1ST CITY CLINICAL HOSPITAL

International Day Against Drug Abuse

March 01

The UN General Assembly in 1987 proclaimed March 1 as the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Drug Trafficking, thereby identifying the importance of the problem and demonstrating its determination to expand international cooperation to achieve the goal of a world community free of drug addiction. Today, drug addiction has affected all countries of the world, the number of drug users exceeds 200 million people. According to the most approximate estimates of experts, from 3 to 4 percent of the world's inhabitants use drugs.

The problem of drug addiction is one of the most pressing for both healthcare and society as a whole. This is due to the severe medical and social consequences of substance abuse, among which characteristic personality changes are in the first place. The negative medical and social consequences of drug addiction include: the presence of a number of somatic diseases in patients, a low percentage of employment, a high frequency of criminogenic behavior and criminal records, and disruption of family ties.

In the Republic of Belarus, more than 15 thousand patients who use narcotic drugs are currently under the supervision of psychiatrists and narcologists. In the Republic of Belarus, as of January 1, 2018, 8025 patients with drug dependence syndrome and 5061 people were registered. consuming drugs with harmful consequences. Among the drugs used, opium drugs (49.6%), cannabis (15.8%), psychostimulants (6.1%) and a number of other drugs still dominate. In recent years, the use of Spice smoking mixtures has become fashionable among young people. Taking Spice leads to the immediate development of drug addiction. When Spice is used once or twice, psychological dependence develops, and when used for 2 months or more, physical dependence develops. In 2016, 483 people turned to health care organizations of the republic for medical assistance after smoking Spice, in 2017 – 1,100 people.

An analysis of the social characteristics of people under dispensary observation by a psychiatrist-narcologist in 2017 showed that among the observed patients with drug addiction, the number of people under 18 years of age was 731 people. (5.2%), aged 19 to 25 years – 3860 people. (27.1%), over 30 years old - 6329 people (44.3%).

With drug dependence syndrome, 2434 women (17.1%), 109 (1.3%) school students, 345 (4.1%) vocational school students, 148 people (1.7%) technical school students, 89 people (1.1%) are university students. Among the observed population, people with secondary education dominate (81.3%), with incomplete secondary education 18.8%. Only 3.8% of patients have higher education. Only 66 are employed. 8% of patients, 55.7% are single, 41.8% of patients live with their parents.

In addition to the fact that drug addiction leads to physical, moral and social degradation of the individual, it pushes those who have “lost themselves” and lost people to commit crimes. Of the observed contingent, 52.1% have a criminal record, and in 26.6% of cases the criminal record is not related to drug transactions.

What are the main causes of drug addiction?

Drug addiction is understood as a painful attraction, addiction to the systematic use of drugs, leading to severe impairment of mental and physical functions.

Some of the main reasons leading to drug addiction among teenagers are:

• lack of love and attention from loved ones;
• an experiment on your consciousness (this motivation is usually used by intellectual youth, they are quite educated, study specific, psychedelic literature, take all measures available to them so as not to cross the line of addiction);
• curiosity.

The reason for drug use may be rebellion, which is a form of protest against the values ​​professed by society and family, especially considering the young age of people susceptible to this destructive passion. Acting impulsively, teenagers, before thinking, commit an action, most often the wrong one. They do not want to fulfill any duties; they look for pleasure in everything. Lacking a sense of responsibility, they often come into conflict with those who have power over them.

Many teenagers also experience a complete lack of interest in any activities, events and other things. They are indifferent to school activities and usually have no hobbies. They have no interest in future events; any personal achievements are of no value.

Another “reason” for drug use can be serious internal conflicts and socialization problems.

A number of symptoms are very characteristic of those individuals who have very low self-esteem and who consider others better than themselves. They are dominated by a feeling of dissatisfaction, unhappiness, anxiety, boredom, self-doubt, and depression. They feel unhappy at home, they are characterized by alienation and isolation from the family and in relationships with peers. In such cases, a person is in dire need of additional “pain relief.” But as practice shows, many run away to “replacements” and become isolated in the motionless and illusory world that they have created around themselves.

For some, drugs are a way to combat depression. When in a state of emotional difficulties, many people believe that by using drugs or alcohol they can avoid a state of deep depression. But usually alcohol and drugs bring only temporary relief.

Consequences of drug addiction

The consequences of drug use can be divided into three groups : medical, mental and social.

Medical consequences include:

Depression is a state of depression or sadness. Depression in drug addicts occurs during the period of abstinence from drug use.

