Transcript Substance Abuse - Collaborating Center for Prison Health

Substance Abuse and You
Essential Skills to Success
Authors: Jonathan Mong & Marianne Schwarz; VFMP
UBC Medicine 2015
Presenters:
Outline
• Who we are
• Topics:
▫ 1. Commonly used drugs + what they do to the
body
▫ 2. Reasons for use and risk factors for abuse
▫ 3. Consequences of abuse
▫ 4. Recovery: mental tapes, coping strategies,
stages of recovery, etc.
Addiction – physiological and mental
• Different from
“dependence”
• Physical and
psychological need for
something
• Accompanied by selfdestructive behaviours
Withdrawal
• Physical and
psychological
symptoms that
appear when off of a
substance
• Can have common
symptoms for many
substances
Sleeping pills
• Some people use these
to stay or fall asleep
• Common drug:
Ativan, Imovane
• Work by blocking
electrical signals from
going to your brain
Sleeping Pills
• The Good
▫ Helps to sleep
▫ Relaxant
• The Bad
▫ Addiction
▫ Nausea, headaches
▫ Memory impairment
• The Ugly
▫ Comatose
▫ Death
Acetaminophen
• The Good
• Reduce pain (e.g.
headache, muscle aches)
• The Bad
▫ Overdose causing
vomiting, which can
lead to…
• The ugly
▫ Overdose (causing
liver failure, kidney
failure, death)
Anabolic Steroids
• Similar actions to
testosterone
• Often taken to try to
build muscle mass
• Can affect cells
everywhere and not
just in your muscles
Anabolic Steroids
• The Good
▫ Bulk up
▫ Appear “manly”
• The Bad
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Acne
Bruising
Cancer
Depression
Aggression
Testicular shrinking
Stunted growth
• The Ugly
▫ ...
…
Marijuana
• Taken for a variety of
reasons: to relax,
reduce pain, etc.
• Increases amount of
substance in your
brain that makes you
feel good
• “Opening a door”
Marijuana
• The ‘Good’
▫ Pain control
▫ Relaxant
• The Bad
▫ Loss of motivation
▫ Decreased awareness
• The Ugly
▫ Increased risk of
schizophrenia
▫ Legal complications
Cocaine
• Prevents substance in
brain from being
broken down
normally
• “Can’t clean up the
mess”
Cocaine
• The Good
▫ Gives you energy
▫ Gives you a “high”
• The Bad
▫ Heart troubles
 Infections, enlarged
heart, irregular rhythm
▫ Seizures
• The Ugly
▫ Sudden heart attack
▫ Stroke
Case
• Jack is 28 year-old
• Confused wandering
Downtown Eastside
• “Jerky” movements
• Fever and chills
• “Muscles hurt all over.”
• Feels ants crawling under
his skin
• Agitated
Questions/Ideas
• What did you notice is happening to Jack?
• Any ideas to explain this?
Patterns of Use
• Non User
▫ People who do not use the substance
• Initial User
▫ People who try the substance for the first few times
• Irregular User
▫ People who use the substance in social settings
• Regular User
▫ People who use the substance in many settings
▫ This is non-harmful regular or planned use
• Problem User
▫ People who show addictive behaviour towards the substance
• Dependent User
▫ People who are fully addicted to the substance
▫ Physical and mental withdrawal symptoms can present
▫ People driven to acquire and use substance
Motivations
• Mental or physical pain
• To fit in socially
• To treat the symptoms of
an illness
• To prevent withdrawal
• Escape from reality
Risk Factors
• Genetics
• Personal
characteristics
• Health or mental
illness
• Gender
• Early drug use
• Lack of healthy
relationships
Risk Factors
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Family
Physical abuse
Culture
Stress
Trauma
Availability of
substances
• Peer group
Case, part 2
•
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Calms down
Car accident 1 year ago
No major trauma, but had trouble sleeping after
Prescribed a sleeping pill by his doctor
Jack says he became “dependent on it”
After prescription, he ran out and he started
drinking heavily
Ideas/Questions
• Any new ideas about what is happening with Jack?
• What substances could he potentially be abusing?
Social Consequences
Can have minimal
impact or affect:
• Family
• Relationships
• Job and finances
• Housing
• Physical health
• Mental health
Case
• Jack remembers his father using alcohol
extensively when work was hard
• Father was abusive towards Jack and his mother
• Left the house, has not seen his father since
• Felt more popular when drinking
Ideas/questions
• What do you think are Jack’s motivations for
using alcohol and sleeping pills?
• What are his risk factors for substance abuse?
Recovery – Stages of Change
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Precontemplation
Contemplation
Preparation
Action
Maintenance
Relapse
Recovery – Assessing your thoughts
• Mental tapes are old recordings of voices that play
in our head from time to time
• These tapes can be distracting to the process of
recovery, e.g.
▫ “I’m worthless because I’m not able to kick my drug
habit.”
▫ “I’ll never be able to live a real life because I drink too
much alcohol and there’s nothing I can do about it.”
▫ “If I don’t use alcohol then nobody will like me.”
▫ “When I got high last time I had the best time of my
life. The same thing will happen when I get high again
tonight.”
Recovery – HALT Principles
• Relapse is more likely to happen if you
are:
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Hungry
Angry
Lonely
Tired
• If you feel like you’re being overwhelmed
by any of these, it’s important to “check in
with yourself.”
Case
• 1 year later
• Sees same doctor
• Has tried to stop drinking several times but has
always started up again
• Wants to “kick the habit”
• Staying in a friend’s basement
• Currently unemployed but optimistic
Back to Jack…
• Jack sounds like he wants to stop his substance
abuse. Do you think he is prepared to start the
process of recovery?
Resources
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•
Your doctor
Community clinics
Needle exchange programs
Dial 211 - Alcohol and Drug Line - Refers to a
full range of counselling and treatment services
across BC. BC
• Dial 811 - HealthLink BC
• Online resources
▫ Mood gym
Thank you!
• Questions?