Few Facts About Substance Abuse You Should Know - Adelusi Kehinde Beatrice

Written By: Adelusi Kehinde Beatrice (Nursing, UI)

Substance abuse is a pattern of repeated drug or alcohol use that often interferes with your health, work and social relationships.

Most of the substances abused are psychoactive substances

Psychoactive substances or psychotropic is a chemical substances that changes brain function and results in alteration in perceptions, mood, consciousness, cognition or behavior.

What are the substances people abuse?

1. Alcohol
2. Amphetamines
3. Anabolic steroids
4. Cannabis
5. Cocaine
6. Hallucinogens
7. Inhalants
8. Nicotine
9. Opiates
10. Phencyclidine
11. Sedatives and tobacco.

These drugs affect both physiological, social and psychological state of an individual who abuses these substances or are addicted to them.

Facts about Tobacco

• Tobacco is a product prepared from the leaves of the tobacco plants. 
• The plant is part of genius nicotiana and of the solanacane family. 
• It is one of the main risk factors for a number of chronic diseases like cancer, lungs diseases, cardiovascular diseases. 
• It can be smoked, sucked, chewed or sniffed. 
• The addictive psychoactive ingredients nicotine.

Phenycyclidine is a mind altering drug that may lead to hallucinations. It causes dissociation and it leads to a distortion of sight, colour, sounds, self and one's environment for example ketamine, the common street names are angel dust, wacks among others.

Sedatives are substances that induced sedation by reducing irritability and excitement. They are central nervous  system depressant and it interacts with brain activities causing deceleration in actions.. E.g rophynol, diazepam etc

For nicotine it's a drug in tobacco that causes dependence, and it's the most common form of chemical dependency and it's highly addictive and when people starts smoking nicotine they experience nausea, dizziness, headache etc

Opiates are a type of narcotic drug that acts as depressants on the central nervous system. Examples includes, morphine, heroine, codeine, hydrocodeine etc.

If you are someone who abuses drugs or know someone who does please save their life by talking to them, encourage them, love them, don't persecute them.

Encourage them to see doctors, clinical psychologist, psychiatric nurses among others Or visit neuropsychiatric institutions nearest to yoh  for help. The earlier the better.

The population of individuals into drugs abuse in Nigeria is quite huge and it's challenging. Most youths are the majority, so imagine if most youths comes down with mental illness, what can we be proud of then?

If you are struggling with addiction please seek help or chat with me personally (use the contact page), I know the right channel for you.

Know more...Stay Healthy.... Stay Fit

FOLLOW US ON: TWITTER | FACEBOOK

---

Memo Naija respects every copyright policies. If you feel the article you are reading or the music or video on this blog infringe on your privacy, kindly shoot us an email at [email protected] with the proof that it is yours and we shall take it down immediately.

---

Never Miss An Update!

Enter your email address below to receive posts notifications as they break:

---

• Tweet This
• Share This
• Share
• Share