PREVENTING SUBSTANCE USE AND PROMOTING YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH
It is Prevention Week, and it is time to stand up, speak out, and take action to raise awareness about substance use prevention and positive mental health promotion.
Prevention Week is hosted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). It is an annual national health acknowledgement concentrating on increasing the prevention of substance use and the promotion of mental health. Each year, on the second week of May, communities and organisations across the world come together to raise awareness about the importance of substance use, prevention, and mental health promotion. This year, it is held from the 8th to 14th of May. This week, we will be focusing on preventing substance use and promoting mental health in youth.
How and why people get into substance use
A large portion of people using substances are youth going through a transitional phase, such as moving from high school to tertiary education. It is easy to be dismissive toward the youth, after all, “What do they have to truly worry about? They have no responsibilities or commitments to stress about,”. For a lot of teenagers, the reason behind them trying substances is that majority of them are at their homes with leisure time and nothing better to do, so they may decide to try substances. As they say, an idle mind is the devil’s workshop.
Another contributing factor could be stress, be it about the future, their impending grades comparison of points, picking a course and applying to different universities. At times, some people are not able to qualify for the course they arepassionate about, leading them to be depressed and start using substances to cope.
From even the early days at tertiary, students are often introduced to substances and that’s where experimentation begins. This coupled with their newfound freedom, peer pressure or just curiosity can cause one to experiment with substances.
How substance use correlates to mental health
Your mental health is an important part of your well-being. This aspect of your welfare determines how you’re able to operate psychologically, emotionally, and socially among others. Using substances may have a long-term negative effect on your mental health. The possible long-term effects include the following: •Having sudden mood changes • Having a negative outlook on life • Loss of motivation • Depression • Anxiety • Having episodes of drug-induced psychosis
If you use substances for a long time, it can cause serious issues for your mental well-being. Substances can make you more unwell and more likely to try and harm yourself or take your own life.
Sometimes it’s difficult to distinguish normal teenage moodiness from signs of drug use. Possible indications that your teenager or other family member is using drugs include:
• Problems at school or work - frequently missing school or work, a sudden disinterest in school activities or work, or a drop in grades or work performance
• Physical health issues - lack of energy and motivation, weight loss or gain, or red eyes
• Neglected appearance - lack of interest in clothing, grooming or looks
• Changes in behaviour - exaggerated efforts to bar family members from entering his or her room or being secretive about where he or she goes with friends, or drastic changes in behaviour and in relationships with family and friends
• Money issues - sudden requests for money without a reasonable explanation; or your discovery that money is missing or has been stolen or that items have disappeared from your home, indicating maybe they’re being sold to support drug use
Prevention of Substance Abuse
Although there is no 100% way to prevent someone from abusing substances, there are certain steps one could take to increase the chances of prevention.
The first thing one can do is to understand just how substance abuse comes about, namely;
• Consumption of addictive substances
(either illicit or prescribed) for recreational purposes
• Seeking out intoxication every time
you use
• Abusing prescribed medication
Secondly, one should avoid temptation and peer pressure. This means developing healthy friendships and relationships by avoiding people who constantly pressure you to use substances
Thirdly, one should make sure to seek help for mental illnesses. This is due to the link between poor mental health and substance use (as discussed above). If one is struggling with any mental
issues, be it depression or PTSD, one
should seek professional help.
Finally, a person should make sure to keep a well balanced life. People often seek substances when their personal life is either falling apart or feels like it is missing something. Practising stress management skills is a good step to achieving better life balance.