Youth Substance Abuse: A Comprehensive Overview and Proposal for National Education Campaign

The following document represents a comprehensive overview of one of the main societal problems in America today: youth substance abuse. Drug and substance abuse among teenagers is substantial.Among youth age 12 to 17, about 1.1 million meet the diagnostic criteria for dependence on drugs, and about 1 million are treated for alcohol dependency.[1] Because of this epidemic we need to institute a more effective national school campaign along with a national health care campaign that will promote education, prevention, early detection, and rehabilitation.Youth substance abuse is a major epidemic currently plaguing the youth and needs to be immediately addressed to protect the future generations of our country. Without an immediate proposal to help eliminate substantial increases in substance abuse, we are setting ourselves up for a sharp decline in a solid civic foundation and substantial increases in health care costs.The research divides itself into six sections covering the social fa ctors that may lead to increased substance abuse, the meaning and experience of illness as related to the changing focus to a health belief model for substance abuse, health care systems and funding on a national level that are aimed at promoting education and rehabilitation of behavior and mental understandingÃ'Ž.Health care providers, providing resources to educate families on youth communication and doctors and nurses on effective mental rehabilitation based on the health belief model, revealing a national education campaign that focuses on physical dangers instead of morality and values violations,   and finally educating youth on health literacy through the national education campaigns.In order to elaborate on more in-depth discussion of substance abuse, first it is important to define our terms. Substance abuse can be defined as an overindulgence in and dependence on a psychoactive leading to effects that are detrimental to the individual's physical health or mental health, or the welfare of others.[2]In a medical sense, if we are to classify substance abuse as an illness, there must be a physiologic dependence on the substance, whereby the person develops a of high amount of tolerance leading to withdrawal symptoms once the substance is removed. Mosby (1998) differentiates between abuse and dependence, stating that both â€Å"are distinct from addiction which involves a compulsion to continue using the substance despite the negative consequences, and may or may not involve chemical dependency.†Ã‚   The textbook definition goes on to state that â€Å"dependence almost always implies abuse, but abuse frequently occurs without dependence, particularly when an individual first begins to abuse a substance. Dependence involves physiological processes while substance abuse reflects a complex interaction between the individual, the abused substance and society.[3]A definition of substance abuse that is frequently cited is that in DSM-IV, the fourth e dition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) issued by the American Psychiatric Association.[4] The DSM-IV defines the term as:A. A maladaptive pattern of substance use leading to clinically significant impairment or distress, as manifested by one (or more) of the following, occurring within a 12-month period: Recurrent substance use resulting in a failure to fulfill major role obligations at work, school, or home (e.g., repeated absences or poor work performance related to substance use; substance-related absences, suspensions or expulsions from school; neglect of children or household) Recurrent substance use in situations in which it is physically hazardous (e.g., driving an automobile or operating a machine when impaired by substance use)Recurrent substance-related legal problems (e.g., arrests for substance-related disorderly conduct   Continued substance use despite having persistent or recurrent social or interpersonal problems caused or exacerb ated by the effects of the substance (e.g., arguments with spouse about consequences of intoxication, physical fights)B. The symptoms have never met the criteria for Substance Dependence for this class of substance.The government began studying substance use among youth in the mid-70s, and have documented a fluctuation in substance abuse since that time. Interestingly, over the past 5-10 years, the level of substance use has remained relatively stable, yet research suggests that the types of drugs being used among youth are changing.While many young people are using alcohol, tobacco, and other illicit drugs, recent data show an actual decline in substance abuse for the first time in nearly a decade. According to the annual PRIDE survey (National Parents' Resource Institute for Drug Education) , which is the nation's largest independent survey of adolescent drug use and violence, there has been a 12.9% decrease in annual illicit drug use among students in grades 6-12 — the str ongest one year decline in overall drug use since 1990-1991. Alcohol use fell by 6.3 percent to the lowest levels in 12 years and cigarette smoking fell by 15.6% to the lowest levels in 8 years.Youth in grades 6 to 8 reported the most significant reductions, whereas the smallest changes in reported substance use were found at the 12th grade level. Among high school seniors, one in four students report using illegal drugs on a monthly basis and over 8% report daily use. Further, more than 24% of 12th graders report drinking alcohol weekly and 23% smoke cigarettes daily.[5]Another report from a Monitoring the Future Study of 8th, 10th, and 12th graders found similar declines in youth substance use, but also noted increases in the use of MDMA (ecstasy) in each grade along with increases in the use of steroids among 10th graders. [6]Social factors that lead to substance abuse Substance abuse in youth, a problem that may lead to later addiction or substance dependence in adult years, oft en times originates within a social incubator encompassing many specific characteristics that may lead to increased tendencies towards substance abuse.And while no panacea of understanding is claimed in regard to the exact reasons why young people turn to substance abuse, we can look into studies that correlate certain components to an increase in youth substance abuse.   Different social factors that lead to substance abuse affect youth at different stages of their lives. One example is the correlation of aggressive behavior in early childhood to later substance abuse.[1] From the National Institute of Health, 2007 [2] Mosby's Medical, Nursing, & Allied Health Dictionary. Edition 5. (1998) [3] (1998). Mosby's Medical, Nursing, & Allied Health Dictionary. Edition 5.[4]Writings from the American Psychiatric Association   (2006) [5] â€Å"Major Progress in Reducing Teen Drug Use, Cigarette and Alcohol Use, Gun Carrying, According to 13th Pride Survey.† Press Release, Septem ber 5, 2000. http://www.pridesurveys.com/[6] Johnston, L. D., O'Malley, P. M., Bachman, J. G. & Schulenberg, J. E. (December 21, 2006). Teen drug use continues down in 2006, particularly among older teens; but use of prescription-type drugs remains high. University of Michigan News and Information Services: Ann Arbor, MI. [On-line]. Available: www.monitoringthefuture.org; accessed MM/DD/YY.