Psychoactive Substance use and Mental Health - Essay Example

 Table of Content Introduction 2 Background 2 Description of Alcohol-Related Harm 3 Description of Influences that Support the Consumption of Alcohol within Hong Kong 4 Analysis on how these influences affect the government’s response to the levels of alcohol consumed within Hong Kong 7 Exploration of health sector responses to alcohol-related harm within Hong Kong 8 Conclusion 9 Bibliography 11 Introduction 3 Background 3 Description of Alcohol-Related Harm 4 Description of Influences that Support the Consumption of Alcohol within Hong Kong 5 Analysis on how these influences affect the government’s response to the levels of alcohol consumed within Hong Kong 8 Exploration of health sector responses to alcohol-related harm within Hong Kong 9 Conclusion 10 Bibliography 12 Introduction According to the World Health Organization [Wor11], there is a worldwide prevalence of harmful alcohol use, and subsequent millions of deaths and thousands of young lives lost. Harmful alcohol consumption is not just a precursor to violence and injury, but also a major cause of numerous diseases. Alcohol-related diseases, injury and violence result in the spread of negative implications to both the society and the country. In some occasion, negative implications go beyond the nation to include cross-border influence on patterns and levels of alcohol consumption. Today, alcohol consumption in the world is rated as the third risk for disease burden and has led to about 2.5 million deaths annually or appropriately 4% of world deaths[Pre12]. The most common forms of alcohol-related diseases is liver cirrhosis, cardiovascular disease, stroke, cancer varieties, and hypertension. These diseases are mostly due to alcohol-overconsumption which is also the linked to changes in behaviors of the affected persons, therefore becoming a risk to the family and the community. Background Recent statistics in Hong Kong indicate a rise in the drinking population and average alcohol consumption and this is great burden to the society. According to the Press Release by the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine [Pre12], there is an increase in the prevalence of adult alcohol consumption from about 30.9% in 2005 to 34.9% in 2010; while alcohol consumption per capita in Hong Kong rose to 2.64 litres in 2010 up from 2.57 litres. These factors, according to the HKAM Press Release, were due to waived alcoholic beverage prices for wine and liquor containing below 30% alcohol in 2008. During that year, alcohol consumption rose significantly by 30%. This paper discusses the psychoactive substance use and mental health in Hong Kong with more emphasis on alcohol-caused harm; factors promoting alcohol consumption; the effect of the influences on government responses; and exploration of health sector responses to the harm caused by alcohol. Description of Alcohol-Related Harm This paper defines alcohol related harm as the implications or risks associated with unregulated consumption of alcohol, amongst both young and old. In Hong Kong, alcohol-related harm is propagated by the public’s responsiveness to low alcohol prices causing the stimulation of consumers demand since they can afford more alcohol. Today, this responsiveness is non-exclusive to adults as the number of the young person’s consuming alcohol increases rapidly[HoS03]. The findings of the Population Health Survey of 2003 and 2004 indicated that Hong Kong experienced the highest levels of underage drinking with consumers aged between 15 to 24 years[Pre12]. Furthermore, binge drinkers are youngsters with moderate to high mastery of self-control yet, falling for binge drinking. The implication was a rise in the trend of youngsters consuming alcohol and exposing them to high risks of sexually transmitted diseases, violence and suicide, vehicular accidents, and occupational injuries among others[Wor14]. In Hong Kong, binge drinkers’ population has a lower prevalence amongst those aged 65 years and above. Between 2003 and 2004, this population accounted for 1% of the population and only consumed alcohol drinks on five or more counts on one occasion for the month prior to the survey. This was unlike the same population in London and New York City at 9.2% and 3.6% respectively[Woo13]. Besides binge drinking, alcohol consumption severely damages the human body. First, it is a leading carcinogen or cancer-causing beverage with high risk of cancers of the throat, food passage, bowel and female breasts, liver, voice box and mouth. The Hong Kong Department of Health Press Release [Hon14] confirms that higher alcohol doses are linked to increased mortality caused by coronary heart disease and affects the digestive system, resulting in inflammation of the stomach and food passage. High doses of alcohol also damage the liver resulting in liver cirrhosis, and Hepatitis. For young adults or adolescents, alcohol consumption negatively impacts on their developing brain causing memory loss skills preditable in early initiation of drinking, and characterized by high alcohol dependence[Wor14]. Young persons are also at higher risks of immediate long and short-term alcohol based harms affecting their mental, social, and intellectual development. Alcohol consumption is highly associated with mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder[Chi10] and social outcomes such as workplace related issues, interpersonal violence, and domestic and family issues. Such social consequences are linked to high costs to both the families affected and communities at large. For employers, social security system costs are high for employees with alcohol dependence and this comes with lessened productivity and absenteeism due to sicknesses. In Hong Kong, a substantial amount of annual GDP or gross domestic product is used to reduce the adverse implications