Archives July 2023

Its starting point is found in the idea that human actions depend, to a large extent, on broader contexts. Human behaviour is the result of the progressive mutual accommodation between an active, developing human being and the changing properties of the instant environments in which he lives since this accommodation process is affected by the relationships established between those settings and by the big contexts in which the settings are included (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). From this perspective, health cannot be defined in the individual per se, but by reference to their total environment: physical, social, economic, cultural… In this sense, health is not an attribute of the individual himself but of his interaction with the field of forces and relationships in which their behaviour develops (Sánchez-Vidal, 1998). So,

This model considers a series of complex interrelationships and interdependencies between the organic, behavioural, and environmental systems. When talking about the environment, not only the physical and social factors are contemplated, but also the perceptions and cognitions that people have about it, that is, the sense and meaning that the environment acquires for the people who interact with it. Thus, physical, biological, psychological, social, ethnocultural, economic and political aspects will be considered. Therefore, if it is intended to understand the complex mechanism of drug use, it is necessary to include in this process the personal characteristics of the consumer and the multiple socio-environmental characteristics that surround them.

The socio-ecological explanation aims to overcome the shortcomings and limitations of the other models and, at the same time, collect and integrate their relevant contributions. The socio-ecological model resizes the problem of drug use as a global phenomenon and a social problem that includes the individual, the family, the community, society, the historical-cultural system, the political system, the economic system, the legal system and the product itself and its effects on an individual who develops his behaviour in an environmental framework defined by the previous contexts.

A risk factor must be found not only in the person but also in their surroundings. In addition, risk factors are not considered in isolation but interrelated as constellations of forces that jointly and interrelatedly influence an individual’s behaviour (Perez de Arrospide, 1998). Thus, risk factors may appear that maintain a causal relationship with another of the same species. To illustrate with an example, vulnerability to group pressure is a personality trait that increases the probability of initiating substance use, but this trait may be caused by the individual’s socializing experiences in their family; In this way, the final behaviour is a consequence not only of individual factors but also of social factors causally related to the individual.

We can refer to the etiological model of drug use proposed by Edwards, Arif and Hodgson (1982). This consumption is conceptualized as a behaviour resulting from a complex field of forces in which the characteristics of the person and their environment are integrated. Social and individual factors are differentiated, which, in turn, may operate as prior or immediate antecedents.…

Community Strategies

The planning below can help communities create physical and social environments that reduce binge drinking. The Community Preventive Services Task Force, a panel of independent, non-federal, non-paid prevention and public health experts, recommends these strategies. They are based on systematic reviews of their effectiveness in reducing binge drinking and related damages, including deaths caused by excessive drinking.

Increase Taxes On Alcohol.

Alcohol taxes increase the price of beer, wine, and spirits at the local, state, or federal level. Growing the price of alcohol by 10% would reduce overall alcohol drinking by an average of about 7% across all types of beverages. The more the price of alcohol rises, the more binge drinking and related harms could be reduced.

Regulate The Density Of Places Of Sale Of Alcohol.

Alcohol outlet density means the number and absorption of alcohol outlets (such as bars, restaurants, and wine and liquor stores). Reducing the density of alcohol outlets can help reduce binge drinking and related harm. Town, county or state governments can control the number of places that provide alcohol through licensing processes.

Liability Laws For Establishments Selling Alcoholic Beverages

Laws that hold alcoholic beverage establishments liable for damages or injuries caused by illegally selling or serving alcohol to intoxicated customers or customers under 21 help reduce the damages caused by excessive alcohol consumption, including deaths from vehicle accidents.

Protec Or Limit Days Or Time Of Sale.

States or communities may limit the days or hours that alcohol can be legally sold or served. States that have repealed a ban on the sale of alcohol on Sundays have seen an increase in alcohol-related injuries (such as motor vehicle fatalities) on days that alcohol sales were previously prohibited. Similarly, increasing alcohol sales hours by two hours or more has been associated with increased alcohol-related harms (such as injuries in motor vehicle crashes).

Improve enforcement of laws that prohibit the sale of alcohol to minors

The minimum age to drink alcohol is 22 years in the United States. Improving enforcement of the minimum drinking age law can reduce sales to those under 21 in establishments (such as bars, restaurants, and wine and spirits stores), thereby reducing youth access to alcohol.

Clinical Strategies

Alcohol Use Assessment And Brief Intervention In Medical Settings

Healthcare providers may screen adults, including pregnant women, for binge drinking to identify those whose levels of alcohol use place them at increased risk for alcohol-related harm. Healthcare providers can then recommend or offer intervention services to those at risk. Brief counselling interventions for adults who binge drink have been found to positively affect several patterns of binge drinking, including episodic binge drinking and high average weekly drinking.

Assessment Of Alcohol Consumption And Brief Intervention Through Electronic Devices

The Community Protection Services Task Force recommends using electronic devices such as computers, phones, or mobile devices to provide assessment and brief intervention for binge drinking. Instead of having a physician deliver an in-person assessment and brief intervention, electronic brief intervention and assessment uses electronic devices such as computers, phones, or mobile devices to provide personalized information and feedback about the risks and consequences of binge drinking and offer advice to reduce excessive alcohol consumption.…

During childhood and adolescence, parents play a fundamental role in developing social values ​​and adopting prosocial attitudes and healthy lifestyles. But this has little to do with addiction -classified as a disease by the Health Organization itself as early as 1952-for the development of which there is a genetic vulnerability that leads to neuronal dysfunction.

