If suspect that you or someone you love uses too much alcohol or drugs, in this article you’ll find everything you need to know as we’ll to discuss the impact of substance abuse on a person.

What is Substance Abuse?

Substance abuse can be defined as the continual use of legal or illegal drugs for the sole purpose to change the way someone feels or acts.

Substance abuse affects the body and brain of an individual and over time and repeated use, an individual may become physically and mentally dependent on the drug, which is known as an addiction.

How Does Substance Abuse Affect the Body?

The National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) says that over time, continued substance abuse can change the way the nerve cells in the brain gives and receives information. It enhances a chemical known as dopamine, which is responsible for the pleasurable feelings that are felt in the body.

Each substance has its own unique characteristic that can be felt when used, for example crack cocaine causes an increase in the energy levels of an individual and while heroin has sedative-like qualities, making people feel calm and relaxed.

How does Substance Abuse Affect Behaviour?

People who abuse narcotic substances will behave in ways that is completely different to their usual behaviour.

For example, substance abusers may become chatty, happy, short-tempered, unsympathetic, obsessive, sad, lazy and aggressive when they are under the influence of the addictive substance or when they cannot get hold of the drug.

When abusers try to stop using drugs or alcohol, the cravings they experience may cause them to relapse. Because most substances are expensive to obtain, it may force individuals to spend lots of money on it. When the finances aren’t available, substance abusers may opt to lie and stealing from family members to get hold of cash.

Substance abusers will also find it difficult to be productive at work and this could lead to job loss and may even engage in dangerous behaviour such as drunk driving, which not only puts their lives at risk, but also the safety of pedestrians and fellow drivers.

How does Substance Abuse Affect Health?

Substance abuse can make people more susceptible to becoming diabetics, suffering from high blood pressure as well as picking up diseases such as cancer and liver disease.

Depression, heart and cardiovascular disease may also be experienced through long term and excessive use of alcohol or drugs.

Mothers, who abuse narcotic substances while they are pregnant, may face the risk of their newborn babies suffering fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), which causes growth, mental and physical complications.

If you or a loved one abuses alcohol or drugs, then it’s important to get professional help.

We offer access into the best private substance abuse rehabilitation centres all over South Africa, the United Kingdom and Thailand. Call us now and let one of our qualified addiction counsellors find the best treatment available.

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It has been proven that substance abuse in the workplace negatively affects the efficiency of businesses as well as the general safety of employees.

The National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information (NCADI) found that businesses spend double the amount of money on medical and employee compensation claims on workers who abuse drugs or alcohol.

Companies that have drug-free programs in place usually have fewer workers that abuse drugs or alcohol in the workplace and below we’ll tell you why they are so effective.

Drug-Free Programs Helps to Ensure Safety in the Workplace

An important part of drug-free programs in the workplace is the instilling of a solid and workable substance abuse policy. If you are unsure of what this is, speak to your boss or your company’s human resources team to find out if there is one in place and if so, let them inform you about it. If a business doesn’t have one, it’s advisable to set one in place.

The key ingredients of a good substance abuse policy are that it’s clear and understandable of what is allowed in the workplace and what is not. It should also state what punishments will be taken should an employee breach this code of conduct.

These policies should also include employee rights and make sure that the safety of workers is guaranteed and bettered. For example, for businesses that use complex machinery and tools, conducting random drug tests may be suitable as long as the privacy of their workers is respected.

Business Leaders Should Be Educated About Substance Abuse

Leaders in the workplace (managers, supervisors, team-leaders etc) must fully understand their company’s substance abuse policy and how to enforce it should a worker breach it.

Apart from that, these people should also be educated about the signs and symptoms of substance abuse, which will help in spotting an employee abusing drugs and alcohol as well as learning how to deal and approach the situation.

By knowing these things, managers and supervisors may also be able to guide the abuser in the right direction with regards to help and treatment.

Workers Must Know the Substance Abuse Policy

Having a substance abuse policy in place is one thing, but it’s pointless if workers don’t understand it or know that one is in place.

Employees shouldn’t shy away from asking their business leaders about the policy if they are not clear about something.

