Addiction: Substance Use Disorders
Causes, Effects and Treatments
‘‘Every part of your experiences and all of your emotions and every way that your loved one’s struggle with substance use impacts you, matters. Feelings of guilt, shame, fear, loneliness-they are very real and completely normal for those actively battling substance use disorder and their loved ones.’’
Content:
In this article it will be discussing:
What is Addiction?
Common causes of Addiction.
Addiction and Mental illness.
How Addiction affects personal relationships.
Treatments for Addiction
What is addiction?
Addiction is a chronic (lifelong) condition that involves compulsive seeking and taking of a substance or performing an activity despite negative or harmful consequences. (Cleveland Clinic, 2023)
Common Causes of Addiction.
Peer pressure can be a leading cause of substance use and abuse for younger people. In schools and college , it is common for students to fall into addiction due to those taking and encouraging others around them to also take substances. Early use can determine if a young person is going to become addicted to a substance or not, as an adolescent brain is not yet fully developed. The adolescent brain is more likely to become addicted to a substance than an adult brain. The adolescent brain is a landscape of rapid development and transformation, providing a backdrop to the unique behavioral patterns observed in teenagers. Among the regions undergoing significant change, the prefrontal cortex and the brain’s reward system are critical to understanding teens’ increased vulnerability to addiction.(LCSW-S,2024) https://clearforkacademy.com/blog/why-are-teens-more-at-risk-for-addiction-than-adults/
Drug addiction is more likely to affect those who have a family background with addiction and based on their genes. Both genetic and environmental variables contribute to the initiation of use of addictive agents and to the transition from use to addiction. Addictions are moderately to highly heritable. Family, adoption, and twin studies reveal that an individual’s risk tends to be proportional to the degree of genetic relationship to an addicted relative.(Bevilacqua and Goldman, 2009).https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2715956/
Even though it may be normalised within some households that does not predetermine whether an individual will become an addiction!!! In addition, this theory also applies if an individual does not come from a household where taking substances is normalised to become addicted to substances.
Addiction and Mental illness.
‘Dual Diagnosis’ is the term used when an individual suffers from both a substance abuse problem and a mental health disorder such as depression or an anxiety disorder. According to figures from the American Medical Association, up to 37% of people who suffer from alcohol addiction, and 53% of people who suffer from substance abuse also have at least one mental illness, additionally 29% of people diagnosed with mental health disorders are due to their alcohol or drug addiction, such as depression, and anxiety.
A study by the UK Dept. of Health put the figures even higher, suggesting that 75% of users of drug services and 85% of users of alcohol services experienced mental health problems. A staggering 44% of mental health service users reported drug use. (Weaver et al, 2002) Despite this, there is currently little awareness of the problem in Ireland. (Dual Diagnosis Ireland, n.d.)
How Addiction affects personal relationships.
People dealing with substance abuse issues can experience difficulties with regulating and handling their emotions due to the substance they may be consuming. For example, alcohol can impact a person’s mood by suppressing their feelings such as sadness which can result in the person becoming dependent on the substance to regulate their mood and emotions. Feelings of guilt, shame, fear, loneliness—they are very real and completely normal for those actively battling substance use disorder and their loved ones. www.hazeldenbettyford.org
Addiction can be a major aspect of someone’s life. It is no surprise that it may overpower someone’s actions in regard to how they view and treat their loved ones. Differing from person-to-person, the main goal for an addict may be to continuously feed into their addiction. In some cases, an addict may not take into consideration the effects feeding into the addiction, resulting in possible loss of relationships with others in their life. Sometimes they may be fully unaware of the fact that they are causing distress to a loved one as they may be so caught up in the moment and they are not even looking after themselves. A person who is in active addiction may self-sabotage. They could put themselves in dangerous situations, disassociate (not knowing what is real or not), hurt themselves or even ruin friendships and relationships without knowing that’s what is happening. Sometimes it is too far gone to make amends, without having to go through a great deal of trouble to reconcile. Some individuals who know someone with an addiction will typically try to help them but addicts will not accept help if they are told they need it. Addicts usually get help when they themselves realise they need the help.
Treatments of Addiction.
In Ireland, substance abuse treatment is provided through a range of services, including government-supported programs, private treatment centers, and community-based organisations. These treatments include detoxification, residential rehabilitation, medication-assisted, psychological, support groups, and harm reduction programs. One of the main treatments used in substance abuse is detoxification as it aims to provide a safe environment and methods to deal with withdrawal symptoms that an individual may experience. Detoxification treatment can be provided through a range of services including residential, medication, and outpatient. Further information on treatments is available at: Addiction Services - HSE.ie
In 2023, 13,104 cases were treated for problem drug use, while a total of 8,163 cases were treated for problem alcohol use. One in four cases also reported problem use of another drug along with alcohol in 2023. (Lynch et al., 2024)
If you, a friend or family member are struggling with addiction do not be scared to reach out. There are numerous services you can investigate and get the right help that you need. The HSE has a variety of great options to investigate. They discuss how they can help you make a start in your recovery. https://www2.hse.ie/living-well/alcohol/coping-difficult-situations/services-types/
Conclusion.
In conclusion addiction is more common than you may have thought. Addiction can start at a very young age and also can start later in life. Some causes of addiction can relate to family history (genes), peer pressure for example, on nights out or after school, and early usage, as well as mental health disorders.Mental health disorders can be a common cause of addiction as some people use substances to cope with their mental health difficulties.Treatments are very effective if done correctly.Relapsing can be considered to be a normal stage of recovery but it is what the addict chooses to do after relapsing is what determines whether or not they will continue with their own rehabilitation. Effects on personal relationships, addicts may not know that they are even affecting their personal relationships when they are under the influence. As they were under the influence of a substance, they may not even remember the situation that caused such distress in the relationship. There is help out there and remember you are not alone.
References:
Bevilacqua, L. and Goldman, D. (2009). Genes and Addictions. Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics, [online] 85(4), pp.359–361. doi:https://doi.org/10.1038/clpt.2009.6.
Cleveland Clinic (2023). Addiction. [online] Cleveland Clinic. Available at: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/6407-addiction.
Dual Diagnosis Ireland. (n.d.). Dual Diagnosis Ireland - Mental Health and Addiction. [online] Available at: https://www.dualdiagnosis.ie/.
Lynch, T., Condron, I., Lyons, S. and Carew, A.M. (2024). National Drug Treatment Reporting System: 2023 drug treatment demand. - Drugs and Alcohol. Drugsandalcohol.ie. [online] doi:https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/40981/1/Drug%20Treatment%202023%20Bulletin.pdf.
www.hazeldenbettyford.org. (n.d.). How a Loved Ones Addiction Impacts Me | Hazelden Betty Ford. [online] Available at: https://www.hazeldenbettyford.org/family-loved-ones/how-their-addiction-impacts-me.
By Claudia O’Neill (Creative Editor)
Edited by Keicha Wall (Content Editor)