Impact of the Substance Abuse - Research Paper Example

? Relapse Prevention in Substance Abuse Treatment al Affiliation: Relapse Prevention in Substance Abuse Treatment In relation to drug abuse, relapse is resuming the use of chemical substance or drug after a period of self-induced abstinence. The term can be said to be a landmark feature of a combination of substance abuse and substance independence, which is maintained by the neuronal adaptors that process learning stimuli and activate the learning mediation. The propensity for dependency, repeated use and tendencies that take form of substance being used are some of the issues that drug users’ experience. Substances that enhance most severe tendencies in users pose high pharmacological efficacy, those that that are cleared quickly from the body in addition to those that bring out the highest tolerance. There can be increased substance tolerance with the increasing dependency in relation to drug in question, withdrawals and cravings in case the user stops Relapse prevention can be defined as the set of designed skills or tools that can be utilized to reduce the chances that the illness symptoms being exhibited will resort back to unhealthy behavior or get worse example through substance use. Knowledge or skills for prevention include; identification of early signs of symptoms, identifying and singling out high risk factors for a possible relapse, how to make wise daily choices that won’t lead client back to drug abuse and implementing early coping strategies to avoid relapse (Sofuoglu, 2010). Within the strategies described in the coping skills training both behavioral and cognitive techniques are included. Clients are provided with alternatives on how they can effectively use their habit by reframing it as a learning experience that has setbacks and errors that are a must in any learning and growth process ,this explains the cognitive technique for training. On the other hand, behavioral techniques are more based on use of lifestyle modifications such as exercising, medication, capacity to cope that is strengthened through (Pelissier & Jones, 2005). Triggers Relapses and drug taking are both heavily influenced by similar factors such as the drugs neurochemistry, drugs and takers history, dose of the pharmacokinetics, the takers environment. After a period of abstinence or non-use the drugs reinstating is more often an initiation of more than one factors namely; re-exposure to drug, stress, cues in the environment, priming of the drug to taker. In the takers mind neurochemical responses are commonly induced through these factors, in that, they create a craving by mimicking the drug and this in turn prevents reinstatement and desire to use drug (McGovern, Xie, Segal, Siembab, & Drake, 2006). Impact of the substance abuse One of the most powerful factors for relapse is stress since it triggers the sense of drug seeking and craving behavior mostly during the abstinence period. This feeling of stress at the time is predictive of the rehabilitation period and time that has passed. Addicted individuals comparably show susceptibility to increased stressors than others not addicted. Examples of reinstatement inducing stressors include fear, anger, or sadness. Other physical stressors include; social events, foot shock and elevated sound level. Relapse and substance abuse costs and affects the individual, the community and family in significant ways; it is also measurable through common aspects that include un-employability, loss, of productivity, and mental health to the user. It also reduces their quality of life as shown through the increased rate of crimes, and neglect of children, increase of violence, non-familial support systems dependency on non-familial support systems for both treatment expenses and treatment and these affect the community. The mental, physical health and drugs social consequences are directly or indirectly affected by monetary capabilities of the individual and their negative effects they have on individual, family and community. Relapse Treatment Since relapse itself is regarded as a treatment failure, relapse treatment is then somewhat viewed as a by chance sort of treatment; however three main approaches to the relapse treatment exist, they are currently being implemented to reduce the chances and likelihood of drug relapse. These methods include cognitive behavioral techniques, pharmacotherapy, and contingency management. The main goals of preventing relapse and treating substance dependence are to supplement for the needs or cravings that were initially being filled by the drugs and to find alternate means of providing them. The (RPT) Relapse Prevention Therapy is an example of a behavioral self-control program that teaches individuals with substance addiction on how to cope and anticipate possible relapse potential. The RPT can be used as an aftercare program to maintain the sustained gains achieved during the initial substance use treatment or as a treatment program that stands-alone against substance use. The cornerstone of the RPT is the coping skills trainings. Through them, the clients are taught on strategies that help them understand how to cope with cravings and urges, understand the process of relapse, learn on how to create and maintain a lifestyle that is balanced, cope and identify effective with the high-risk situations such as social pressure. They also learn interpersonal conflict and negative emotional states. During a lapse the clients learns on how to implement procedures damage control to address and minimize the negative outcomes and learn on how even after a lapse they can still remain engaged to the therapy (Grella , Stein, Weisner, Chi, & Moos, 2010). In order for the addiction and relapse treatment to be understood, it is vital to state that currently drug addiction can be considered a disease that is treatable even though it could be relapsing or chronic in nature. This is mainly due to facts such as both alcoholism and substance abuse create difficulties in ones; psychological, physical, economic functioning, social aspect, according to this a comprehensive treatment has to cover all these aspect in the treatment. Related problems and addiction can successfully be treated however; there is still no single treatment method that is ideal for all the substance users and all substances. Treatment of substance abuse refers to a broad range of services or products including processes such as problem identification and brief interventions after reviewing problems related to substance abuse and the act itself. These include reviewing the clients history and planning for the treatment that include interventions such as psychiatric services, counseling, social services, medical services, psychological services and persons with drug problem or alcohol getting followed up by person. The treatment of substance abuse may often revolve around one of the traditional approaches like the Medical model, which emphasizes largely on addiction recognition as a psychological biological and social issue, use of maintenance abstinence as possible ongoing paradigms for recovery program. Social model that focuses on needs for recovery groups to maintain sobriety and recover faster and it also highlights facts like there is need for abstinence in a long-term basis. Behavioral model that point more towards focusing on treatment and focusing on other conditions that might in any way interfere with process of recovery or any viable issue. As a means for giving patient options and best treatment specifications for the client many programs often resort to combining some of the models for efficiency. Others include non-innovative traditional models of treatment such as traditional healing that relate to certain cultural groups and even acupuncture (Hester, Lubman, & Yucel, 2010). In conclusion, relapse refers to a situation where one goes back to the use of chemical substance or drug after a period of self-induced abstinence. The propensity for dependency, repeated use and tendencies that take form of substance being used are some of the issues that drug users experience and are related to relapse. Relapses and drug taking are both heavily influenced by similar factors such as the drugs neurochemistry, drugs and takers history and dose of the pharmacokinetics among others. Treatment of substance abuse is possible and refers to a broad range of services or products including processes such as problem identification and brief interventions after reviewing problems related to substance abuse and the act itself. References Sofuoglu, M. (2010). Cognitive enhancement as a pharmacotherapy target for stimulant addiction. Addiction, 105(1), 38-48. Hester, R., Lubman, D. I., & Yucel, M. (2010). The role of executive control in human drug addiction. In Behavioral Neuroscience of Drug Addiction (pp. 301-318). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. Pelissier, B., & Jones, N. (2005). A review of gender differences among substance abusers. Crime & Delinquency, 51(3), 343-372. McGovern, M. P., Xie, H., Segal, S. R., Siembab, L., & Drake, R. E. (2006). Addiction treatment services and co-occurring disorders: Prevalence estimates, treatment practices, and barriers. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 31(3), 267-275. Grella, C. E., Stein, J. A., Weisner, C., Chi, F., & Moos, R. (2010). Predictors of longitudinal substance use and mental health outcomes for patients in two integrated service delivery systems. Drug and alcohol dependence, 110(1), 92-100. Read More