Substance Use and Misuse: An Introduction

UNIT NAME: SUBSTANCE USE & MISUSE: AN INTRODUCTION
1. Identify the four major groups of substances and provide two examples for each
Ans. The four main groups of substance are as mentioned below:
 Depressants for example alcohol and minor tranquillisers.
 Hallucinogens for example LSD and mescaline.
 Stimulants for example cocaine and nicotine.
 Opium associated painkillers for example heroin (Luoma, J.B and et. al.,
2019).
2. Define the following terms which are in common use.
a) Substance use: The substance use is generally a type of pattern of harmful
of any of the substance for the purpose of changing the mood. In this, it can
either be alcohol, inhalants or solvents, an illegal drug or even it can be coffee
also (Dhumal et. al., 2021).
b) Substance misuse: The substance misuse is generally a use of alcohol or
any other substance such as medication which is taken in a way that it is not
meant to be used or it can be harmful to the human body (Resko et. al.,
2018).
c) Substance abuse: The substance abuse is generally defined as if an
individual is taking an excessive amount of substance such as drinking too
much of alcohol, excessive use of drugs or medications where it’s use is
inappropriate.
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d) Dependency: The term dependency is generally an addition towards drugs or
it can be alcohol. Its continuous abuse can create various adverse actions in
human body causing various issues (Salas-Wright et. al., 2018). It is generally
a tendency of a person to relay on the other person for support, guidance or it
can be advice. It is a state of being abnormally tolerant to as well as
dependent on something which is psychologically or physically habit-forming
for example, narcotic drugs or alcohol.
e) Addiction: The concept of addiction is generally a chronic medical illness
containing complex interactions within brain, genetics, or people’s
experiences of life (Lea et. al., 2020). It is an urge to do something which is
significantly hard to control or to avoid. If an individual is consuming drugs,
then they could become addicted to them.
f) Compulsion: In terms of addiction process, the word compulsion is much
slighter. It can illustrate an intense urge to do something which can lead
towards a specific behavior (Ornell et. al., 2018).
3. Read the case study and answer the following two questions:
Mick is 27 years old and lives next door to you. You are told by another neighbour
that he injects heroin and you notice that he always has a runny nose, dilated pupils
and he is often irritable and short tempered. When you first moved in, he was polite
and even charming to you and asked you if you had any pain killers that he could
have. When you said that you didn’t, he became angry and threatened you. When he
passed you in the street last week, he told you that the police are out to get him and
not to tell them where he lives. He usually seems very anxious and often panics but
this was worse than usual.
You know that his sister Helen visits every week and you mention to her that you are
worried about Mick. She says that she is too as he has told her that he has stomach
cramps, muscle spasms, chills despite it being summer, a pounding heart, high
blood pressure and is running a slight temperature. Mick has stolen money from
Helen’s purse in the past and now she finds it hard to trust him. She doesn’t bring
her children round any more as she doesn’t think that he’s a good influence on them.
He isn’t eating well and has lost a lot of weight. Mick’s parents won’t have anything
to do with him anymore since he was diagnosed with a psychotic disorder and told
Helen that they are ashamed of him.

The other neighbours in your street avoid Mick and tell their children to keep away
from him. They blame him for any graffiti or burglaries in the area. He rarely has
anyone visit his flat other than Helen.
3. i) Explain the physical effects of substance use on Mick.
Ans. As per the above case scenario, the physical effects of substance use on
Mick are that he has lost his body weight a lot as he is not eating a healthy food.
He is also getting angry on small things. Another physical effect in his case is he
has a runny nose, he also has a stomach cramp, muscle spasm and feeling chill
despite being summer (James and Jordan, 2018).
ii) Explain the psychological effects of substance use on Mick.
Ans. In the case scenario of Mick, the psychological effects are in his case is
having psychosis. As psychosis is quite rare but it can occur under various specific
conditions. It can occur when an individual is having some stress along with usage of
heroin drug abuse. As per above case study, Mick is having stress and along with
this he uses heroin injections, ultimately causes the mental health conditions.
Another psychological effect in the case of Mick is dilated pupils, short tempered and
many more (King et. al., 2020).
4. In his medical records, Mick is classed as having a ‘dual diagnosis’. What does
this mean?
Ans. The term “dual-diagnosis” generally means that an individual having both
mental well-being issues and also uses substance abuse. These both situations can
occur simultaneously. An individual who involves mental health issues will also
abuses drugs at the same time in their lives. This is called as “dual-diagnosis”.
5. Using examples from the case study as well as general observations, what are
the effects of addiction on smaller communities?
Ans. There is a negative impact over smaller communities as abuse of drug is
significantly accompanied by a devastating the social influence upon the life of
community. The abuse of drug can make a negative impact on the education, family
as well as it can contribute towards crime, violence, financial issues, housing issues
and homelessness also (Knopf, 2020). In addition to this, stolen money from purse,
the neighbours in Mick’s Street often blame him for the burglaries or graffiti occurs in
their area. The neighbours thought that these things of Mick make negative impact
over their children.
6. Identify two examples of how Mick’s neighbours are
a) prejudiced: Mick is a drug addict and his neighbours thought that he will make
a negative influence over their children too. They often blame him for any
Burglaries or graffiti happens within their area.
a) stereotyping him: Mick stolen money from her sister’s purse. His neighbours
often saw his rude or aggressive attitude towards everyone. The neighbours
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