of alcohol. Intellectually, an extra drink consumed elevates the risk of cognitive performance reduction. This translates to high traffic accidents owing to drunk driving[Chi10]. For the alcoholic pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, the adverse effects of alcohol include a broad range of growth and development issues and birth defects for the unborn. Conversely, breastfeeding mothers have their breast milk contaminated with alcohol affecting the baby’s psychomotor behavior and development, while influencing the locational performance of the nursing mother. Description of Influences that Support the Consumption of Alcohol within Hong Kong Today, the social issues around alcohol taxation include increased availability of alcoholic drinks, thus translating to higher consumption, mostly amongst price-sensitive young drinkers. Consequently, youths and underage persons are exposed to environments with easily accessible alcohol. Such exposure is worsened by the receptive attitude of respondents to alcohol consumption who generally believed that alcoholism was an augmentation of health situations and social interactions[She06]. Shek and Lou (2006) reveal that in Hong Kong perception of alcohol consumption is linked to happy situations and shared celebrations. Therefore, there is little attention towards alcohol consumption as a community concern since it is a lifestyle choice. Furthermore, this perception allows cultural endorsement of alcohol use, and the unawareness of the legislative constraint supported by The Dutiable Commodities Regulations, therefore availing it to persons under the age of 18 yeara.. Cultural endorsement cause adolescents to consume during family gatherings, maintaining social relationships, and meeting new friends. Besides cultural endorsement, family support, particularly maternal drinking, and abuse of family members are factors contributing to adolescent drinking. Based on research, Shek & Lou [She06] reveal that the tendency to take alcoholic drinks amongst adolescents is higher for family with weak linkages between adolescent adjustment and family, and positive parenting process and family functioning. Shek & Lou [She06] also confirm that adolescents in organized criminal groups frequently consume alcoholic beverages, gambling, and smoking for group adherence and identification with the group. Media influences in Hong Kong are also associated with higher prevalence of consumption amongst young people. The research findings by Surveillance and Epidemiology Branch [Sur] reveal that exposure to media and commercial communications regarding alcohol was a factor predicting two concepts. First, predicting the probability of an onset of drinking for non-alcohol drinkers[Hon00]. Secondly, an increase in the consumption levels among the existing drinkers. However, in Hong Kong, like other world nations, young people consume both branded and non-branded alcoholic drinks. Consequently, the impact of alcohol advertising in shaping attitudes and beliefs is relatively small compared to factors such as parental and peer pressure, particularly due to their higher prices of branded drinks[Sur]. Furthermore, advertising creates awareness of the existence of alcoholic beverages such that young people identify and distinguish between brands and make decisions to start or continue drinking. In Hong Kong, the law bans the inclusion of real or fictitious children's characters in alcoholic drink advertisements, and also the advertisement of alcohol during family viewing hour programmes. However, this does not often correspond to the alcoholic beverage advertisements found over the internet. Young people with unlimited access to the internet view unregulated forms of alcohol use, thus temptations to experiment lands introduces mental health issues such as addiction and anxiety disorders, physical fights and assault, acute intoxication, impaired control to committing vandalism and crime, and risky sexual activities that elevate possibilities of unprotected sex and contracting sexually transmitted diseases and unplanned pregnancies[Sur]. According to Shek & Lou [She06], Hong Kong’s alcohol use is culturally-oriented and is influenced by western and Chinese Societies. The culture in Hong Kong endorses drinking as positive and ordinary, thus causing little attention to alcohol problems from health and social services. More often, alcohol’s social uses involve marking socially-oriented intentions, with young people being influenced by western cultures on the choices of drinks. Shek and Lou [She06] reveal that the majority of young people consume western brand products such as brandy, wine, and beer unlike distilled spirits. This tendency matches with Hong Kong adult’s frequent use of beer as their alcoholic beverage. Conversely, the traditional Chinese cultural belief of Confucians that promotes harmony provides a protective effect that was, however, negated by the globalization effects. The embedding of alcoholism into Hong Kong’s adolescent and adult culture resulted in lower caseloads for family service agencies regarding alcohol abuse, lowered numbers of reported families with difficulties of excessive alcohol consumption, and little compensation concerns by commercial sectors involved in alcohol production. Furthermore, there was lowered number of psychiatric outpatient clinics with at most 1% of patients presenting for treatment due to alcoholism. Analysis on how these influences affect the government’s response to the levels of alcohol consumed within Hong Kong In Hong Kong, government efforts to curb alcohol-related harm is normaly down played by numerous factors[Yoo121]. First, in Hongkong, China’s most civilized city, wine and beer taxes were eliminated unprecedently in 2008 to achieve the government’s objective of making the city a world center for alcohol trade[Chu13]. Consequently, beer