Addiction and Substance Misuse

This document discusses addiction and substance misuse, including its definition, effects, and prevalence. It emphasizes the need for evidence-based research and intervention strategies. The author shares a personal experience and highlights the importance of specialized nurses in addressing addiction. The document also mentions a discussion post on preventive methodologies for drug and substance misuse and the link between substance abuse and mental health. It concludes by discussing the curative and preventive approaches to addiction and substance misuse.

Running Head: ADDICTION AND SUBSTANCE MISUSE
Addiction and Substance Misuse
Institution
Student name
Date

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Addiction and Substance Misuse
Part A
Koob and Volkow (2016) define a substance as any mood and mind changing chemical
that alters the normal functioning of the mind. Also called substance use disorder (SUD),
addiction to substance refers to a maladaptive and compulsive dependence on a certain substance
that leads to sociological, physiological, psychological, and or legal consequences (Friedman,
Azocar, & Ettner, 2018). The disorder influences an individual's mind and behavior and renders
him powerless in controlling the use or consumption of a given substance, whether legal or
otherwise (Ettner et al., 2016). Substances with medicinal characteristics such as opium and
nicotine likewise are viewed as substances of misuse. Cuijpers et al. (2016) posit that addicted
individuals keep utilizing the substance despite being aware of the harmful effects the substance
causes on their health. Individuals suffering from extreme substance dependency are likely to
experience an extreme urge to use more and more of the same substance on a regular basis. Drug
overuse leads to loss of weight, compromised immunity, depression, poor judgment, change of
behavior, and overall poor health of the victim (Grant et al., 2017).
Substance abuse is a global concern with statistics pointing towards a worrying trend
especially with regard to its prevalence. There is, therefore, a need for more evidence-based
research and affirmative action on the issue of substance misuse and addiction. The findings may
act as a yardstick towards acknowledging the causes, effects and coming up with intervention
strategies towards this health risk behavior. Compton, Boyle, and Wargo (2015) observe that
nurses are always the first and the last medical caregivers to attend to patients. There is a need
for more nurses who have specialized in addiction and substance misuse to attend to the ever-
increasing number of addiction patients. This will go along in curbing the current shortage of
professionals being experienced in this area of specialization. Moreover, substance abuse and

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addiction affect both the mental and physical aspect of a human being thus perhaps the most
devastating of all the clinical conditions. Recovery from drugs substance abuse takes long and in
some circumstances the effects become permanent. The observations laid herein brings out the
significance of studying addiction and substance abuse in clinical nursing.
My first time to witness a road accident was when I was sixteen. The accident involved a
motorist and a pedestrian who happened to be then my best childhood friend, Mark. To make the
matter worse Mark died on the spot. Later I learned that Mark had a long history of addiction to
drugs. At the time of the accident, Mark had smoked weed and strayed off the pedestrian path
right into the merciless tires of a speeding Rav4.
Whenever I hear of the topic of drugs and substance misuse, the picture of the lifeless
body of Mark comes into my memory. The question that dawdles in my mind is: “How can I
save Mark?” It’s sad to lose a young life that still had so much to accomplish to drugs and hard
substances. From my personal perspective, substance abuse and addiction is both a physical and
emotional warfare which if won, incidents like road accidents, increased crime rate among other
effects of this vice will be history. With all the expertise I have gained over years, I can
confidently say that individuals do not just find themselves in drug addiction, but rather a
plethora of circumstances drive them into the habit. I now understand what drives individuals to
drugs, the experiences they go through and how I can use my knowledge to help them out.
Part B
My name is (student name) an upcoming specialist in the field of Drugs, Substance
Abuse and Addiction. I wish to respond to your discussion post titled “Preventive Methodologies
for Drug and Substance Misuse” an article in which you cited the works of Royal Australian
College of General Practitioners as one of the authorities. The publication titled “Guidelines for

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preventive activities in general practice” was accessed from
www.racgp.org.au/download/Documents/Guidelines/Redbook8/redbook8.pdf. While my article
highlights the effects of drug abuse and addiction and the need for affirmative action against this
vice, your post picks from there to explore the various frameworks that can be put in place to
prevent the populations from the harmful effects of substance abuse and addiction. The journal
on the other hands focuses on the general guideline and principles of preventive activities in
which preventive guidelines for drug and substance abuse have been accentuated. While the
journal looks at various prevention strategies, your article is specific on drug and substance
abuse while my research focuses on the need for evidence-based research and the effect of
substance abuse and addiction. This forms a perfect and systematic combination of research right
from problem identification to preventive techniques.
The topic of drug and substance abuse draws a lot of interest to the author bearing in
mind that the latter majors in the same, not just as a career major, but due to personal interest
drawn from a past experience highlighted in his discussion post. The author regards the works of
your article and the content of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners as a
continuation of his works. For instance, the author's article looked at effects of substance abuse
and addiction such as poor health, death emanating from deteriorating health and accidents
coming from the poor judgment that may in fatal circumstances lead to death just to mention but
a few. The author’s colleague’s looks at preventive techniques. Therefore, understanding the
causes and effects of a problem is the ultimate foundation of developing proper preventive
background towards the issue. Choosing to respond to the colleague’s article will also guide him
in his works and look at the problem and its effects from a real-life perspective thus craft more
practical approaches in designing effective solutions.

