Drug abuse & ways to fix it

There are many types of addiction including technology and gambling, but the most dangerous and prominent addiction today is drug abuse. Nowadays, people are experimenting with drugs at a much younger age, therefore, affecting a large amount of the population. Addiction is a significant, worldwide problem that has been tremendously increasing in today’s society and different solutions have been made as an attempt to fix it.

From the sixteenth century through the nineteenth century, addiction was defined as giving over to a habit or vice. Now, addiction is defined as a disease of the brain where the reward or feeling from a substance is an incentive to continuously repeat the act no matter the negative effects. Initially, taking drugs causes elation and extreme contentment, but in turn, compels the brain and body to repeat the constant drug use. As one continues to misuse drugs, they become coerced to keep abusing drugs in great abundances, which leads to a higher resistance and craving, eventually developing into a drug addiction.

The first addictive ingredient from an unnatural product was morphine, which was extracted from crude opium by F. W. A. Serturner, a German pharmacist, in 1806. Morphine revolutionized pain control and contains about ten percent of crude opium. In 1875, Levenstein studied the fact that even when someone’s life was deteriorating, the drug was one’s highest priority. The only way for them to stop withdrawal, they had to be given more morphine, which is what was the initial cause of drug addiction and turned into a cycle. Around the time of World War I, drug abuse in the United States increased and people were using morphine, heroin, opium, and cocaine. When drug abuse began to spread at an increasing rate, the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 was installed as a solution to end drug abuse. This was a federal drug policy, in which the importation and possession of certain drugs were regulated.

Psychologists say that abusing drugs can likely cause mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, mood swings, and compulsivity. Drug use and mental health issues affect the same part of the brain, proving that these problems go hand in hand. If someone is feeling down, they might experiment with drugs to try to alleviate their mental pain, however, drugs can actually make a person feel worse than they felt before. Unfortunately, drug use is a painful cycle, in which drugs can make someone’s mental health problem worse, and a mental health problem can make drug use worse.

Not only do drugs cause negative effects on the abuser, but it also can hurt the people around them making life feel out of control. When someone abuses drugs, it can easily cause problems in the home and family. People who use drugs are more likely to use violence, especially domestic violence or child abuse. Psychological effects can be left with someone who has a family member with a drug addiction, causing a lifelong struggle for that person and family. Neglect, unsafe living conditions, and physical danger are all risk factors when growing up in a home with someone with a drug addiction. When children are living with these problems around them, they are more likely to have their own drug problems when they grow up.

Many physical problems and health deficits are common consequences of drug abuse. This could include lung or heart disease, cancer, organ failure, all of which can eventually be fatal. Drug use can increase one’s risk of infections. Human immunodeficiency virus also known as HIV, is a lifelong disease that can occur from using the same injection equipment as other drug users. The risk of overdose is extraordinarily high, which can happen due to someone’s impaired judgment, thinking they have not yet had enough drugs, when in fact their body cannot sustain anymore.

Rehabilitation centers were first created, not for drugs, but to treat alcoholism. Throughout history, alcoholism has been a continuous disease that has needed to be treated. Benjamin Rush, the “ father of American psychiatry”, believed alcoholism was an issue and sought to limit the ability of drinking. As a solution to this problem, Benjamin Rush created sober houses, the government’s way of inhibiting the drinking of alcohol. These houses were specialized hospitals made to treat alcoholics.

Morphine maintenance facilities were created in 1919 as an attempt to treat addicts. This further progressed into an increasing amount of narcotic homes to limit the abuse of both alcohol and drugs. Today, drug rehab centers not only refrain from the use of drugs but also provides a safe and secure environment in order for people to be properly treated. Many people do drugs because they do not feel like there is anything left for them, but the purpose of these rehab centers is to show that there is a lot more for them to live for. In many rehab centers, there are psychologists that sit and talk through other problems these addicts might be facing, which may be the cause of why they started drugs in the first place. There have been many success stories due to these facilities, but unfortunately, not everyone has been cured of this horrible addiction.

There is a major controversial dilemma doctors face when it comes to prescribing opioids for pain. Opioids have been used for decades to provide the relief of pain for many different terminal illnesses. Should doctors regularly be prescribing narcotics? Who is considered a candidate for narcotic drugs? How many pills is the proper amount to prescribe? These are all questions doctors today encounter when providing care for their patients. The addition of opioids and narcotics has been rapidly growing because people become hooked on painkillers as soon as they start taking them and eventually cannot live without it.

Due to this increasing addiction, there is a new treatment that can change the face of postsurgical recovery. Doctors can now use exparel, which provides long lasting pain relief all while eliminating opioid use. Exparel is used across different procedures in order to reduce the use of opioid. This, in turn, can help to eliminate addiction. Opioid addiction typically stems from postsurgical procedures; therefore, this is a safe and reliable treatment option and eliminates the risk of addiction people face. If exparel would be used more often, opioid addiction would be decreased across the globe and the problem of addiction would be cut tremendously.