producing companies embarked on aggressive promotion that neutralized any legislation regulation of such promotion. Consequently, adolescent drinking was on the rise[Wan131]. Secondly, Shek and Lou [She06] highlight that the Hong Kong government has done little to develop policies to tackle alcoholism. Furthermore, no corresponding social services have been established. Since 1997 when the Hong Kong government was changed, the government sustained its need-based policy legacy with alcoholism being conspicuously excluded from the service and policy agenda. For instance, The Dutiable Commodities Regulations only ban buying and taking alcohol in licensed premises, and not at convenient stores and supermarkets. This translates to adolescents easily accessing alcohol and exposed to alcohol-related harm, and problems of neurocognitive and mental health that persist till adulthood[Chu13]. Accordingly, age restriction on alcoholic beverage sales is only emphasized in clubs, bars, and restaurants, while technically none exists in the street outside the store transforming popular night spots of LAN Kwai Fong into problem areas. Consequently, adolescents frequently pass out on the street, and this population includes both male and females. Thirdly, the Hongkong society’s lack of stringent regulations on alcohol consumption has seen most teens translate festivities such as Rugby Sevens, New Year, and Halloween as occasions to consume alcohol. During these occasions, girls drink to the point of unconsciousness and engaging in unprotected sex with unknown sexual partners, while boys are drunk to the extent of throwing up. The government’s lack of initiatives to encourage young persons to observe safety and sobriety during such occasions increases the number of young persons admitted to hospitals due to alcohol-related harm. Exploration of health sector responses to alcohol-related harm within Hong Kong In Hong Kong, alcohol consumption is common among underage drinkers with age cohort reflecting this increase, and more young people consuming alcohol as they grow. Knowledge gaps and low awareness of alcohol-related harm are some of the main factors contributing to this menace. In response, the health sector works in partnership with the government have set out to establish a sustainable environment to reduce alcohol-oriented harm through establishment of relevant law, such that any person below the age of 18 is strictly prevented from purchasing alcohol beverages both in licensed and unlicensed premises[Pre12]. While the health department should seek to define liquor to encompass all possible sources of alcohol besides liquids, the government must ensure that any laws and policies are in place to guarantee that offenders are prosecuted accordingly, for selling liquor to underage persons. This way, the chances of adolescents getting in touch with alcohol will be reduced as police surveillance will be enforced. The Hong Kong’ department of health also seeks to ensure that the government adheres to stringent alcohol advertisement the same way tobacco advertisements are controlled[Jea07]. This would mean that few adolescents have access to extreme alcohol advertisements and minimized exposure to risky alcoholic behaviors. In addition, healthcare staff began actively participating in prevention and treatment of effects of alcohol and act as health care system gates such as identifying whether a patient has the habit of consuming and interference. Another central emphasis is to encourage patients to stop drinking through promotion of community activities that promote the public provision of information to the public regarding the harmful effects of alcohol. This should focus more on youths and other high risk groups, and restricting vendors from selling alcoholic drinks to minors and supporting an environment free from alcohol for minimized intention to drink. Furthermore, the department of health in Hong Kong published a strategic framework document with the aim of preventing non-communicable diseases, and lessening alcohol related harm which is one of the priority areas of public health[Ves12]. This is because alcohol affects each body organ and is associated to more than 60 disease conditions, including fatty liver, cirrhosis, coronary heart disease, hypertension, stroke, and alcohol hepatitis. However, most young people are unaware of such harm and associate with beer brands that make them near perfect and refined such as Carlsberg, or those that make them energetic such as Heineken, and others that bring uniqueness such as Guiness[Mat011]. The response in the health sector, however, experiences numerous challenges dealing with alcoholism since it is a crucial aspect of the Chinese customs and culture, playing s significant role in their daily lives. Consequently, alcohol consumption for recreational, festive, and celebration drinking is difficult to regulate with more young people gaining ease access and cultural endorsements to drinking. Conclusion This paper discussed the quote that in 2009 alcohol-related injuries or illnesses accounted for a total of 2, 433 admissions into Hong Kong public/private hospitals. This has been attributed to changes in drinking frequency, consumed alcohol amount, and consumption patterns. The scope of this paper involved the definition of alcohol-related harm as the implications or health risks associated with the behaviour of drinking alcohol. In Hong Kong, the alcohol is among the three leading risk factors to disease burden, yet the culture, society, media, and the government encourages its consumption even amongst children. Consequently, the government’s response to combating the harm due to alcohol are suppressed by the Chinese culture, lack of proper policies, and unregulated access to information for the young people. 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