Workers should also be educated about the basics of substance abuse, addiction and what can be done to help and treat it.

Big companies often have structures put in place where workers can express personal issues that could affect their performance and health, however smaller businesses should also be able to provide information about available treatment programs.

Substance Abusers can return into the Workplace

If you were a substance abuser who got treatment for your problem, don’t be afraid to speak to your boss about the possibility of returning to work.

Employers should also look into re-hiring their workers who have completed a stint in a rehabilitation centre.

It has been proven that workers who abused alcohol or drugs can go back to work, as there is access to outpatient treatment, which allows patients to do the regular daily duties while attending counselling and therapy at night.

Another thing that can be added into businesses substance abuse policies is that should recovering abusers relapse and go back to their old habits, they may be immediately dismissed.

Help

If you abuse alcohol or drugs and need help for your problem, the best way to treat it is to get professional help.

We provide access to the best private substance abuse clinics all over South Africa, the United Kingdom and Thailand. Call us now and let one of our qualified addiction counsellors assist in finding the best guidance and treatment available.

Get help with substance abuse - http://wedorecover.com/addiction-help/diagnosing-another-person.html

All of these side-effects have the ability to affect an individual’s mood, which may estrange them from the people they work or live with, despite it being the time when they need them the most.

Below we’ll explain to you how substance abuse can affect your mood.

When an individual uses drugs or alcohol with friends or family, they may begin to feel more social or ‘part of the group’, making the effects of the substance more pleasurable.

However, once substance abuse begins to turn into a full-blown addiction, the individual may begin to start drinking alone and may find that their drinking sessions will be more damaging to their mood than experiencing any pleasure at all.

Substance abuse may cause the person to become more temperamental when they are under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

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While the user may become depressed or aggressive when under the influence of drugs or alcohol, when these narcotics aren’t in the bloodstream, there are other moods, such as hyperactivity, that may be experienced.

It’s very common for substance abusers who choose to get substance abuse treatment in a drug or alcohol rehabilitation centre to experience variable mood swings. However, it is the job of the staff in rehab to effectively treat and manage these mood swings.

Negative mood swings will happen more regularly the longer a substance abuser stays without drugs or alcohol. However, these feelings will usually begin to subside after approximately 2-4 weeks of sobriety.

When someone is in a bad mood, they will become more antisocial, which is one of the biggest warnings that a substance abuse problem could be present and its usually the people closest to the drug or alcohol user that will first begin to notice these changes.

Substance abusers will even begin to neglect hobbies and interests that were once important to them in order to continue and create more time for their bad habits.

Drugs and alcohol are mood changing substances that will always change how an individual thinks, feels and acts. If you noticed any of the signs mentioned above on you or a loved one, then it’s important to get help before things get worse.

We provide access into the best substance abuse centres in South Africa, the United Kingdom and Thailand. Call us now and let one of our qualified addiction counsellors assist in finding the right treatment available for you or your loved one.

When it comes to teenagers, substance abuse commonly arises from something called peer pressure.

Peer pressure can be defined as the influence that a group of people has on a member of the same group. For example, teenagers will try to fit in to be accepted by their friends at all costs, even if it goes against their wellbeing.

Peer pressure and substance abuse are very closely linked and in this article, we’ll tell why they are and how it can be dealt with.

According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), it was found that the odds of children becoming addicted to drugs or alcohol increases when they reach their teenage years.

It was also discovered that there is a high possibility that young people will begin to experiment with narcotic substances during this period, where they are becoming accustomed to independence.

Here’s a typical scenario: A teenager goes to a party with some friends. The group begins to use drugs or alcohol. Feeling uncomfortable but not wanting to look ‘uncool’, he or she uses it against their own will, just to fit in.

What would have been the right thing to do? The answer is actually very simple. People who don’t consider you to be part of the group because you don’t abuse narcotic substances with them aren’t your friends.

Making decisions without your parents for the first time can be overwhelming, but making the right ones is important. The power of the word “no” should never be underestimated.

A trap that all teenagers need to be aware of is the fact that once they begin to use abuse drugs, it becomes harder to refuse and the effects of the substance will lead to making more bad decisions.

