Health Impairment Factor - Essay Example

Addressing health impairment factors with substance abusers is called “Fear appeals”, the individual can be taught about the hazards involved in abusing drugs and explaining the entire bodily, mechanism that is hampered as a result of the drugs. To convey the message of the fear appeal, the substance abuser must be sober at that time and another factor that would be more effective in dealing with the problem is not inducing an excessive amount of fear in the client. If the fear appeal induces excessive fear the client is likely to suppress these unpleasant feelings as quickly as possible though, for a short period he may quit substance abuse but the behavior may relapse once the fear subsides. Therefore, clinicians must exercise caution.

1. Would it make a difference how old the substance abuser is?

 Age is an extremely significant factor in determining the effects of addressing the health impairment factor. For instance, if the substance abuser is young there is a high possibility that the individual began abusing drugs only recently. Theories regarding behavior clearly state that the behavior becomes strongly reinforced within the person with time. Therefore, for a young substance abuser it is easier to address the health risk factors and a simple therapy session is good enough to make them quit substance abuse. On the other hand, the older the substance abuser, it is difficult to communicate with them as the addictive behavior becomes highly incorporated with the individual’s personality. Moreover, the fact that they have been abusing drugs for so long and were faced with no health problem further causes them to miscalculate the gravity of their behavior. Therefore, clinicians must use an alternative method to address these problems and make them quiet substances.

1. Can you name at least three other reasons for someone to become involved with substance abuse of any form?

 There are several reasons why people resort to substance abuse; however, the substance of this prose will only highlight 3 of them. The most common cause of drug abuse is curiosity and many people want to find out as t these drugs are capable. As a result, they start abusing drugs only to satisfy curiosity but eventually become heavily dependent on them. Young people turn to substance abuse to become accepted into a highly popular group and believe that by abusing drugs they may appear more important in their social circle. However, peer pressure is not the only reason why many young people turn to drugs as a result of domestic discord and a form of rebellion, they may start abusing drugs. Drugs indeed seem a form of an escape for people but it is largely the euphoric sensation that is induced by the drugs that reinforce their addictive behavior and helps them escape the unpleasant aspects of their life.

1. What resources would you use to convince a pregnant woman not to smoke, drink alcohol or use unprescribed substances?

Pregnancy is a highly delicate state for a woman and she should exercise an immense amount of caution; as any sort of behavior will not only harm the unborn child but can have detrimental repercussions on the mother’s health. During this time Women should avoid smoking, drinking alcohol, or abusing substances. To prevent a woman from indulging in these habits one can use fear appeals and educate them on how their behavior can damage them and their child’s health. Other than education if the mother still is unable to abstain from these behaviors, it is important to keep a close watch on them. If they feel the urge to do it, one must try to calm them down and slowly help them to quit these. As women are going through a very emotional state, they must be taken care of and someone should always be there to talk and comfort them because pregnancy is not such an easy time for women.