Alcohol Abuse
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Most adults are familiar with alcohol and its effects. Alcohol is a legal drug that can produce pleasant effects with lower amounts, but that can produce dangerous effects with higher amounts. People often drink alcohol during social occasions; it tends to loosen inhibitions. Unfortunately, the recklessness often resulting from excessive drinking is a leading cause of serious injury and accidental death.
Excessive drinking may lead to alcoholism, an illness that tends to run in families and is often associated with depression. Alcoholism can have devastating effects on health, including serious liver damage, greater risk of heart disease, impotence, infertility, and premature aging. Alcohol is the most common cause of preventable birth defects, including fetal alcohol syndrome.
Abruptly stopping alcohol use in a person who is dependent on alcohol can be dangerous. An alcoholic who needs to drink daily should stop their use of alcohol under the supervision of a physician, and may need medication during their withdrawal. There are medications that can help an alcoholic not feel the compelling desire to drink alcohol.
Treatment is more successful early in alcoholism's development than when the illness has been allowed to progress for years. Early treatment can reduce alcoholism's destructive impact.
* Statistics from NIAAA's "Snapshot of Annual High-Risk College Drinking Consequences"
Most adults are familiar with alcohol and its effects. Alcohol is a legal drug that can produce pleasant effects with lower amounts, but that can produce dangerous effects with higher amounts. People often drink alcohol during social occasions; it tends to loosen inhibitions. Unfortunately, the recklessness often resulting from excessive drinking is a leading cause of serious injury and accidental death.
Excessive drinking may lead to alcoholism, an illness that tends to run in families and is often associated with depression. Alcoholism can have devastating effects on health, including serious liver damage, greater risk of heart disease, impotence, infertility, and premature aging. Alcohol is the most common cause of preventable birth defects, including fetal alcohol syndrome.
Abruptly stopping alcohol use in a person who is dependent on alcohol can be dangerous. An alcoholic who needs to drink daily should stop their use of alcohol under the supervision of a physician, and may need medication during their withdrawal. There are medications that can help an alcoholic not feel the compelling desire to drink alcohol.
Treatment is more successful early in alcoholism's development than when the illness has been allowed to progress for years. Early treatment can reduce alcoholism's destructive impact.
- Death: 1,400 college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die each year from alcohol-related unintentional injuries, including motor vehicle crashes.
- Assault: More than 600,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are assaulted by another student who has been drinking.
- Sexual Abuse: More than 70,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are victims of alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape.
- Unsafe Sex: 400,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 have unprotected sex and more than 100,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 report having been too intoxicated to know if they consented to having sex.
- Academic Problems: About 25 percent of college students report academic consequences of their drinking including missing class, falling behind, doing poorly on exams or papers, and receiving lower grades overall.
- Health Problems/Suicide Attempts: More than 150,000 students develop an alcohol-related health problem and between 1.2 and 1.5 percent of students indicate that they tried to commit suicide within the past year due to drinking or drug use.
- Drunk Driving: 2.1 million students between the ages of 18 and 24 drove under the influence of alcohol last year.
- Alcohol Abuse and Dependence: 31 percent of college students met criteria for a diagnosis of alcohol abuse and 6 percent for a diagnosis of alcohol dependence in the past 12 months, according to questionnaire based self-reports about their drinking.
- College Characteristics: A number of environmental influences working in concert with other factors may affect students' alcohol consumption. Schools where excessive alcohol use is more likely to occur include:
- Schools where Greek systems dominate (i.e., fraternities, sororities)
- Schools where athletic teams are prominent
- Schools located in the Northeast
- First-Year Students: The first 6 weeks of enrollment are critical to first-year student success. Because many students initiate heavy drinking during these early days of college, the potential exists for excessive alcohol consumption to interfere with successful adaptation to campus life. The transition to college is often so difficult to negotiate that about one-third of first-year students fail to enroll for their second year.
* Statistics from NIAAA's "Snapshot of Annual High-Risk College Drinking Consequences"
Marijuana
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Marijuana is the most widespread and frequently used illicit drug and is associated with:
• Short-term memory loss
• Accelerated heartbeat
• Increased blood pressure
• Difficulty with concentrating and processing information
• Lapses in judgment
• Problems with perception and motor skills
Years of marijuana use can lead to a loss of ambition and an inability to carry out long-term plans or to function effectively.
Marijuana is the most widespread and frequently used illicit drug and is associated with:
• Short-term memory loss
• Accelerated heartbeat
• Increased blood pressure
• Difficulty with concentrating and processing information
• Lapses in judgment
• Problems with perception and motor skills
Years of marijuana use can lead to a loss of ambition and an inability to carry out long-term plans or to function effectively.
Treatments
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The first step on the road to recovery is recognition of the problem, but often this process is complicated by a lack of understanding about substance abuse and addiction or denial. In these cases, the intervention of concerned friends and family often prompts treatment.
Addiction is a chronic illness like heart disease, high cholesterol or high blood pressure. Persons with these chronic diseases are prone to relapse. Because substance abuse affects many aspects of a person’s life, multiple forms of treatment are often required. For most, a combination of medication and individual or group therapy is most effective.
Medications are used to control drug cravings and relieve severe symptoms of withdrawal. Therapy can help addicted individuals understand their behavior and motivations, develop higher self-esteem, and cope with stress. Other treatment methods may include:
• Hospitalization
• Therapeutic communities (highly controlled, drug-free environments)
• Outpatient programs, including methadone maintenance for heroin addiction
Self-help groups for substance-abusing individuals (Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous) as well as their family members (Al-Anon or Nar-Anon Family Groups) also are useful in providing support and reinforcing messages learned in treatment.
The first step on the road to recovery is recognition of the problem, but often this process is complicated by a lack of understanding about substance abuse and addiction or denial. In these cases, the intervention of concerned friends and family often prompts treatment.
Addiction is a chronic illness like heart disease, high cholesterol or high blood pressure. Persons with these chronic diseases are prone to relapse. Because substance abuse affects many aspects of a person’s life, multiple forms of treatment are often required. For most, a combination of medication and individual or group therapy is most effective.
Medications are used to control drug cravings and relieve severe symptoms of withdrawal. Therapy can help addicted individuals understand their behavior and motivations, develop higher self-esteem, and cope with stress. Other treatment methods may include:
• Hospitalization
• Therapeutic communities (highly controlled, drug-free environments)
• Outpatient programs, including methadone maintenance for heroin addiction
Self-help groups for substance-abusing individuals (Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous) as well as their family members (Al-Anon or Nar-Anon Family Groups) also are useful in providing support and reinforcing messages learned in treatment.