among the children who use drugs.”

Rehabilitation and training is essential. In the Samurtha Child Care Centre, the staff follow a three-level rehabilitation approach. While physical ailments are treated with medicines, the children are also provided psychiatric medicines and psychotherapy.

Dr Shahool added that after all this, one of the most important things is to empower them with the skills to avoid getting back into it. So students are also taught skills like how to use their time positively, how to effectively say no to wrong influences. Most patients are usually able to come out of it with the treatment.

Mathew added that there is also a need for those who are dealing with treating drug users and victims of drug abuse to be well trained. “Every few months, there are new drugs in the market and we need to know what those are to help the students. Earlier, there was no way of finding out. But now technology has advanced so much that we can detect what drug has been introduced in the body in the last few years. We need to make use of it."

There are claims that the rise in number of drug-related cases in Kerala could also be because of stricter raids. But these raids are not always easy when it comes to children. According to C. John, Deputy Superintendent of the Narcotics Department it is extremely difficult to really monitor drug abuse among students and drug dealers use students because they know they cannot be caught easily.

“Although it is common knowledge that school students are increasingly abusing drugs, it is not accounted for. Only when caught and arrested, it becomes accounted for. Drug dealers are also increasingly using girls as carriers because they're more difficult to catch.

“Say for instance, a girl student travels from Bengaluru carrying some amount of MDMA in private parts of her body, how can we easily investigate? If we check without confirmed information, it can become a huge issue. So we are finding it difficult to investigate. However, the law is strictly enforced now through various programmes. There is daily basis monitoring,” he explained.

In October 2002, the Excise Department had prepared a list of 250 schools across Kerala which are vulnerable to drug peddling. According to their findings, peddlers have been trying to lure students outside the schools’ premises, school hours.

The Excise Commissioner had ordered lighting inspections in these schools at least once a week. It was also decided that bike patrolling will be conducted in the vicinity of these schools like streets, juice shops and eateries.

Efforts are on by all departments to address this issue. In October 2022, the Chief Minister, launched a state-wide awareness campaign drug menace and substance abuse. He also said that the government is trying to make the anti narcotics campaign a part of the regular school curriculum.

Kerala Police has also been organising various awareness programmes. Various departments have come together to implement the Yodhavu project, which is aimed at identifying students who use drugs and help them to return to normal lives.

In this project, one teacher from each school will work with the school management, parents, children and the police to prevent drug use. They will identify victims of drug abuse based on their behavioural changes and provide counselling.

Various programmes have also been undertaken in schools. For instance, in association with the National Institute of Social Defence, training programmes for teachers are being held and activities that build resistance like sports are being planned.

Rev. Shiji's centre focuses on raising awareness among children. He said, “some of the adults who I have dealt with have told me how they wished someone guided them in their teens. Children and teens are simply more receptive to correctional programmes and counselling. We have seen far more positive results in children and teens that we have worked with.”

A regional judicial colloquium on Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, Juvenile Justice, and Drug Abuse Among Children, was conducted in Kerala last week. The colloquium urged the Central and State governments to set up drug treatment and rehabilitation centres for children.

However, some like Rev. Moncy claims that while the government is talking aggressively about the harmful effects of drug and alcohol addiction, on the other hand they allow liquor outlets to thrive. “So people don't take the message seriously,” he felt.

Some of the other initiatives taken by the Kerala government are to make changes in the current method of investigation and charging. At present, the chargesheet filed in court for any drug related case does not detail the accused person's previous convictions.

The government has now given the police instructions to include previous convictions to enforce Sections 31 and 31 A or the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act more severely.

A report in the September 2022 issue of the ‘Kerala Calling’ magazine stated, "Drug offenders will be registered in a database modelled after the KAAPA (Kerala Anti Social Activities Prevention Act) register . In accordance with the Narcotics Control Bureau’s report, preventive detention measures will be taken against repeat offenders.

In the coming weeks, a special drive will be organised for this purpose and bonds will be issued under Section 34 of the NDPS Act. In addition, preventive detention is planned under the PIT NDPS Act for those who are regularly involved in drug trafficking."

According to Rev. Shiji, the media has also played a big role in the increasing use of drugs among children. He said, "Children are easily influenced. People think whatever is shown in cinema is a normal part of society. Children start to think this is how a family works, this is how society is supposed to be. But no one is trying to highlight these reasons. No media or organisation is talking about the impact of media."

A lot of the counsellors dealing with drug addiction among children agree that broken families and lack of parental supervision is one of the main reasons why children get into drugs. If the children feel secure and there is a healthy connection with the parents, no amount of peer pressure can steer them away. Which is why people like Rev. Shiji makes parents aware about drug abuse and the harmful effects related to it.

There is an urgent need to address the issue of drug addiction in children, failing which their whole life ahead could be impacted. The focus needs to be on prevention, experts say. Positive life skills, awareness about drug addiction, better parental control, positive role models and counselling are the need of the hour.

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