The importance of family also plays a key role in helping young people avoid substance abuse, as studies have proven that adolescents without a fatherly figure inside their homes are more susceptible to peer pressure, while those with strong bonds with their mothers are less likely to give in to it.

The best thing that parents can do to help their young adults is to openly speak to them instead of laying down the law. A strong bond between parents and their teenagers can play a big part in helping them make the right decisions when they are faced with peer pressure.

If your young adult abuses alcohol or drugs, then its best to find proper treatment and care.

We offer access to the best private substance abuse rehabilitation centres all over South Africa, the United Kingdom and Thailand. For more information, feel free to call us and one of our qualified addiction counsellors assist in finding the best treatment available.

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Thing is with heroin, cocaine and other drugs like meth is that it does not take years of practice to get addicted. It's from the first hit. It from the moment you try it and feel the drug corsing through your veigns. Perhaps the phisical dependance takes a few tries after but not long.

Once caught into the slavery it then is any excuse to keep doing them. Escape, Im in a spiral, e.t.c. anything to maintain the flow.

Alot of addicts stop trying to get help as they feel that they can "maintain" the addiction and that they have not yet hit rock bottom. Thing is, that the drugs blind them form actually seeing that they are at rock bottom already. They might be like this guy, knowingly doing harm, knowingly off the wagon but unable to break free from the phisical and psycoligical addiction.

But it is possible to get clean and off the drugs.

In ICD-10 diagnosis of dependence syndrome should only be set if at least three of the following criteria are met:

• Strong desire or sense of compulsion , to take the substance.
• Problems in controlling the intake of the substance, in relation to start, stop, and the amount consumed.
• Physiological withdrawal state that occur if the use of the substance has ceased or reduced, or shows with characteristic abstinensyndrom for that substance, or through use of the same or related substance to relieve or avoid withdrawal symptoms.
• Tolerance Development , so that larger doses are needed to provide the same effect as before.
• Growing indifference in relation to other pleasures and interests.
• Increasing time spent obtaining the substance, to use it, or to get in shape after use.
• Behavior and their use is continued even if the applicable obvious signs of adverse consequences.

Habit, control problem, abuse or addiction?

Habits

It is said often that we humans are creatures of habit. Throughout the day we will all have chains of behavior, which we repeat. Some habits are we happy, we get up at the same time, eat breakfast, or not eating, brushing teeth and so on. Other habits are we less happy, we like to call those bad habits. Habits can be small and not for the annoyance to either ourselves or others, other bad habits could be hazardous, may contribute to unpleasantness in the short or the long term, someone will be hurt ourselves or our loved ones. When we discover that our habits have negative consequences, most of us think about whether we should do something with them. In any case we change our habits, ending with them or adapt them so they will not be so problematic. A THERE times it can be difficult to change habits. This will often be the case if our habits also have something good or something exciting to offer. It can be difficult to decide to change your habits, it can be difficult to implement a decide, some people find it difficult to have sufficient faith that one will be able to make a change.

Control Problems

Someone decides once again to pull himself together and really do something drastic with their bad habits and experience as often to fall back into old patterns. Often this is about control issues. One can not control himself in certain situations, or when the temptations are too many or too large. Many experience this as if you sort of made up of two sides that will different things. A page that will have control and will do what we really know is "right" or "best", and then another page that will give some "f ..." and that will throw themselves into pleasure or power or whatever is trying to control. Some try to negotiate with themselves seeking compromises between what we know is right for the long term and what you want at the moment;

"I leave tomorrow ..."
"I deserve some encouragement now ..."
"I can just"

Such thoughts give a sort of permission to continue the habit.

Control problems may also turn out that way that one can not limit yourself when you're at it. Such control problems are not uncommon in our interactions with alcohol. Some people experience such problems in front of a slot machine. A decides to drink, or play for a few cents and then experienced it after a relatively short time that control is weakened, or completely gone and it feels like it's completely different forces that take over management than those who initially took the decision to play or drink.

When the control problem becomes a pattern that repeats itself frequently arises the danger that habit gets more and more extensive negative consequences. It initially was used for pleasure and enjoyment from developing into an abuse.

