Theory of addiction causation

Prevention Plan

Contents

TOC o “1-3” h z u Theory of addiction causation PAGEREF _Toc380752569 h 3Primary prevention model describing my prevention approach PAGEREF _Toc380752570 h 3Strategies for prevention, intervention and treatment PAGEREF _Toc380752571 h 4School, Family, and Community Prevention Strategies PAGEREF _Toc380752572 h 4School-based prevention strategies PAGEREF _Toc380752573 h 5

Today, research shows that many people are today suffering from mental disorders as a result of alcohol and drugs addiction. This has caused parents, the elementary schools, communities as well as, mental health professionals to express their concern in regards to drug addiction in order to develop a prevention plan that will help teens/high school student before they become addicts. Drug addiction in families contributes to an extensive list of serious mental illness; as a result developing an invention plan is a good idea because it will minimize the chances of occurrence. The primary goals of the prevention plan include;

To reduce the use, the types of substances used as well as limiting the number of users

To ensure that the use of drugs and alcohols in teens/students are delayed. Delaying the use of drugs and alcohol reduces harm during a child’s development as well as reducing the risks for developing addiction and abusive patterns of use.

To prevent the transition from the “use” to “abuse”.

Diminishing the harms which may result from the use of those drugs.

Alcohol and drug use among teens/students has become a serious problem. Studies shows that most teens/high school student who begin drinking at an early age of 14 are significantly more likely to experience alcohol dependence in their lives compared to those who begin drinking after 20 years of age. Conversely, students who drink alcohol are most likely to experience negative consequences such as memory problems, impaired school performances and many others. Therefore, delaying the age of first use of drugs and alcohol is a significant goal of prevention. However, protective factors such as strong family bonds as well as, proactive parenting can also help delay teens’ experimentation with alcohol and drugs and thus may help reduce long-term problems.

Responsibility for prevention should belong to many individuals and groups, not just school-based prevention programs. Example of prevention plans may include designing programs to reduce drug availability such as law enforcement and educating the teens about the effects of drugs and alcohol prior to using them; this can be done by parents, communities, and in elementary schools. Parents are role models to their children; therefore, defining the standards behavior and providing consequences for risky behaviors to the teens may demonstrate the benefits of prevention. The use of drugs does not necessarily affect the abuser and his/her life, but it also affects the lives of the family members. As a result, when prevention plan begins, parents and elementary schools should be involved (Givaudan & Pick, 2001).

The other prevention plans which can be used are health prevention program model. The program is important because it will help in targeting behavior of the teens/student schools before they actually occur. The program can be used to target the elementary schools where the instructors can educate the teens/student on the risks of using such drugs. Conversely, secondary prevention programs can be developed to particularly for the people who have demonstrated some problematic behaviors. The main goal in this case is to help stop the peoples’ behaviors before they go sky-high. Other prevention plan may include addressing the community needs through Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) because this will make the program to be successful. The goal of DARE is to teach effective peer resistance as well as, refusal skills so that the teens can say “no” to drug abuse and to the friends who may wish to influence them in using the drugs.

Theory of addiction causationMost people believe in the multi-casual theory as a cause of drug addiction to the users. The multi-casual theory states that an individual falls into addiction for a combination of reasons such as physical dependency and positive reinforcement. Physical dependency has become the most popular model of addiction causation. For example, the nature of an individual’ body chemistry changes substantially when exposed to drug and alcohol, as a result, these teens/students cannot go forward until the drug is input inside their body causing the body to revolts (Givaudan & Pick, 2001). Conversely, positive reinforcement also stresses on physical dependency, however it approach the dependency being a means of receiving pleasure as well as, avoiding pain. Positive reinforcement in regards to multi-casual theory is somehow related to the idea of physical dependency that once a drug has been introduced into a person’s system, the drug will hamper with the normal production of natural chemicals in the body. In summary, regular use of drugs in the system will retard the ability of the brain to produce its pleasurable chemicals. This theory is important because people are able to know the contributory factors to the substance abuse, for example, it can be as a result of behavior such as attitude and lack of knowledge or as a result of environmental factors.

Primary prevention model describing my prevention approachDespite the best efforts of the State, as well as, local governments, research shows that the abuse of drugs is still posing serious threats to health and economic stability of teens/students in many societies. The causes associated with the drug abuse are more complex and even continues to vary across different segments of the population within different communities. The role of the communities in prevention on drug and alcohol abuse in teens/students should be participatory and not just responding to the services already planned and designed by the external agencies. The community should actively participate in developing solutions and evaluating interventions (Givaudan & Pick, 2001).

Strategies for prevention, intervention and treatmentVarious strategies for prevention, invention and treatment have been put in place in regards to prevention plan. Prevention strategies such as universal, selective and indicated prevention intervention are some of the methods that elementary schools and communities can use to develop a prevention plan for teens/students abusing drugs and alcohol. In universal prevention strategies, the entire populations are addressed. The populations in this case include the national, local community, neighborhood and schools (Keegan & Moss, 2008). The aim of these strategies is to prevent or delay the abuse of alcohol and other drugs. Selective prevention strategies on the other hand are also important because it targets subsets of the total population deemed to be at risk of abusing drug by virtue of their membership in a population segment such as teens/students who are failing academically. These prevention interventions and treatment are intended to reduce the intensity of the problem so that the teens/students or any other individual at risk for substance abuse do not go on to require a clinical diagnosis of the disorder. Prevention strategies is important because it majorly focuses on the decreasing risk factors, or any other factors that are shown to increase the likelihood that a person will develop a mental or substance use disorder, or the likelihood that a person will develop a disorder even in the presence of risk (Givaudan & Pick, 2001).

School, Family, and Community Prevention StrategiesSelective, Universal and indicated approaches have been applied in prevention programs focusing on the school, family and community. Research has shown that these programs have been effectively implemented for general populations. However, parent training programs are effectively implemented with families and specific subgroups. The program is effective in that it has helped many family members to develop a prevention plan that help teens/high school student before they become addicts (Keegan & Moss, 2008).

School-based prevention strategiesSchool-based alcohol and drug abuse prevention strategies have served as the primary method for reaching the young people. The approaches mainly include prevention and skills training as well as tutoring and mentoring programmes.

Conversely, there are many factors which might prevent the plan from being successful. These factors include lack of authoritative and inflexible preventing and life skills, the family context and interpersonal problems. For example most families do not have enough time to interact with their children back at home, however, others may be able to do so but as a result of family conflict and weak relations with the parents, it may be difficult for them to educate their children at childhood age regarding the use of alcohol and drugs in teens. Conversely strengths such as integrating multiple areas of a person’s life and individuals to be research-based and theory driven can influence the plan to be successful.

References

Alexander, B. (2010). The Meaning of Addiction 3. Theories of Addiction. Overcome Addiction Life Process Program. Retrieved November 19, 2013, from http://lifeprocessprogram.com/the-meaning-of-addiction-3-theories-of-addiction/ www.mentorfoundation.org

Givaudan, M., & Pick, S. (2001). 1 A Preventive Program for Substance Abuse in Mexico: Best Practices . 1 www.mentorfoundation.org 1 A Preventive Program for Substance Abuse in Mexico: Best Practices . Retrieved November 21, 2013, from http://www.mentorfoundation.org/pdfs/prevention_perspectives/3.pdf

Keegan, K., & Moss, H. (2008). Chasing the high: a firsthand account of one young person’s experience with substance abuse. New York: Oxford University Press.