Introduction
Drug abuse, also referred to as substance abuse is a continuous and adaptive habit of using a substance that is considered independent. The act of abusing drug also involves the dependence on performance enhancing drugs, which are non-therapeutic or even non-medical. Alcohol, cocaine and methaqualone are some of the commonly known drugs that are often abused in this way. Drug abuse is negatively affecting so many young people in our society. It’s therefore in this paper that I point out some of the challenges that young people face in regards to drug abuse.
Psychological effects of Drugs
Drugs are known to have some detrimental effects on the health of the users. I am therefore going to discuss some of this effects that come in different forms. Substances like alcohol are known to combine with some other factors in the body to change one’s emotions and modes. An individual may report a given psychological effect at a certain BAC and at the same time report another different effect at the same BAC but at a different occasion (Maisto 208). The influences of factors that are not related to drugs play the major role in this situation. In particular, the situational and the cognitive factors define expectancies and attitudes of the alcohol abusers. It is evident among drinkers that, when the BACs are low they develop a feeling of elation and when it rises, a feeling of friendliness begins to develop. When the levels start going down they begin to develop a feeling of anger and fatigue.
An individual’s thinking and perceptions are less influenced by factors that are not associated with drugs but more by the BACs. Alcohol is known to impair short term memory at certain level of BACs and therefore an individual’s ability to estimate time is also impaired. Attention, concentration and ability to estimate time is also impaired (Maisto 209).
Behavioral effects
Drug abuse, especially of alcohol is known to bring about unpleasant interpersonal behaviors of sex and aggression. The major type of aggressive behavior that is of a major social concern is violence. Many studies have shown that a lot of time when people engage in violent behavior, they are normally under the influence of drugs. Some of these violent behaviors include; rape, murder, child abuse, assault and robbery (Maisto 209).
Conclusion
According to research, the reasons for drug use by many young people are as a result of a number of factors. Some of these factors include; recreational benefits like having fun, social purposes, enhancement of moods, and finally to deal with stress. It is evident that currently, social conformance and mood enhancement are the major benefits that young people with drug dependency problem ascribe from drugs when compared to those that are non-dependant (Monti 88). Even with all this benefits, the dangers of substance abuse still outweigh the benefits. It is therefore a challenge to the young people that the future depends on them and therefore there will not be any future if this trend continues.
References
Monti, Peter. Adolescents, alcohol, and substance abuse: Reaching teens through brief interventions. London: Guilford Press, 2004.
Maisto, Stephen. Drug use and abuse. New Zealand: Cengage Learning, 2007.