Substance Abuse Counselor

Substance abuse can and does kill people every day.

A person can succumb to alcohol poisoning, take an overdose, get some bad “stuff”, anything can happen.

* For teens, substance abuse can affect their growth, their grades, their mental ability. They can become withdrawn, hostile and end up losing out on many wonderful memory making opportunities by missing out on school events, sports, dances. At once, a student can end up with grades dropping so bad that he or she could lose out on a scholarship or not getting accepted into the college of his dreams.

* If a woman is pregnant and she takes drugs, the effects of substance abuse not only affect her but her unborn child as well. First, the child could die, either in uterine or shortly after birth.  If the child does live, he or she is highly likely to be in for a lifetime of mental and physical problems such as growth development, mental development, having problems not only in school but in relationships with other children due to hyperactivity.

* Substance abuse can hurt society, too.

A person can end up committing a robbery, more and more people are getting addicted who have executive type positions in companies.  Drugs and alcohol do not care what age, gender, or culture a person is, only that there is fresh blood on the horizon for them to control.  Therefore, the effects of substance abuse can be far more outreaching as companies go bankrupt and employees lose their jobs.

* The effects of substance abuse on families are monumental.

Divorce, losing children to the system as they are either taken away from drug addicted parents or get into trouble as juveniles, all of these things can and do happen on a regular basis.  Children grow up in hostile environments when a home is controlled by substance abuse.  Domestic violence is rampant and drugs or alcohol or nearly always at the core of such calls to the police and emergency departments.

“The effects of substance abuse not only happen to the person who is addicted to drugs or controlled by alcohol. It affects to everyone in that person’s life, his family, his friends, the people driving on the opposite side of the street, his workplace, society itself. “

That is why the war on drugs affects all of us because even if we are not on drugs or drinking, we are affected by those around us who are on them whether we know who they are or not.

In the majority of cases, these two conditions co-exist.

It is difficult to tell which came first; the depression or the drug addiction but they are often found together. Substance abuse is capable of causing depression because all substances directly affect the brain. This off sets the chemical balance within the brain and depression occurs. Even drugs that elevate moods (such as cocaine), can send someone spiraling into a depression when the drug wears off. Alcohol and marijuana are depressants anyway, even though someone under the influence of one or the other appears to be happy on occasion.

* Any drug or alcohol substance allowed into the body has a direct affect on the brain.

This is one of the reasons addictions occur. However, depression is one of those side effects that slip in there while the abuser is enjoying their high. Then the two feed off each other. The substance abuse affects the depression and vice versa. It is a vicious cycle which is why both must be treated when someone goes through rehab.

* * * Depression can also lead to drug abuse. It’s the old “Which came first; the chicken or the egg?” When a person is depressed, they are not thinking clearly. They just want to “feel good”. * * *

Often, after time, the solution to them becomes drugs or alcohol. Even though it is a temporary fix that elevates the mood, it is, to them, better than the depression. * The problem is that the substances only increase the depression. * The abuser may feel good for a short amount of time, but when the drug or alcohol wears off, the depression will be even worse.

* Treating one problem and not the other is only a quick fix.

It is a band-aid that will work temporarily but won’t be successful. Depression and substance abuse feed off of each other. When one is treated, they must both be treated. Eventually, it may be revealed whether the substance abuse lead to the depression or the depression lead to the drug abuse but if they are both being treated, both problems will be solved.

“The depression that a substance abuser feels is not simply a funk. It is a real chemical imbalance that only adds to the abuser’s misery. It should not be taken lightly. Any threats of violence or suicide should receive immediate attention by calling 911.“

Every day in America and throughout the world, babies are born already addicted to drugs.

This is because the mother was a substance abuser during pregnancy.  Newborns are taken away from their mothers, perhaps put in intensive care, possibly even dying because illicit drugs were taken during pregnancy.

Substance abuse not only harms the mother, it harms the fetus. Taking drugs during pregnancy is akin to willfully harming a child because you are not the only one ingesting the drugs.

Even smoking legal cigarettes can lead to health problems during pregnancy for the fetus.  How much greater then, is the likelihood is it that illegal drugs would do the same?  Many states have laws that mandate if a mother gives birth to a child that dies because of the illegal use of drugs during the pregnancy; the mother can be held criminally responsible.

* Birth defects are higher in babies whose mothers did substance abuse during pregnancy.

A newborn literally has to withdraw from substance abuse at birth because the drugs stay in the baby’s system longer than the mother’s.  The baby can have problems with premature birth, sleeping and digestive patterns as well as physical deformities or birth defects in the kidneys, genital area and of course, the brain.  Not only that, but learning disabilities are rampant in children who were born to mothers using drugs throughout their pregnancies.

Women who become pregnant while being addicted to drugs need to be honest with their obstetricians so a health care plan can be followed in the best interests of both patients: the mother and the unborn child.

A drug addicted pregnant woman is highly encouraged to go into a treatment program so the unborn child has a chance of being healthy.  The bottom line is the innocent unborn child did not make the choice to be a substance abuser.

* * * Don’t you owe it to your child to put him or her first during this critical developing stage, giving him or her the best chance possible? * * *

Substance abuse among nurses is difficult to gauge since not all doctor’s offices and hospitals require regular drug screening.

There are, however, nurses who get caught taking medications that should have gone to patients. While there doesn’t appear to be a wide spread epidemic, there are certainly nurses who abuse substances and endanger not only themselves and other hospital staff, but patients.

* Nurses are surrounded by powerful drugs each and every day.

It is probably not being at the hospital which causes an addiction, although it very well may be, but the drugs are easily available to all nurses. The American Nurses Association says that up to 20% of nurses may be addicted to drugs. Most often, the addiction is caught when after a number of shifts, a higher than normal amount of patients complain of insufficient pain relief even though their charts say they have been given the medication. There have been patients who have died because the doctor, treating it symptomatically, orders a higher dose of pain medication. The doctor isn’t at fault, or the nurse who deals with the patients in pain. The problem lies with an addiction where the addict, a nurse, has such easy access to his or her drug of choice.

A study done in 1998 showed that marijuana use among emergency room nurses was significantly higher, as was alcohol abuse. Emergency room nurses also had a higher change of being cocaine abusers or addicts. Oncology nurses had the highest percentage of substance abuse over all, including alcoholism. The numbers may seem shocking, but when considering the overall increase in addiction in the general population, it really just makes sense that the numbers would go up for every profession.

* The problem with addiction and substance abuse among nurses is that people die under their care.

That is not what they intend to happen, but it does. Patients are given the wrong medication (to substitute for the drug taken by the nurse) or are given no medication at all. Granted, nursing is a very stressful occupation but harming a patient should not be an accepted practice at all.

There are always excuses for drug abuse. “My job is too stressful” or “My kids are brats” or any number of other excuses. The problem is that these nurses need to be discovered and they need to get themselves free of their drug abuse or addiction. There should be stricter drug screening standards throughout every medical facility.