A separate case is the importance of the family environment to teach children the proper education, teaching and values ​​that perhaps keep them away from drugs. But the development of the addiction will not depend on any of these factors, as we have previously pointed out.

A five-year follow-up study revealed that addicts who overcame the disease had family support. Similarly, some authors associate dysfunctional family relationships with continued drug use. Thus, it seems that the absence of family intervention, the dysfunction of relationships and the lack of skills to solve problems with children are related to drug use -not to being addicted-.

Drug Use In Adolescence

There is enough information to support that adolescents are the most vulnerable to the consumption of legal and illegal substances and medical drugs; since their identity is formed during this stage, in addition to the variation of moods that sensitizes them to experiment and seek new sensations.

The family environment is the main setting for the initiation of consumption of alcoholic beverages (36.5% of cases), followed by friends from the neighbourhood (24.3%) and fellow students (23.8% of cases). As to the annual incidence rate of alcohol, more than 230,000 schoolchildren each year start consuming alcoholic beverages.

In conclusion, family intervention, such as the presence of conflictive relationships between the parents, the low-quality relationship between them and the adolescent, a deteriorated perception of the adolescent regarding them, the lack of positive reinforcement, the resistance of the young person to assimilate the values ​​transmitted and the absence of limits in their education are family variables associated with drug use.

Recovery Treatment

Addiction is a chronic mental illness for which there is recovery treatment. One does not stop being addicted, but the disease is treated to appease its symptoms and learn to live a full life away from drugs.

The most effective way to recover from addictions is to follow specialized treatment in this field. Overcoming addiction involves understanding the disease, acceptance, and changes in behaviour and attitudes that require a lot of involvement from the patient and the therapeutic team.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy To Treat Addiction

The responses given to surveys on consumption habits obviously cannot be generalized. Drug addiction is too complex for a socioeconomic variable to affect the entire population similarly concerning all substances and consumption patterns. Consistent with this reality, the investigations tend to limit their object of analysis to specific groups and substances.

Influence Of Income Level On Consumption

If we look at the level of income and drug use factor and take these precautions into account, most of the studies examined maintain that the level of individual and family income has a certain relationship with drug use. That is, the level of income affects:

On the probability of initiating consumption.

To maintain certain consumptions over time.

To become more or less easily involved in risky practices or to abandon consumption trajectories that have already started.

Indeed, most of the reviewed studies show evidence that allows considering income level as a factor that influences drug use in its different facets, albeit in conjunction with or modulated by other variables. In adulthood, various investigations show that people with higher incomes drink more frequently but in smaller amounts. What in principle can be interpreted as a protective guideline directly derived from a higher income level; or, more likely, of the elements that underlie a greater disposition of income.

The Genetic Key

Is drug addiction explainable through the simple association of drugs and the brain?

The only way to explain the maintenance of addictive behaviour is as follows:

• attending to the case of the particular subject.
• the historical, contextual, and cultural circumstances surrounding their drug use.

But one of the factors that, to a greater extent, justify a dependency is the genetic predisposition. That is the organism’s permeability to stimulation by a psychoactive substance. By coming into contact with it, it precipitates the development of the disease of addiction.…

At the Castelao centres, we develop different therapeutic approaches, including group addiction therapy for women only. This is because it is extremely important to take into account the gender approach when treating the disease of addiction since women have another way of processing the emotions linked to their dependency.

The Importance Of A Group Therapy With A Gender Approach

Group therapies play a key role in addiction treatment. They favour interaction, emotional support and motivation among people who have experienced similar situations. However, it is advisable to apply a gender approach to group therapy in addictions. Given that drug-dependent women have psychological and emotional characteristics different from those of men, it is necessary to provide them with a containment space and exclusive therapeutic support.

In this sense, like all group psychotherapy, this type of female psychological intervention pursues the same objectives as the rest of the therapeutic approach. Namely: achieve the total recovery of patients. Working, for this, to share her experience as a consumer of psychoactive substances; accept her condition as a sick person; find emotional balance, strengthen or recover their social skills; and achieve a better quality of life thanks to their personal growth and emotional regulation, among others.

However, not all recovery treatments contemplate the gender perspective in their therapeutic approaches. Just as the scientific literature dedicated to exploring this type of differentiation between both genders regarding their rehabilitation process is very recent.

On the other hand, in the centres of the Castelao Institute, we always consider the particular therapeutic needs of our patients, while their relationship with drug addiction entails specific dynamics.

Thus, there is no doubt that gender factors and how they manage their emotional world, which is much more complex than the masculine one, have a specific influence. After all, addiction is a fundamental disease of an emotional nature.

Why Women-Specific Addiction Group Therapy Is Necessary

The feminization of drug addiction is a recent social phenomenon, although it is constantly growing. Currently, one-third of people with addiction problems are women. Even so, the female presence continues to be much lower in the treatments, which prevents them from overcoming their illness.

This is because they do not always feel comfortable or sufficiently cared for in the daily dynamics in the centres. Since these have been designed based on men’s characteristics, this lack of specific care leads to the early abandonment of treatment, preventing full recovery.

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