Substance use disorder, also called drug addiction, is one of the most prevalent disease found in our society today. It is a disease that affects a person's brain and behavior and leads to an inability to control the use of a legal or illegal drug or medication. Around 700 people die every day due to drug abuse worldwide. According to an estimate there are 7 million reported drug users in Pakistan. The number of unreported users is far greater than that. It is estimated that 1 out of every 3 drug user is female and only 1 out of 5 drug users enter rehabilitation treatment centers as per the statistics given by Anti-Narcotics Force (AFC). This shows the lack of awareness of the negative consequences of substance use disorder in our society.
When we analyze the factors that leads to substance use
disorder in an individual, we find multiple reasons related to our genetics,
our upbringing, our peer group and our surrounding environment which is mostly
culturally specific. Let us explore these factors in detail to develop a better
understanding.
Genetics
Drug addiction is a brain disease rather than a bad habit or
moral failure, and just like any other disease, genetics plays a vital role in
drug addiction too. All addictive drugs act on the brain by activating certain
reward pathways. These pathways are necessary to reward behaviors that
contribute to our survival. For some of us, the reward pathways in our brain
are more easily hijacked by drugs. This susceptibility is partially conferred
by genes that make our receptors more sensitive to drugs. There are many genes
involved and they may or may not be passed on through the generations.
Environment
Environment plays an important role in our psycho-social
development. According to a famous Russian psychologist, Lev Vygotsky, our
social environment shapes our learning experience and we learn and adapt
behaviors which are common in our surrounding. Likewise, most of the drug
addicts are influenced and lured into drug addiction because
of their environment. To explain this in detail, let us further divide our
environment into two social institutions of learning. One is family and second
one is peer group.
Family
Family is a significant institution of learning. Children
learn from their parents, model their actions and follow their footsteps. Our
home environment has a great impact on our overall nurturing. Lack of parental
involvement in teen’s upbringing can lead to great risk in thrill seeking
behavior such as drug use since their parents are least bothered in their
children’s activities. Similarly, due to negligence of parents, teens also opt
for drug use as a substitute to deal with their low mood and to cope with their
emotions. Children with strict parents also choose to use drugs later in their
lives due to authoritarian parenting style. Teens are tired of their parent’s
strict attitude and they again indulge in drug use to cope with stress. Family
disharmony (i.e. high levels of conflict among family members), family
disorganization (i.e. lack of stable routines) and low family
cohesion/connectedness (i.e. lack of bonds or involvement among family members)
are related to increased risk for adolescent substance use.
Peer group
Peer group is another social learning platform. Peer group
refers to our friend circle. Adolescents spends most of their time with their
friends in school or in playground. If you are part of a peer group and all
your friends smoke cigarettes or consumes illicit drugs, there is a
great possibility of you adopting the same habit out of peer pressure in order
to gel in with your group and not to feel left out.
Having Mental Illness
Another risk factor is having any underlying mental health
condition. The professionals call this as the “Dual Diagnosis”. This means that
if you have another underlying mental health issues i.e. Bipolar disorder or
Borderline Personality disorder, it can increase the chances of being indulged
in drugs. Possibility is that while in depressive state, a person may use drugs
to elevate the mood. Similarly, already being an addict can increase the
severity of your mental health problems. This works as vicious cycle in which
one factor increases the severity of other and vice a versa. You might consume
drugs to elevate your depressive state and you might feel good for a short
period of time but in longer run, your depression and your drug addiction both
becomes severe.
Prescribed Medicines
Prescribed medicines also known as licit drugs can also
contribute towards addiction if they are misused. Prescribed medicines i.e.
anti-depressants etc. are addictive in nature despite the fact that they are
legal and regulated medicines but due to their addictive nature, a person might
become dependent on such medicines and misuse them. This ritual might later
lead towards using illicit drugs i.e. heroin, cocaine etc. since people who are
dependent on licit drugs also often engage in poly drug use.
Prevention and Treatment
Despite all the risk factors, drug addiction can be avoided
or managed with proper awareness and early intervention. Risk factors increase
the chances of developing the disease of addiction although having insight of
the addictive disease and motivation for change can help you in this regard. If
you are a drug user and you feel like your habit might turn into addiction
someday, seek help as having proactive approach is beneficial in dealing with
the disease of addiction.
We at PRC Rehabilitation Center provide proper in-patient treatment for people
suffering from substance use disorder and all other mental health illnesses. PRC Clifton Karachi provides awareness,
psycho-education groups, psychotherapy, medication, and family counselling,
regarding the disease of addiction and other mental health disorders.