The Problem Of Chemical Dependency

Many people have turned to substance abuse or experience chemical dependency for a variety of reasons. Nurses experience chemical dependency as well. According to Kunyk (2013), “healthcare professionals, including nurses, are also potentially vulnerable to substance use disorders regardless of any special knowledge, skills or insights they might have owing to their education and professional experiences” (p. 54). This paper will define what chemical dependency is, report causes of chemical dependency in nurses, describe behaviors associated with chemical dependency, and explain what needs to be done upon reentry into the work place.

“The total "economic burden" of prescription opioid misuse alone in the United States is $78.5 billion a year, including the costs of healthcare, lost productivity, addiction treatment, and criminal justice involvement”. -The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Individuals who suffer with mental illnesses are more likely to abuse drugs. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research there is a “Definite connection between mental illness and the use of addictive substances.” Alone people who are afflicted with some sort of mental illness, are thought to consume 38 percent of all alcohol, 44 percent of all cocaine, and 40 percent of cigarettes. There are many reasons and theory's to why this trend occurs. Depending on the case, the involvement of drugs can cause mental illness. Drugs such as meth, cocaine, and heroine, can change the way a brain works. The use of these drugs, and others can cause a multitude of different mental illness's, ranging from depression or anxiety, all the way to schizophrenia and cognitive impairment. In other circumstances, an individual may turn to drugs to help them manage their symptoms. Another reason is that mental illness, and addiction are caused

Genetic factors have been directly linked to the risk of an individual’s vulnerability to addiction (APA, 2008). In addition, other risk factors that play a

Drug abuse and addiction remain large and persistent problems. Nationally, addiction and abuse of all substances costs the economy an estimated $600 billion dollars annually. Indeed, over the past decade, illicit drug use appears to be steady or rising (2011 National Survey on Drug Use and Health; DHHS). From this we see that prescription and non-prescription opioid use is particularly problematic. For example, prescription pain reliever misuse has remained consistently high for most of the last decade and makes up the largest portion of misuse of prescription drugs (Figure 1). In addition people who report using heroin within the last year has increased by over 50% since 2001 (Figure 2).

Genes and environment both prove to be important when determining who will be susceptible to becoming addicted to substances and who will not (Durand, Barlow, 2016, 388-389). Using drugs is based on environmental factors but becoming dependent on drugs will occur if a person is genetically vulnerable. There is no specific gene that can be held responsible for this phenomenon, but rather a group of genes that put one at risk for substance use disorder broadly. Susceptibility to addiction to one substance in particular does not occur. Psychological factors must also be considered when discussing what causes substance abuse disorder. Positive reinforcement (making one feel good) and negative reinforcement (making one feel less bad) are two primary reasons for continuing drug use.

And this included the cost of treatment, medical care, and criminal justice versus prevention. Harwood, Fountain and Livermore (1994-1999) made it clear in the economic costs of alcohol and drug abuse in the United States that, nearly two-thirds of drug issues costs are related to crime and criminal justice, with only one-third of the costs related to health. Additionally, core health-related costs account for more than 90%, and this is (costs) associated with alcohol problems (p. 631-635). In other words, the issue with alcohol result in over three times more core health costs than illegal drug issues ($135.2 billion as compared to $40.5 billion), and the bulk of economic costs is $57.1 billion, also associated with illegal drugs, which are a direct result of criminal justice response to the problems (Sctchfield,

States. It has been claimed to be an epidemic by the Center for Disease Control (CDC). In the United states alone about 15.3 million people have previoulsy used prescription drugs in the year of 2012 (National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2013). People have used, abused and misused prescription drugs for medical and non medical purposes for a long time. While prescription drugs have many beneficial effects on our health and body; they can be very dangerous if use incorrectly. Prescription drugs are safe when used properly as prescribed by a physician. Nevertheless it is just as dangerous and lethal as using illegal drugs; when used for non-medical reasons

Individual level risk factors for addiction may include low school involvement, existing mental disorders, history of abuse or neglect, and use during adolescence

What is causing this high rate of addiction in the elderly population? Primarily, it seems, depression and anxiety. One study found that 63 percent of elderly people that abused drugs said that their use was influenced by these twin totems of mental health disorder. These feelings were related to the realities of aging, such as physical pain, loss of friends and family, and problems with financial stability.

A person who is addicted might do almost anything—lying, stealing, or hurting people—to keep taking the drug. This could get the person arrested.

According to Psychologist Ellen Pastorino, a Professor of Psychology at Valencia College, “In 2012, an estimated 23.9 million people (9.2%) in the United States aged 12 or older admitted to using illegal substance in the past month” (Pastorino, 149). Prescription medication is useful as a method of treatment for illness, but irresponsible use of a psychoactive substance can lead to addiction. Psychologists, and medical doctors are concerned about misuse of psychoactive substances since it can lead to physiological, and psychological distress, decreasing overall wellbeing. Anyone has the potential of developing an addiction, which is the key danger to these psychoactive medications – they are a useful tool in the medical

They assume addicts lack moral principles or self-discipline and that they can quit by simply deciding to. The reality is, people who have struggled with substance abuse have often found it extremely difficult to quit due to the physical and/or mental addiction. Drug have the ability to change the brain patterns and cause health complications, making things harder in the long-term and may determine life or death. Fortunately, because of more research, there are more ways to back out of an addiction and seek help through an enduring and extensive treatment. Factors that affect the likelihood and speed of developing an addiction are environmental and individual factors, including genetics and

Patient’s will become dependent on the pain relief and begin to crave the drug; once they have continually taken their

Drug abuse is a major public health issue that impacts society both directly and indirectly; every person, every community is somehow affected by drug abuse and addiction and this economic burden is not exclusive to those who use substance, it inevitably impacts those who don 't. Drugs impact our society in various ways including but not limited to lost earnings, health care expenditures, costs associated with crime, accidents, and deaths. The use of licit or illicit drugs long term, causes millions of deaths and costs billions for medical care and substance abuse rehabilitation and the effects of drug abuse extend beyond users, spilling over into the society at large, imposing increasing