Prescription Drug Abuse & Teens Prescription drug abuse has become a growing epidemic and is now the new drug of choice for teens throughout the country. Abuse is defined as taking a medication that was prescribed for someone else or taking one’s own medication in a way that is not intended by a doctor. Today’s teens are more likely to abuse prescription medication than a variety of illicit drugs (i.e. ecstasy, cocaine, methamphetamine) combined, excluding marijuana. In fact, the National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that nearly one in five teens admits to abusing a prescription medication to get high.1 In addition, Monitornig the Future, the nation’s largest survey of drug use among young people finds that 15% of high schools seniors
Q. Is marijuana a gateway drug? * Yes. Among marijuana's most harmful consequences is its role in leading to the use of other illegal drugs like heroin and cocaine. Long-term studies of students who use drugs show that very few young people use other illegal drugs without first trying marijuana.
Antidepressants and Adolescents Adolescent depression has become an increasingly recognized problem in the past few decades. In response to this rise, more and more children are being prescribed antidepressant medication, or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). There are many people on both sides of the debate on whether it is safe to give SSRIs to adolescents. The studies done in recent years on children taking antidepressant medication have indicated a correlation with adolescents taking SSRIs and adolescent suicide. But many studies have also concluded that SSRIs have contributed to an overall decrease in adolescent suicide.
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and attention-deficit disorder, most commonly recognized as ADHD and ADD, are neurobiological disorders that are most common among children; however, they are not unheard of in adults. An internet article entitled “Understanding and Identifying Children with ADHD: First Steps to Effective Intervention” put out by the US Department of Education cites several different causes of ADHD “such as pregnancy and birth, illness, lead poisoning, injury and prenatal drug exposure.” Children that are diagnosed with ADHD or ADD have trouble paying attention, are often hyperactive, and act on impulse. There are several myths and misconceptions about these two mental illnesses. Some are, there are no such medical
Many of the drugs that are abused by our youth were manufactured and marketed to Americans by big pharmaceutical companies. These drugs are supposed to be used to lessen pain, but more times than not they are prescribed with little regard to the risks they pose. This is where the problem lies, doctors throwing prescriptions to people for small injuries which in turn into a dependency problem. ”Drugs like fentanal, codene, oxycodone, hydrocodone and methadone (which is used to help treat people with opioid addictions) together are linked to 75% of prescription drug overdoses each year. These dangerous drugs are all over our streets in urban and in rural parts of the U.S.
English 100 May 6, 2008 Prescribed Addiction The persistent problem with the addiction and misuse of prescription drugs is affecting the way people live on a daily basis. One problem that is not helping with this rising epidemic of the abuse of prescription drugs is the availability of these types of drugs. Addiction to some types of prescription drugs can begin unintentionally after being prescribed the drug. Due to the major problem with illicit drugs such as cocaine, heroin, and crack, prescription drug abuse has not been looked at as a major priority in our society. There is promotion of prescription drug abuse among the youth figures in our society, due to the pressures to be successful in school.
Peers talk about their drug experiences as being "cool" and if you havent experinced it yourself many feel out side of the circle. Many teens who try drugs for the first time are pressured into it. A lot of the time the teen may have no intention of trying a drug but feel
Substance Abuse Treatment for Adolescents Substance abuse among adolescents has become a growing epidemic in the United States. Students are now experimenting with drugs at an age as low as twelve. There are several types of drugs that these children are getting a hold of and in some cases getting addicted to. Parents should be made aware of treatment options that are available for their children. If parents can be made aware of the treatment options, then maybe they can get their child help before it is too late.
Most people will acquire this illness in their early teens to mid 20’s (National Mental Health Institute, 2007). Many people will misunderstand schizophrenia as split or multiple personality disorder, a violent mental disorder, or caused by a poor home environment (Mental Health America, 2011). Misconceptions of this disease pose almost a major of a problem as the disease itself, ignorance is not bliss. The National Mental Health Institute (2007) says many people will recognize drug addiction as a substitute of schizophrenia. The veil that someone is high on drugs is that equivalent to the majority of schizophrenics (National Mental Health Institute, 2007).
Parent's have their influence on teens to a great extent and the result of this bad influence is alcoholic teens following the principle, like parents, like children.In recent years it's known that people who have/had alcoholic parents are more likely to develop the diorder themselves. Most teens try alcohol for the first time at home and that is where the parents can be held responsible. Instead of the parents influence their children to drink alcohol, they should talk and make it clear to their adolescents that drinking impairs coordination and decision making abilities. If more time was spent with adolescents by their parents and it wasn't any alcohol involved their would be less deaths and car