Drug Abuse Articles: Drug Abuse and Alcoholism

The words medication and drugs are generally used interchangeably. Medication is a substance administered for the diagnosis, cure, treatment, mitigation (relief), or prevention of disease. The term drug also has the connotation of an illicitly obtained substance such as heroin, cocaine or amphetamines.

When there is chronic, repeated use, without medical supervision, of non-medical drugs and alcohol in quantities large enough to cause uncontrollable behavioural changes with a resulting dependency on these substances, there exist drug abuse and alcoholism respectively. We live in a drug oriented society, and there is a drug to meet everyone’s needs such as tranquilizers, barbiturates, or amphetamines. Under supervision by a competent physician, this have beneficial effects. Unfortunately, it is a relatively simple matter for an individual to obtain these drugs illicitly and he may use them as his passport to UTOPIA. The indiscriminate use of drugs to shut out life’s problems is not peculiar to any one segment of the population. People in all socioeconomic levels, age groups, and educational levels are seeking the same answer. Unfortunately drug abuse only adds many huge problems later.

Drug dependency is a mental problem on the abuser’s part, and a sure for of disorder. It is a sign of impairment of functioning and the individual is usually considered to be deviating from the normal and is considered as psychoneurotic. There is a state of consciousness alteration and a defect on personality.

Classification of mental disorders

A. Psychoses
a. Senile and presenile dementia
b. Alcoholic psychosis
c. Psychosis associated with intracranial infections
d. Psychosis associated with other cerebral conditions
e. Psychosis associated with other physical conditions

B. Psychoses not associated with physical conditions
a. Major affective disorders
b. Schizophrenia
c. Paranoid states
d. Other psychosis

C. Neuroses

D. Personality disorders and certain other non psychotic mental disorders
a. Personality disorders
b. Sexual deviations
c. Alcoholism
d. Drug dependence

E. Psychophysiologic disorders
F. Special symptoms
G. Transient situational disturbances
H. Behavioural disorders of childhood and adolescence
I. Mental retardation
J. Conditions without manifest psychiatric disorders and nonspecific condition
1. social maladjustment without manifest psychiatric disorder
2. Nonspecific conditions

Pathology, symptoms, therapies and approaches for the major diagnostic entities in psychiatry

Psychoses
A. Acute brain syndrome- symptoms from which patient usually recovers since the situation is often reversible and temporary in nature

Pathology
a. Infection

1. Intraxcranial or nervous system; e.g., enxcephalitis or meningitis

2..Systemic or toxic e.g., Pneumonia or typhoid

b. Trauma to the head

c. Circulatory disturbances resulting in impairment of blood flow to

the brain

d. Metabolic disorders- electrolyte imbalance; e.g., dehydration,

diarrhea, vomiting

e. Drug intoxication or poisoning

f. Alcoholic intoxication

Symptoms
a. Delirium and its accompanying confusion, hallucinations and

delusions

b. Disorientation and confusion as to time, place, identity

c. Memory defects for both recent and remote facts

d. Slurring of speech may occur along with an indistinct pronoun-

ciation or use of words

e. Tremors, incoordination, imbalance, and incontenence may

develop

Therapy
a. Reduce causative agent such as fever, toxins, drugs or alco-
hol
b. Prevent further damage
c. Provide diet high in calories, protein and vitamins
d. Provide mild sedative if necessary

Nursing intervention
a. Provide quite environment, reduce stimuli
b. Provide assurance to patient and family
c. Since liability of mood is common, plan care so that the staff approaches these patients when they appear receptive
d. Ensure adequate intake and output
e. Observe for changing physiologic and neurologic symptoms

 

 

Prescription drugs kill one person every 19 minutes – The Quiet Epidemic: prescription drug abuse destroys millions of lives Nancy Rosen-Cohen The Baltimore Sun There isn’t much attention paid to prescription drug abuse, except perhaps when a Hollywood star dies from an overdose. However, it is estimated that nearly one in five Americans has used prescription drugs for nonmedicinal reasons, and 15 percent may be abusing prescription drugs. This silent epidemic has become the leading cause of addiction. This week, the Maryland Chapter of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence and the University of Maryland Medical Center sponsored the annual Tuerk Conference, a gathering of 1200 health professionals working in the field of addictions to focus on treatment and prevention of prescription drug abuse. Confronting and debunking the common myth that prescription drugs are less deadly and less addictive was one of the items on the agenda. The dangers of prescription drug abuse are growing at an exponential rate. Between 1992 and 2002, the number of prescriptions written increased by 61 percent, but the number of prescriptions written for opiates increased by almost 400 percent. Opiates reflect three-quarters of all prescription drugs abused. Actor Heath Ledger had Vicodin (hydrocodone), OxyContin (oxycodone), Valium (diazepam), and Xanax (alprazolam) in his bloodstream when he died. All are legal opiates. According to a report this month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hospitalizations for …

 

Public Hearing on NJ Youth Heroin and Drug Abuse to be Held in Manalapan

Filed under: drug abuse articles

http://manalapan.patch.com/articles/public-hearing-on-nj-youth-heroin-and-drug-abuse-to-be-held-in-manalapan/media_attachments/edit?upload_started=1344960119. asset[new_asset_attachment_attributes][to_id] … The Governor's Council on Alcoholism and …
Read more on Patch.com

 

Go get 'em, gov

Filed under: drug abuse articles

None too soon, Gov. Cuomo has beefed up the legal arsenal for attacking the growing scourge of life-threatening synthetic drugs. Chemicals with hallucinogenic properties, some known by the misnomer of fake pot, had for a time become widely available at …
Read more on New York Daily News

 

From Twitter:

It’s a big problem in Monmouth County … Spike in Youth Drug Abuse Prompts Forum – Rumson-Fair Haven, http://t.co/tGf6mDIS – by RumsonPatch (Rumson Patch)

 

From Twitter:

The Best Ways To Finance A Drug Abuse Rehab Center http://t.co/YOfGyb3V – by GgJacobs (George Jacobs)

 

From Twitter:

ANIMAL ABUSE/CRUELTY/TORTURE Starving/Malnourished pit bull puppies found during drug raid – Boston http://t.co/juafshXr – by queenwaldorff (queenwaldorf)