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Substance Abuse

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Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, is a patterned use of a substance (drug) in which the user consumes the substance in amounts or with methods neither approved nor supervised by medical professionals. Substance abuse/drug abuse is not limited to mood-altering or psycho-active drugs. If an activity is performed using the objects against the rules and policies of the matter (as in steroids for performance enhancement in sports), it is also called substance abuse. Therefore, mood-altering and psychoactive substances are not the only types of drugs abused.
Using illicit drugs – narcotics, stimulants, depressants (sedatives), hallucinogens, cannabis, even glues and paints, are also considered to be classified as drug/substance …show more content…

Treatment
Treatment for substance abuse is critical for many around the world. Often a formal intervention is necessary to convince the substance abuser to submit to any form of treatment. Behavioral interventions and medications exist that have helped many people reduce, or discontinue, their substance abuse. From the applied behavior analysis literature, behavioral psychology, and from randomized clinical trials, several evidenced based interventions have emerged:
• Behavioral marital therapy
• Motivational Interviewing
• Community reinforcement approach
• Exposure therapy
• Contingency management[41][42]
• Pharmacological therapy - A number of medications have been approved for the treatment of substance abuse.
These include replacement therapies such as buprenorphine and methadone as well as antagonist medications like disulfiram and naltrexone in either short acting, or the newer long acting form
(under the brand name Vivitrol). Several other medications, often ones originally used in other contexts, have also been shown to be effective including bupropion (Zyban or Wellbutrin), Modafinil
(Provigil) and more.
According to some nurse practitioners, stopping substance abuse can reduce the risk of dying early and also reduce some health risks like heart disease, lung disease, and

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