Overdose is a common situation in the life of a drug addict, especially when using drugs and raw materials whose activity is higher than that of those that he usually used. In case of an overdose, loss of consciousness, respiratory and cardiac arrest are possible - all this requires emergency medical care. The consequence of an overdose is often death.

Convulsions are one of the manifestations of withdrawal syndrome that occurs during the period of abstinence from drug administration. When it is not possible to administer the required dose of the drug, first the general state of health worsens, the mood decreases, then disturbances occur in the stomach, intestines, and cardiovascular system in the form of various types of pain, changes in stool, and interruptions in the functioning of the heart.

Often, patients with drug addiction experience complications and infections due to violations of aseptic rules when administering drugs.

Inflammation of the veins is a consequence of the use of unsterile syringes and needles or the injection of drugs. Inflammation of the veins, in turn, can lead to a serious complication - blood poisoning.

Parenteral hepatitis - inflammatory diseases of the liver - is very common among drug addicts. They are caused by viruses that are transmitted from one drug addict to another through contaminated needles.

AIDS . During the period of “withdrawal” and an irresistible attraction to the drug, all thoughts and actions of a person are aimed at immediately receiving a dose in any conditions, in any syringe and with any needle - hence the danger of contracting HIV infection.

Mental effects:

Addiction is the hallmark of drug addiction as a disease. Gradually, the drug becomes necessary not only in order to experience a high, but also in order to simply feel comfortable, mental dependence is formed.

Fears . A drug addict has many reasons to feel fear: fear of being exposed, arrested, fear for his health, fear of his debts, etc. Fears and depression are the most common causes of breakdowns during this period.

High suicide risk. Fears, depression, “withdrawal” - and all of the above negative consequences of drug addiction, exhaust the human psyche, driving him to despair. The apparent hopelessness of the situation pushes a person to commit suicide.

Social consequences:

Domestic scandals , loss of friends: a person who uses drugs is forced to constantly hide his addiction from parents and other people, moving more and more away from them. The longer you have been using drugs, the narrower your social circle becomes.

The criminality (with all the ensuing consequences: beatings, arrests...) of drug addicts is due to several factors: the need for money to buy drugs, forced connections with drug dealers (which in itself is an illegal action), personality changes with a characteristic moral and ethical decline. In addition, drug addicts can commit illegal acts while intoxicated or in a psychotic state.

Initial signs of drug addiction

Indirect signs of drug use and drug addiction are not absolute, but often help in identifying drug users. Their appearance is not completely terrible. If you rely on external signs, you should remember that they are not suitable for drug addicts with little experience.

What are these signs:

• long sleeves at all times, regardless of the weather and situation; unnaturally narrow or wide pupils, regardless of lighting; detached look; often - a sloppy appearance, dry hair, swollen hands; dark, destroyed, “broken off” teeth in the form of “stumps”; posture is often stooped; slurred, “stretched” speech; clumsy and slow movements in the absence of the smell of alcohol on the breath; a clear desire to avoid meetings with government officials; irritability, harshness and disrespect in answering questions;
• injection marks. Experienced drug addicts inject themselves anywhere, and traces need to be looked for in all areas of the body, not excluding the skin on the head under the hair; often the traces of injections do not just look like multiple red dots, but merge into dense bluish-purple strands along the veins.

Sometimes the signs common to all drugs are considered “quite normal behavior for a teenager,” although this is not entirely true. Here they are:

• the child’s growing secrecy (possibly without a deterioration in relations with parents), accompanied by an increase in frequency and time of “partying”, his interest in studying or in usual hobbies and hobbies decreases), parents learn about absenteeism from school), academic performance decreases;
• financial demands increase, and the teenager is actively looking for ways to satisfy them (money begins to disappear from parental wallets and valuables from home);
• new suspicious friends appear (but at first the young man usually meets with very decent-looking drug addicts) or the behavior of old friends becomes suspicious (conversations with them are conducted in a whisper, in incomprehensible phrases or in solitude); the mood changes for unknown reasons (very quickly and often does not correspond to the situation).

Measures taken to prevent the spread of drug addiction

At the state level, drug addiction prevention includes 2 components:

1 - measures to limit the spread of drugs;

2 - anti-drug propaganda provided by the media and social institutions.

In order to minimize the consequences of drug addiction, timely response and develop adequate responses to new trends in drug use, the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Belarus is constantly working to improve the forms and methods of providing medical care.

At the same time, it is advisable to consistently carry out work on the prevention of drug addiction in schools and vocational schools. In order to early identify drug users, it is necessary to consistently introduce testing of schoolchildren for drug use in strict accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Belarus.

School programs should become the most common form of drug education. The emphasis in drug addiction prevention work should be on working with adolescents and their parents.