Teenage Drug Addiction - Term Paper Example

Teenage Drug Addiction The paper discusses the harm that drugs can cause and the effects drug addiction can have on the mental and physical health of an individual. The question of the extent to which peers influence factors into drug addiction will also be discussed; students aged 18-22 are the main target of their paper and its various discussions. The paper will look at how substance abuse can progress and what kind of intervention methods can be used to help an individual fight against his/her addiction. The paper will also look at the importance of group guidance and the advantages it has over personal counseling or guidance. Drug abuse is a major problem in the youth today. Due to a number of social factors many fall prey to this horrendous habit and destroy their lives. This paper will look at counseling and intervention that can be used to remedy the problems. Certain people may experience embarrassment in attending therapy as they may feel that they have failed in life or that there is something terribly wrong with them for which they need to see a therapist (Schechter, 2008). However, this is not necessarily the case, there are several people who go for professional counseling and they discover that just through this they succeed in making their lives better. Group procedures and group therapy come a long way in helping people deal with their issues and problems. The problems relating to teenage drug abuse can also be solved through group procedures. Group procedures involve working with a number of subjects simultaneously to help them work through their problems psychologically. The process involves different individuals sharing their experiences so that they can feel like their problems are not as significant as they appear and quite possibly be able to recover in a much easier fashion. The idea is to help the subjects in the group respond to their environment and situations in a positive way (Hunter, 2001). A group is meant to explore the problems at hand while exploring individual issues as well. It works because when several people listen to one person he may feel accepted and less of a failure in life. The group’s role is to help by offering support through understanding them and then using the appropriate strategies to help the subject. By sharing experiences the teenagers may learn to deal with their issues in new ways that others in the group may have successfully implemented in their own. “peer identification among “hard to reach” adolescents is one of the most powerful sources of motivation they experience and can be utilized in group counseling setting to help such adolescents examine and change their attitudes, goals and self-defeating behaviors.” (Berg et al., 1998) it has been seen on occasion that youth which is hard to handle otherwise finds a comfort zone where they can let go of their negativity and focus on some kind of positive perspective. A kind of constructive behavior emerges from these sessions which benefit the participants a great deal. “Constructive behavior has been noted in a wide variety of special high risk groups focusing on topics such as school truancy, classroom management problems, repeated discipline violations, drug abuse and runaways. In a caring and supportive environment such as that which develops in a group, adolescents can move towards accepting great self-responsibility and in turn encourage other members to do the same.” (Berg et al., 1998). Group guidance and Group counseling Although at first glance the two appear similar, they do have slight differences. Group guidance is an effective way of communicating to the teenagers and helping them with their issues. It is normally an exercise where the teenagers would be given a set of instructions and information on how to deal with their problems and issues. They would not have much of an active participation in terms of what they think, feel or want but would be simply told what to do. These sessions have to be conducted by a counselor who must have some kind of background or training in counseling people in similar situations. The issue of drug abuse however, will most likely not be discussed in such a session as these sessions are centered more on the development of an individual in terms of their peer groups, career, education etc. the idea is to help a teenager develop into a better functioning human being and not sort through their personal issues. Communication skills, leadership values, developing aims and goals, etc. are the kind of things that these sessions normally talk about. Group counseling on the other hand involves a subject sharing his problems with his counselor and the group that he is in. Any kind of discomfort or worry can be easily shared that provides effect probable solutions according to his circumstances. These sessions are not about telling the subjects how to live their lives but suggesting solutions and sharing support in a way where the subject himself is able to find a solution to his problems. All counsel sessions are fully confidential, and the utmost care is taken for a subject’s privacy. The idea is to provide them with a setting where they do not feel any kind of hesitation or anxiety so as to get the most accurate information about their problems, which would enable them to express their feelings, ideas, emotions and even able to share the root of their problem(s) (Etherington, 2002). Unfortunately, there is no single factor that could predict whether or not a person will become addicted to drugs. The risk for addiction, however, could be influenced by a number of factors including the person’s biology, gender ethnicity, influences from family and friends, socio-economic status, quality of life, peer pressure, physical and sexual abuse, stress, presence of other mental disorders and parental involvement (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2009). Adolescents are especially prone to risk-taking behaviors which include trying “types of drug abuse” as compared to other age groups, because their nervous system is still developing in areas that govern decision-making, judgment, and self-control. Activities The good news is, however, that treatments are available to help people to counteract addiction’s powerful disruptive effects and regain control. Treatment approaches that are tailored to each patient’s drug abuse patterns and any