Substance Abuse Among Adults: A Case Study

Although substance abuse among the elderly, like alcohol is low considered compared to the general population, its prevalence is still high. A study showed the prevalence of alcohol related problems ranged from 1.4% to 22% (Adams, et al., 1993). It can be understood that the level of alcohol related problems diminishes as an individual ages.

A statistical piece of information that was interesting is that how the number of mental disorders increases as the number of substance abuse disorders increases as well. Services, U.D. (2005) states the likelihood of mental disorders rises alongside with substance abuse dependencies. With the rise of both abuses at the same time, it complicates treatment for the mental disorder patients that have drug use however, multiple drugs is normal for those who are substance abusers (Services, U.D., 2005). The reason this information is found to be interesting is because with the two disorders rising at the same level, it appears that the challenges will be harder and more co-occurring disorder patients are going to need help with their issues. As a counselor, one must be dually competent to treat these clients or have staff available to treat the clients who have co-occurring disorders to ensure an effective outcome.

Women’s drug use, worldwide, is less than that of men, which is reflected in the fact that drug use in nursing is therefore, significantly lower than in male dominated health professions like medicine and pharmacy. Following the gender patterns, male nurses are significantly more likely to use prescription drugs than their female colleagues(Dittman, 2012). Men comprise approximately eight point

The figures are defined as high because in the general population the rate of alcohol abuse or dependence in women is twelve percent and ten percent for other drug abuse or dependence. The only area where drug or alcohol abuse does not appear to be related to eating is with anorexia nervosa. In this area alcohol abuse appears to be less than the general population.

The National Institute on Drugs (NIH) (2011) cited 1.8 million people in the year 2008 admissions were from alcohol and drug use disorder. Ages greater than 11 years old was implicated in the 23.5 million People seeking substance use disorder treatment from illicit drug or alcohol in the year 2009. The greatest need for treatment was leaded by alcohol use with a 41.4 percent, drug-related admissions by 20 percent was followed by heroin and other opiates, and 17 percent was related to Marijuana used in the year 2008 (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2011). Men are at a higher rate of substance use disorder than women. African Americans are at the highest risk of developing substance use disorder as indicated by the NIH (2011) report, followed by Hispanics, Native Americans and at the lowest, Asian Americans was implicated.

Substance use disorders are complicated illnesses that present unique threats to women 's health. Medical research is showing that women who abuse alcohol, tobacco and other drugs may develop addictions and substance-related health problems faster than men. Alcohol consumption is most common among women between the ages of 26 and 34 and women who are divorced or separated. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism defines a light drinker as one who drinks about 1 to 13 drinks a month; a moderate drinker as one who drinks about 4 to 14 drinks a week; and a heavier drinker as one who has more than two drinks a day. Women are more vulnerable to alcohol-related organ damage,

Statistics show that those with drug, alcohol and mental (ADM) disorders account for over 40% of all smokers and only 22% of the U.S. population

16% of men and 9% of women respondents to the survey had drank on five of the proceeding seven days. 34% of men and 28% of women had consumed more than the recommended daily allowance at least once in the past week. The Nation Health Service estimates that around 9% of men and 4% of women show some signs of alcohol dependence.

This paper evaluates the relationship between the mild to severely mentally ill and substance abuse. Substance abuse is often seen in adolescents and adults, whether they are mentally ill or not. Mental illness and substance abuse is more commonly known as a dual diagnosis. Often times, the treatment for this particular diagnosis is harder to treat than if each condition were treated on its own. Early treatment of dually diagnosed disorders may be a prevention strategy to end future problematic behaviors. The combination of substance abuse and mental illness can be due to many different factors. Many people often deny the association between substance abuse and mental illness, and believe that one can’t trigger the other. There are multiple theories that explain the relationship between the two disorders. This essay will also provide statistical research information that shows the substance use of a normal person and that of a person with mild to severe mental illness.

Drug and alcohol addiction has the ability to have emotional impact on many people. In the U.S the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) demonstrates 23.5 million adults living in U.S. had drug or alcohol problem. OASAS states 10 percent of American adults from the ages 18 and older, say they are in recovery. Ninety percent of alcohol abuse start in the teenage years. (Recovery from substance abuse and addiction 2012) Alcohol abuse is connected to more than 75,000 deaths each year and drug abuse has 200,000 deaths. (Alcohol deaths a year. 2005)

Association of public health in addressing issues of health inequalities and the empowerment of the wider community (APHO, 2007). The rate of admission to hospitals for alcohol specific condition is nearly double in England average; approximately 5.7% of the adult population in LBHF has an alcohol dependency. This translates to 6,400 people compared to England which estimated that total annual healthcare cost alone related to alcohol misuse add up to £1.7 billion per year. The bulk of these costs are borne

According to Alternatives in Treatment: (Transitioning Back into Life after Rehab) as of 2010, approximately 8.9 percent of American teenagers and adults over age 12 were using illicit drugs. Some use more than one illegal substance or combine drug use with alcohol. This is most likely to occur in young adults under age 25, who have the highest rates of combined alcohol and drug abuse disorders. More than 23.5 million Americans — or one in 10 Americans over age 12 struggles with addiction to drugs or alcohol (Partnership at Drugfree.org, 2014).

Statistics indicate that there are nearly 21 million Americans who have a substance abuse disorder, but only a significantly small portion of up to about ten percentage has been able to access medical help (Kelly et al. 8). Assessing the reasons why

Today's figures showed men were more than twice as likely as women to be admitted to hospital for mental and behavioural problems linked to drug use – with 4,715 male admissions and 2,019 female admissions in England in 2006-2007.

According to Nate Blair (2011) people who struggles with mental health issues have the fear of get treatment from a doctor, so they prefer to use drugs or drinking alcohol to solve the problem by themselves.