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Addiction and Substance Misuse
Addiction and substance misuse is adiscussion post rich in informative literature since it
draws its conclusions from real-life perspectives as well as from recognized authorities in the
field like Moos (2017) and Pelloux, Giorla, Montanari, and Baunez (2019) whose contributions
in the field have been nothing short of outstanding. The evidence and facts presented in the
author’s works are based on the most recent researches making it a perfect source of foundation
for any works specializing in modern prevention techniques.
The author’s article divided the effects of substance abuse and addiction into two broad
categories namely physical and mental effects. The works use a reflective approach to depict the
theme of substance abuse and its effects on both the general public and a personal level. This
section dives deeper into each of the effects of the vice while correlating the significance of this
knowledge in practice area, especially to a preventive specialist. Numerous people who are
diagnosed with substance use issue (SUD) are additionally determined to have mental issues and
the other way around. Different national populations researchers have discovered that a fraction
of the individuals who experience psychological maladjustment amid their lives will likewise
encounter a substance use issue and vice versa (Schleider, Abel, & Weisz, 2015). Although
there are fewer studies on comorbidity among youth, Koob and Volkow (2016) claim that
teenagers with substance use issue additionally have high rates of co-occurring dysfunctional
behavior; more than 60 percent of young people in community-based substance use issue
rehabilitation programs likewise meet diagnostic merit for another psychological sickness.
Understanding this association provides mutual benefit for practitioners majoring in either of the
fields in that it will help them not only to focus on one aspect of intervention but rather explore
preventive mechanisms to mitigate against both mental and physical effects (Koob & Volkow,
2016).

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Addiction and Substance Misuse
The article also looks at the link between substance abuse and mental health. In the co-
happening issue, both the psychological wellness issue and the substance addiction habit have
their own remarkable manifestations that may hinder one's capacity to perform at work or school,
keep up steady home life, handle life's challenges, and identify with others (Vowles, et al., 2015).
To make the circumstance increasingly entangled, the co-happening issue additionally influences
one another. At the point when a psychological wellness issue goes untreated, the substance
misuse issue normally deteriorates. Also, when substance misuse increases, emotional well-being
issues more often than not increment as well (Weiss et al., 2015). Co-happening substance
misuse issues and mental wellness issues are more typical than numerous individuals figure it
out. As per reports distributed in the Journal of the American Medical Association: about 50
percent of individuals with serious mental sicknesses are influenced by substance misuse. Thirty
seven percent of alcohol addicts and 54 percent of drug addicts similarly have some form of
psychological maladjustment. These statistics are paramount in the field of nursing as they
enable the health policymakers as well as the implementers to make an informed decision on
both curative and preventive avenues ( Koslowski, et al 2016).
The paper too briefly looked at curative approaches and contends that the best treatment
for co-happening issue is an incorporated methodology, where both the substance misuse issue
and the psychological issue are dealt with concurrently. Regardless of whether one’s emotional
well-being or substance misuse issue started first, long haul recuperation relies upon getting
treatment for the two issue by a similar treatment. Treatment for the patient’s emotional health
issue may incorporate drug, individual or group counselling, lifestyle changes, and friend
support. Treatment for substance misuse may incorporate detoxification, overseeing of
withdrawal indications, conduct treatment, and care groups to help keep up restraint. Although

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all the three works including the authors, his colleague’s works and the cited authorities clearly
elucidate the effects and action measures against drugs addiction, more information is required in
the curative approach to the topic. That notwithstanding, the preventive approach is the ultimate
strategy is it addresses the causes of the vice which in this context are the root causes of the
problem (Kyeremaa, 2015).

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Addiction and Substance Misuse
References
Compton, W. M., Boyle, M., & Wargo, E. (2015). Prescription opioid abuse: problems and
responses. Preventive medicine, 80, 5-9.
Cuijpers, P., Donker, T., Weissman, M. M., Ravitz, P., & Cristea, I. A. (2016). Interpersonal
psychotherapy for mental health problems: a comprehensive meta-analysis. American
Journal of Psychiatry, 173(7), 680-687.
Ettner, S. L., Harwood, J. M., Thalmayer, A., Ong, M. K., Xu, H., Bresolin, M. J., ... & Azocar,
F. (2016). The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act evaluation study: Impact
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enrollees. Journal of health economics, 50, 131-143.
Friedman, S. A., Azocar, F., Xu, H., & Ettner, S. L. (2018). The Mental Health Parity and
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Grant, S., Colaiaco, B., Motala, A., Shanman, R., Booth, M., Sorbero, M., & Hempel, S. (2017).
Mindfulness-based relapse prevention for substance use disorders: A systematic review
and meta-analysis. Journal of addiction medicine, 11(5), 386.
Koob, G. F., & Volkow, N. D. (2016). Neurobiology of addiction: a neurocircuitry analysis. The
Lancet Psychiatry, 3(8), 760-773.
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Kyeremaa, F. (2015). Mental Disorder „Depression “Causes of Depression in Health Sector
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Moos, R. H. (2017). Evaluating treatment environments: The quality of psychiatric and
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Pelloux, Y., Giorla, E., Montanari, C., & Baunez, C. (2019). Social modulation of drug use and
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