15 | P a g e Assessment 4: Individual Essay (35%) Due Date: Week 11 Word Count: XXXXXXXXXXwords Students are required to choose one client group out of the following: · XXXXXXXXXXYoung People ·...

SUBSTANCE ABUSE        9
SUBSTANCE ABUSE
INTRODUCTION
Substance Abuse spread often comes around as a guerrilla movement which had no frontal signs of entry but once dig deeper gives an idea of how much it is entrenched is different sections of society. Let’s understand on the subject of substance abuse a little more and try to understand the overall view of substance abuse.
Substance abuse can be termed as use of illegal drugs or use of over the counter available drugs or alcohol used other than the purposes that it is meant for in excess quantities.
The mental impairment that a substance abuse causes activates the pleasure centres of the brain and people start seeking comfort in such feeling. People goes into substance abuse due to family history of addiction, mental disorder and peer pressure. Lack of family involvement and usage of highly addictive drugs traps them into the habit which causes a long term multi organ impairment in the body.
In the following article, we will assess substance abuse on the specific group of young people along with the stigma in the society, opioid replacement therapies and dual diagnosis of the same.
SUBSTANCE ABUSE IN YOUNG PEOPLE
Young people who are often addressed as a growing and responsible people of society would want to experience the world in all its offerings. Substance in form of illegal drugs are often given as a sample to young people to try for fun. This majorly spreads from one to another in a form of peer pressure. Once tried and experienced the drug with its impact on brain, young people feel like seeking comfort every time as it’s available readily. These substance are often introduced as “Focus Medicine” or “Performance Enhancer in Sports” which gives a back door entry of substance abuse in young people.
It always starts with Beer being labelled as a soft drinks or 1 cigarette has never done any harm or one peg of whisky would make you competitive. None of the young people have ever admitted to being an addict, rather they always knew someone who takes drugs.
What started as a peer pressure becomes a habit and they get exposure to highly addictive drugs and alcohol which makes them weak in the knees at all times. The way our society deals with it chalks the way out for the drugs impact in our society.
PUBLIC PERCEPTION OF SUBSTANCE ABUSE
The problem of substance abuse is often compounded by the early ignorance by family members and relatives in the family. The sense of acute embarrassment and shame that one of the family members has fallen prey goes into the early denial from the family members. No mention to anyone outside the closed family group is ever made until the situation has gone out of control. Society as a whole is responsible for such early denials as society becomes judgemental rather than being sympathetic makes the victim feel more isolated than the message of help.
Society contempt for addict is due to lack of awareness as addiction is often treated in relation to family history, moral issues or just weakness. Most people not become addict due to above issues rather they become addict due to their...