Abuse

When a behavior pattern, a habit out of control and goes beyond the psychological, medical or social circumstances, this is called an abuse.

Examples of misuse of drugs can be;
A student who smokes a lot hash through the weekend and as a consequence are unable to concentrate enough on lectures early in the week. His performances are weaker than they would have been if he did not smoke dagga.
A man who every Wednesday and Thursday drinking so much that he drives drunk with both Thursday and Friday morning.
A woman who frequently drink alcohol even if your doctor has warned her against this because of a medical condition (eg, ulcers).
Probably no one would think about some of these people that they had a substance abuse problem.

Dependence
Control Problems in isolated and rare events, is not necessarily a sign of trouble. With control if such problems recur frequently, something that happens so often that it is a real risk control problems each time, for example, drinking alcohol, this is a sign of addiction or that addiction is under development. When you also have persistent requests, or frequent attempts to quit or cut down on the use, without success, this is also a sign of a negative development. When a habit of taking an unusual amount of time, this is also a character. Someone who developed alcohol dependence will take time to obtain alcohol, to drink and to recover from the hangover. To go along significant portions of time, or days it has to do with alcohol. At the addiction that the abuse problem behavior goes beyond psychological, social or medical functions. In many cases, the person with addiction problems join with other activities, or functions as a result of these problems. Most people with addiction problems know that this goes beyond the important areas of life, but despite this certainty will continue to do this creates problems.

In some forms of addiction, the person will experience tolerance. That is, he or she need larger quantities or higher intensity to get the same benefits of the behavior as before. Some will experience withdrawal symptoms when they quit and will return to the problematic behavior to relieve withdrawal symptoms.

Of course, this pattern vary between individuals and between different types of habit, abuse, addiction. For one person it will also vary the number of such signs of addiction that of herself in various stages of life.

"The Gauteng organised crimes unit discovered a drug manufacturing laboratory estimated to be worth R30m in Pongola River Drive," said Captain Katlego Mogale. Police were monitoring the residence and busted the premises at 04:00 on Thursday morning. Drug manufacturing chemicals such as ephedrine, iodine and hydrochloric acid estimated to be worth R26m were found.

"Tik worth an estimated R14m was also found."

No arrests were made and police were investigating.

"ONLY YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE"

One in three SA teens is an addict'
Number of young users 'exploding',

As many as one in three teenagers in South Africa is addicted to drugs and alcohol, according to the SA National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (Sanca).

Shamim Garda, national executive director of Sanca, said this alarming figure was gleaned from the number of 13- to 18-year-olds presenting themselves for treatment at Sanca's 34 clinics countrywide.

And experts believe that the age of first experimentation has dropped from the early teens to between nine and 10 years old.

"What's so disturbing is the fact that these children are getting addicted to drugs and alcohol at younger ages,"
"The problem starts with nine- to 15-year-olds who experiment with cigarettes, alcohol, dagga and mandrax. They start to use more than one drug and get addicted to drugs such as heroin, Cat and crack cocaine."
Schoolchildren, are the drug peddlers' market. "Teenagers that are hooked become adults that are hooked. They stay addicts for a long time or die of it. It's just a spiral downwards - and ruins their lives."
Drug use is "exploding" in township communities, . "We are seeing more drugging among children and teenagers from poor communities. Drugs are coming from township children going to urban schools and children in urban areas going into townships.
On the weekends they have parties and take drugs - we're seeing a seepage of heroin and cocaine into the townships, especially in Gauteng."
"It's quite common for an 18- or 19-year-old to have a drug problem, but lately in the townships we are seeing children as young as 11 not only using, but addicted,"
"Children use drugs like mandrax to show they're cool and quickly become physically dependent. It has a sedative effect; children feel at ease about the reality of their lives."
Families are losing parents to HIV/Aids and grandparents on pension are forced to support entire families. "This creates a vicious cycle of child-headed households, drug abuse, violence and crime. In desperation, girls often turn to prostitution and boys turn to crime to support their families and drug habits.
"The children call it compromise. If they receive transport money and food for the day, they will walk to school and go hungry, pool their money and share one tablet,"
Captain Jan Combrinck, a co-ordinator for the SA Police Service's Gauteng drug enforcement programme, said up to 25% of schoolchildren were drug addicts in Gauteng.
Since 1994, he has been traversing the province, educating 500 000 school children, tertiary students and communities about the dangers of drug abuse. And what are we doing about it
Drugs were becoming cheaper and more accessible: "Years ago you would pay R300 for a gram of cocaine. Now the dealers are packing it into smaller quantities - you can buy a R20 bag or R50 bag of what you want."
Drugs did not discriminate and struck young people from all walks of life.
"The biggest problems among schoolchildren are dagga, mandrax, crack cocaine, Ecstasy, tik, Cat, magic mushrooms, heroin and LSD.