co-occurring medical, psychiatric, and social problems can lead to sustained recovery and a life without drug abuse (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2009). To recover from alcohol and drug addiction, there is no single best approach and neither there is single part of the process which works exactly the same for each person. However, group sessions have been observed as one of the best possible therapies for those in addiction recovery (Urell, 2010). “Group therapy sessions can be extremely helpful to many struggling with addiction,” writes Bill Urell, a US-based addictions therapist. He adds that, “the types of groups that have proved most useful in addressing and overcoming drug abuse include support groups which hold self-help and support meetings, typically free of cost. The group sessions are usually educational in nature and moderated by professionals.” Therapy groups are mainly classified into two types, namely self-help groups and inter-personal process group. Based on these classifications, some of the therapy group models used for reaching out to drug addicts are as follows: 1. Support groups These groups are guided or moderated by a therapist or other professional and offer great benefits to those battling drug or alcohol addiction. Focused on giving individual care and attention, the group size is usually small. The therapist or other health professional moderating the group session will likely be very helpful in examining the dynamics of the group and helping the individuals in it to understand their own behaviors. The information divulged in the group session remains confidential. Like any group sessions, the benefits are most readily apparent after the individual regularly participates for some length of time, from months to as long as a few years. 2. Psycho-educational groups Unlike other socially positive group therapy, psycho-educational groups offer instructions on coping strategies to overcome addiction. There is very little socialization and interaction involved between the instructor and the recipient as these groups are usually instructional. 3. Skills development groups These groups cultivate the necessary skills to needed to attain and sustain abstinence, such as those needed to manage anger or cope with urges to use substances or drugs. 4. Cognitive-behaviorial groups Member of this group undergo therapy in which alters their thoughts and actions that lead to substance abuse. 5. Interpersonal process groups These delve into major developmental issues that contribute to addiction or interfere with recovery. Other therapy groups There are other specialized types of groups that do not fit neatly into the five-model classification mentioned above but are nonetheless common in substance abuse treatment. They are designed specifically to prevent relapse, to bring a specific culture’s healing practices to bear on substance abuse, or to use some form of art to express thoughts that otherwise would be difficult to communicate. Groups are also formed on the basis to help clients who share a specific problem, such as anger or shyness that contributes to their substance abuse. 1.1 Table on Differences between 12-Step Self-Help Groups & Interpersonal Process Groups Self-Help Group Interpersonal Process Group Size Unlimited (often large) Small (8–15 members) Leadership • Peer leader or individual in recovery • Leadership is earned over time • Implicit hierarchical leadership Structure Trained professional Appointed leader Formal hierarchical leadership structure Participation Voluntary Voluntary and Involuntary Group Government Self-governing Leader governed Content • Environmental factors, no examination of group interaction • Emphasis on similarities among members • Here-and-now focus • Examination of intra-group behavior and extra-group factors • Emphasis on differences and similarities among members • Here-and-now focus plus historical focus Screening Interview None Always Group Processes Universality, empathy, affective sharing, self-disclosure (public statement of problem), mutual affirmation, morale building, catharsis, immediate positive feedback, high degree of persuasiveness Cohesion, mutual identification, education, catharsis, use of group pressure to encourage abstinence and retention of group membership, outside socialization (depending on the group contract or agreement) Group Goals • Positive goal setting, behaviorally oriented • Focus on the group as a whole and the similarities among members • Ambitious goals: immediate problem plus individual personality issues • Individual as well as group focus Leader Activity • Educator/role model, catalyst for learning • Less member-to-leader distance • Responsible for directing therapeutic group experience • More member-to-leader distance Use of Psychodynamic Techniques No Yes Confidentiality Anonymity preserved Anonymity strongly emphasized and includes everything that occurs in the group, not just the identity of group members Source: Adapted from Spitz, 2001 References Schechter, A. (2008) Drug Dependence and Alcoholism: Social and behavioral issues: Plenum Press, 1981Original from the University of Michigan Berg, R.C., Landreth, G.L. & Fall, K.A. (1998) Group counseling: concepts and procedures: Taylor & Francis, 1998 Hunter, W.S. (2001) Psychological abstracts, Volume 88: American Psychological Association Etherington, K. (2002) Rehabilitation counseling in physical and mental health: Jessica Kingsley Publishers Mercksource (2007). Dorland Medical Dictionary on Drug Abuse and Substance Abuse. Retrieved from: http://www.mercksource.com/pp/us/cns/cns_hl_dorlands_split.jsp?pg=/ppdocs/us/common/dorlands/dorland/one/000000464.htm Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV TR) (1994), Substance-Related Disorders. Retrieved from: http://www.psychiatryonline.com/content.aspx?aID=619 Urell, Bill (2010), Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery – Using Group Therapy. Retrieved from: http://ezinearticles.com/?Alcohol-and-Drug-Addiction-Recovery---Using-Group-Therapy&id=2086937 US Department of Health & Human Services (2005), Substance Abuse Treatment: Group Therapy. Retrieved from: http://download.ncadi.samhsa.gov/prevline/pdfs/bkd507 Spitz (2001), Table on Differences between 12-step Self Help Groups and Inter Personal Processes Groups. Retrieved from: http://download.ncadi.samhsa.gov/prevline/pdfs/bkd507.pdf Read More