America Highest Level Of Drug Abuse

Drug abuse by teenagers today is very common, which can gradually lead to disastrous consequences in the future. A large proportion of deaths in people of age group between 15 and 24 are reportedly connected in some way or the other to drug or alcohol abuse. Such type of abuse also leads to violent criminal acts, such as assault, murder or rape. Some young people also take addictive drugs to overcome depression and anxiety.

If a child or a young member of the family suddenly and strangely starts behaving in an aberrant manner or tries to keep aloof from other family members, people have some fair reasons to be suspicious. Some typical physical signs like nagging cough, red eyes, and changes in eating and sleeping habits should also serve as warning signals. A child or a teenager with a family history of acute drug abuse and a lack of social skills can move rapidly from the level of experimentation to grave abuse or dependency. Some other young people or the teenagers, who have absolutely no family history of such abuse, may also reach the level of utter dependency. Although any sort of prediction is almost impossible, teenagers with a family history of alcohol or drug abuse should especially abstain and refrain from experimenting.

The obsession of the user with addictive drugs, plus its effects on mood and performance, can lead to poor performance in schools, colleges or workplaces, resulting in dismissal. Drug abuse by a child can devastate parents and other family members, and ruin family life. According to the report of National Survey of American Attitudes on Substance Abuse conducted by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University, teens and their parents view drugs as their biggest concern. The effects of different types of addictive drugs on teenagers include irritability, insomnia, convulsions, anxiety, paranoia, violent behavior, memory loss, learning problems, increased heart rate, lethargy, panic attacks, symptoms of chronic bronchitis, daily coughs and phlegm, more frequent chest colds, muscle tension, teeth clenching, dehydration, hypothermia, brain damage, and death.

The brain is a main communications center consisting of billions of neurons, or nerve cells. Networks of nerve or neurons pass messages back and forth to different structures within the brain, the spinal column, and the peripheral nervous system. These nerve networks constantly coordinate and regulate everything we feel, think, and do. Nerves, neurons, receptors, neurotransmitters, and transporters, make up this vast network of brain cells. The reward system of the brain is communicated by a chemical release of Dopamine. When dopamine abuse is at a high level in the brain, it produces a euphoric sensation of heightened pleasure. All of the commonly abused addictive drugs target the brains reward system, by flooding the brain circuit with dopamine. It is this false sense of optimum euphoria that causes an individual to lie, steal, and even kill to experience the sensation again. The moment any chemical gets into the body, it alters the chemical makeup of the brain, and over time a dependency develops.

• Cassandra Bagley
• 17/03/2009, 12:59 AM
• 0 Comments