A Report from Captain Jan Combrinck

"These drugs are all over - our suburbs and townships are full of them. Sometimes you'll find dealers focus on certain areas but the buying power is spread out now and everyone is affected ...

What makes it very hard to police is the fact that these children are supplied by other children, often at schools."
At one primary school I visited, I found 15 children on dagga and alcohol - two were sniffing heroin. I recently received a referral from a court in Pretoria that a nine-year-old had a problem with Cat.
"These children are so young but are already so streetwise - they know what the drug does and where to get it.

What angers me is that a drug merchant has the guts to sell to a nine-year-old child."
Combrinck said there were not enough good role models for teenagers and that contributed to rising drug abuse.
"Parents are just either out there to make money or keeping the pots cooking. They aren't there for their children.

"The drugs make these children feel better for the short term and that's the danger ... As adults, we take drugs for three years and drop dead but these are still young bodies - they think they'll live forever, that they can easily leave the drugs behind."

Society is "losing its values and beliefs", "There is a general breakdown in family relationships. We also need to have far more discipline in the home." Children should be taught, or to be aware of dangers of drugs so that they can make an informed choices,

Teenagers' new drug of choice Lately

SA witnesses massive upsurge in use of nyaope - a potent mix of cheap heroin and dagga CALLED Nyaope, Kataza, Ungu or Pinch - it's a potent cocktail of dagga and cheap heroin and the latest drug of choice for thousands of South African teenagers.

The mix is referred to by different names throughout the country. There has been a massive surge in its use in Mpumalanga and northern Gauteng in recent months.
the surge in nyaope use has led to more addicts becoming addicted to heroin.

As a result, Sanca is predicting major growth in intravenous heroin use within the next two years. This would lead to an increase in HIV-Aids because users tend to share and re-use needles, exposing themselves to the virus.

Nyaope - which originated in 2006 in the Pretoria townships of Soshanguve, Atteridgeville and Mamelodi - is also sometimes mixed with rat poison to enhance its effect.

It has recently spread to the rest of South Africa and is popular because it is so cheap. In Johannesburg and Soweto, the mix is known as kataza.
Elosine Auckamp, of Sanca's Thusong treatment centre, in Eersterus, Pretoria, said more than 10 teenagers from the area seek treatment at the centre for nyaope addiction every month.

She added: "And those are just the ones we know about; hundreds more never seek treatment. Sometimes we get up to 14 new cases a month. The users are typically between 14 and 27."
It's the low-grade heroin in the drug that forces addicts to use increasingly stronger mixtures of it until they are entirely heroin dependent.

Dagga, experts say, is a gateway to harder drugs because it is more well-known, easily available and perceived by users to be less harmful.
Andreas Plüddemann, a researcher at the Medical Research Council, said his organisation's most recent drug monitoring report, for January to June last year, showed a staggering increase in nyaope use in Mpumalanga and Limpopo, where it is referred to as pinch.

He said that 22percent of all patients treated for drug addiction in those provinces are heroin abusers, and it is believed that many started by smoking the Pinch mixture.
Most of South Africa's heroin comes from Mozambique and enters the country through Mpumalanga.

In Western Cape, where the drug tik is widely abused, numbers of heroin addicts have increased and they now constitute 15percent of patients in rehabilitation centres.
Plüddemann said the mix, known as "ungu" in Western Cape, was increasingly being used by tik addicts as well.
In Gauteng, about 10percent of addicts in treatment list heroin as their primary drug.

