The annual report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) found that illegal drug use rose last year to the highest level in close to 10 years, due to a sharp increase in marijuana, ecstasy, and methamphetamine use.
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Substance use is a problem that affects many different age groups, and policy-makers as well as those who implement education and prevention efforts must be able to understand the factors that contribute to an individual’s decision to use a substance. Among these age groups, adolescents are especially at risk of developing a long-term problem if they begin using a substance.
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Actress Jamie Lee Curtis has opened up about her struggle with drug and alcohol addiction, telling Meredith Vieira on NBC’s “Today Show” that recovery from addiction is the greatest accomplishment in her life. After a cosmetic surgery procedure on her eyes at age 35, Curtis became addicted to prescription painkillers. Now 51, the actress has been clean and sober for more than 10 years.
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For the individual who does not abuse or has not developed an addiction to drugs, it can be difficult to understand why a person continues to use a potentially dangerous substance. There are some addicts who watch as their life is completely torn apart, and yet they still continue to abuse a substance that brings them nothing but heartache.
Read more about Addicts Often Fear Withdrawal More than Drug Use Consequences
In recent years, co-occurring disorder has gained recognition as a diagnosis in the mental health and substance abuse fields. Co-occurring disorder refers to someone who has more than one addiction or disorder occurring at the same time. It is believed that more than one-third of people with alcohol addiction and more than 50 percent with drug abuse problems also suffer from one or more mental disorders, causing mental health professionals and patients to carefully consider the complex diagnosis of co-occurring disorder as they pursue recovery plans.
Read more about Many Substance Abusers Suffer Mental Illness, and Vice Versa
The common perception of a drug addict is often cast by stereotypes. Generally, we imagine a drug problem beginning with a creepy guy prowling around in a dark alley offering drugs to nicely dressed teenagers who fall prey to his tricky ways.
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A recent report in the UK showed that drug abusers and even former users who are now in recovery from drug addiction are considered “dangerous, unpredictable and only having themselves to blame.”
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It’s often said that addiction is a family disease. That means that everyone in the family is affected by one member’s addiction. How can that be? Addiction can’t hide in the closet, hidden from view of other family members. Whether the loved one with addiction is an alcoholic, does illicit drugs, takes prescription drugs for nonmedical purposes, or engages in compulsive behaviors such as gambling, work, sex, shopping, or eating, these actions and behaviors affect everyone in the family.
Udonis Haslem, the thirty-year-old former University of Florida superstar who now plays forward for the Miami Heat NBA basketball team, was pulled over in Miami-Dade County this weekend and arrested on felony drug possession charges. His black Mercedes was impounded and the state of Florida has since filed paperwork to permanently retain the sedan. Haslem was released from custody later that day.
Read more about Miami Heat Player’s Traffic Stop Leads to Felony Drug Charges