CEBU, Philippines - Children’s earliest interactions within the family are crucial to their healthy development and risk for drug abuse. When I was growing up my parents told me not to take drugs as because it was bad for me. But when I would ask them why it was bad for me, they could not explain why it was bad. So when I did try drugs for the first time and felt good (at 10 years old) I thought they lied and just did not want me to have a good time. Therefore I used, then abused and eventually got addicted to drugs. It is very important that parents know more about drug abuse and addiction so that they may inform the children the harms drug abuse and addiction can cause.
What environmental factors increase the risk of addiction?
Home and Family. The influence of the home environment is usually most important in childhood. Parents or older family members who abuse alcohol or drugs, or who engage in criminal behavior, can increase children’s risks of developing their own drug problems.
Peer and School. Friends and acquaintances have the greatest influence during adolescence. Drug-abusing peers can sway even those without risk factors to try drugs for the first time. Academic failure or poor social skills can put a child further at risk for drug abuse.
What other factors increase the risk of addiction?
Early Use. Although taking drugs at any age can lead to addiction, research shows that the earlier a person begins to use drugs the more likely they are to progress to more serious abuse.8 This may reflect the harmful effect that drugs can have on the developing brain; it also may result from a constellation of early biological and social vulnerability factors, including genetic susceptibility, mental illness, unstable family relationships, and exposure to physical or sexual abuse. Still, the fact remains that early use is a strong indicator of problems ahead, among them, substance abuse and addiction.
Method of Administration. Smoking a drug or injecting it into a vein increases its addictive potential. Both smoked and injected drugs enter the brain within seconds, producing a powerful rush of pleasure. However, this intense “high” can fade within a few minutes, taking the abuser down to lower, more normal levels. It is a starkly felt contrast, and scientists believe that this low feeling drives individuals to repeated drug abuse in an attempt to recapture the high pleasurable state.
The brain continues to develop into adulthood and undergoes dramatic changes during adolescence.
One of the brain areas still maturing during adolescence is the prefrontal cortex - the part of the brain that enables us to assess situations, make sound decisions, and keep our emotions and desires under control. The fact that this critical part of an adolescent’s brain is still a work-in-progress puts them at increased risk for poor decisions (such as trying drugs or continued abuse). Thus, introducing drugs while the brain is still developing may have profound and long-lasting consequences.
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