“SA drug use double that of world norm”

Filed Under (crime) by Jan Hennop on 16-07-2009 and tagged crime, drugs, South Africa
Drug consumption in South Africa is currently twice the world norm and the use of cocaine and dagga has increased by 20 percent in two years, the Central Drugs Authority (CDA) has said.

“The drug problem in South Africa remains very serious with drug usage being twice the world norm in most cases…and we are only dealing with what we know about…this is only the tip of the iceberg,” said Dr David Bayever of the CDA, a government drug control organisation.

In 2006 2.52 million people used dagga and this increased to 3.2 million in 2008, said Bayever speaking at the release in Pretoria of the United Nations 2009 World Drug Report.

The use of cocaine increased from 0.24 million in 2006 to 0.29 million in 2008, the Sapa news agency reported.
However the use of opiates such as heroin decreased by 20 percent during the same time period.
Accordingly in 1996 one percent of South Africans were in treatment for heroin abuse while in 2008 those in treatment for
this addiction increased between eight and 24 percent.
The number of South Africans in treatment for cocaine addiction increased from 1.5 percent in 1996 to 17.5 percent in 2008.

Bayever said that 15 percent of South Africa’s population had a drug problem and that the country needed to change its approach to dealing with the issue as social structure continued to change.

There were more single mothers raising children in the country at present than before and child-headed households had doubled between 2002 and 2007.

An increase in child-headed households from 701,000 in 2007 to 5.7 million was expected by 2015.

This would have negative effects on these children in terms of their behaviour and achievement, possibly leading to drug use.

The Fifa Soccer World Cup was also likely to bring an increase in demand as well as drug trafficking while the current recession in South Africa may not necessarily affect drug users.

Worrying statistics folks. How do you think our city is affected by drugs and how will it become increasingly more affected? Visit our group Letsemeng and give us your opinion.

• Certain organs can be damaged and overloaded.

• The way of life of the addict, which is enforced by the drugs will change considerably.

• Drugs are used at the expense of healthy eating or a healthy social life (family, friends or acquaintances).

This drug addict experiences physical and mental decline. The fact that drugs are illegal also plays a big role. In the long term, risks occur where doctors and researchers have no idea what effect it has on the physical and mental state of drug addicts.

The side effects of drugs can lead to increased blood pressure, a dry throat and mouth, the stiffening of the jaw muscles, teeth grinding, heart palpitations (which may startle or cause fear), nausea, anxiety, poisoning, muscle cramps, depressed or anxious. In people with heart disease, diabetes and epilepsy it can become a big problem.

Very Important:

• Cocaine addiction leads to serious physical and mental addiction.
• Producing, trading and use of cocaine is strictly prohibited anywhere in the world.

Possible symptoms of cocaine addiction:

• Misplaced sense of superiority and omnipotence
• Hyper-alertness
• Hyperactivity
• Hyper-sexual behaviour
• Apparently feeling happiness (euphoria )
• Nervousness
• Anxiety
• Paranoia (paranoid delusions )
• Hallucinations
• Widely dilated pupils
• Accelerated heartbeat
• Hypertension
• High fever
• Severe, often fatal, heart attack
• Constipation
• Intestinal damage
• Nervousness, violent
• Subcutaneous nerve disorders ( feeling of bugs under the skin)
• Seizures (convulsions )
• Very violent behavior and other psychoses
• Insomnia
• Miscarriage
• Damage to the fetus
• Infants with nutrition, muscle coordination, sleep and behavior disorders

Important to know:

• The effect of a dose of cocaine lasts only 30 minutes.
• To curb the intense nervousness during the use of cocaine, users often combine it with alcohol or a sedative.

Cocaine withdrawal symptoms:

• Severe fatigue
• Depression
• Suicidal tendencies

Risks of Cocaine Addiction:

• Risk of infection through contaminated needles: ao-vein inflammation (phlebitis), hepatitis, HIV infection (AIDS) and blood poisoning (sepsis )
• Malnutrition due to poor diet
• Miscarriage, foetal damage and sick babies, stop menstruating
• Death by overdose
• Suicide
• Imprisonment