Drug Prevention - How Do I Stop?

Teen Challenge will teach you about drug, alcohol and smoking prevention, how to stop, and how to stay clean. If you are addicted to drugs you should try to stop with the help of a qualified support worker such as our qualified staff at Teen Challenge London. Below are some guidelines for drug prevention. We hope these principles will really help you to stay free, however sometimes you may need to break free from your environment to find freedom. This is where our rehab programme comes in.

There is a famous old statement from a wise person that says 'I hear the problem why people take alcohol these days is because this happened to me or that happened to me, or this is why, or that is why, but the real problem associated with alcohol is ALCOHOL. The people who don't do it don't get it.'

See also
Drug Prevention
Alcohol Prevention
Smoking Prevention

Find below some of the helpful prevention techniques.

Parents can take the following steps to help prevent drug dependency in their children:

• Communicate. Talk to your children about the risks of drug use and abuse.
• Listen. Be a good listener when your children talk about peer pressure, and be supportive of their efforts to resist it.
• Set a good example. Don't abuse alcohol or addictive drugs. Children of parents who abuse drugs are at greater risk of drug addiction.
• Strengthen the bond. Work on your relationship with your children. A strong, stable bond between you and your child will reduce your child's risk of using or abusing drugs.

Causes of drug addiction

The range of drugs to which you can become addicted is wide, and includes both legal and illegal drugs.

Drug dependence is characterised by impaired control over the drug, preoccupation with use, continued use despite negative consequence, and sometimes evidence of physical dependence on the drug. Various factors, such as your personality, your genetic makeup and peer pressure, affect your likelihood of becoming addicted to a drug. In addition, some drugs, such as heroin and cocaine, more quickly produce a physical addiction than other drugs do for many people.

Changing Brain Pathways

Physical addiction appears to occur when repeated use of a drug alters reward pathways in your brain. The addicting drug causes physical changes to some nerve cells (neurons) in your brain. These also create negative behavioural patterns.

The changes that occur in this communication process vary with the type of drug to which you're addicted, though researchers have discovered that addictive drugs, such as cocaine and morphine, affect some areas of the brain in the same manner. If further research confirms findings such as this, it would be possible to develop more effective medications to combat addiction to more than one drug.

TIP: Try and change the places you go like the gym instead of the pub, the cinema instead of the night club, and have a fun hobby like cycling, fishing, sailing etc.. try going to your local church to find out what's on in the area, and hang around positive people making new friends that will lift you up and not pull you down. If you feel that you have lost everything and that these things maybe too hard for you to do then why not contact the Teen Challenge rehab.

Risk factors

What makes one person abuse drugs to the point of losing their home, their family and their job, while others don't?

There is no simple reason. Drug abuse and addiction is due to many factors. A powerful force in addiction is the inability to self- soothe or get relief from untreated mental or physical pain. Without the self-resilience and support to handle stress, loneliness or depression, drugs can be a tempting way to deal with the situation. Unfortunately, due to the changes drugs make to the brain, it can only take a few times or even one time to be on the road to addiction. Some other risk factors include:

• Personality. If you have another psychological problem, such as depression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder, you're more likely to become dependent on drugs. Children who exhibit aggression, a lack of self-control and a difficult temperament may be at greater risk of drug addiction.
• Social environment. Particularly for young people, peer pressure is a strong factor in starting to use and abuse drugs. A lack of attachment with your parents may increase the risk of addiction, as can a lack of parental supervision.
• Anxiety, depression and loneliness. Using drugs can become a way of coping with these painful psychological feelings.
• Genetics. Drug addiction is more common in some families and likely involves the effects of many genes. If you have family members with alcohol or drug problems, you're at greater risk of developing a drug addiction.
• Type of drug. Some drug types, such as heroin and cocaine, more quickly result in physical addiction than do others.

Coping and Support

Along with counseling and attending self-help groups, talk with your doctor or counselor about other ways you can boost your chances of staying drug-free. Following are some suggestions:

• Give yourself time. For most people, it takes about three months before significant improvement occurs, so don't give up on your treatment program too soon.
• Promptly seek treatment for other mental health disorders. Because people with other mental health problems, such as depression, are more likely to become addicted to drugs, seek immediate treatment from a qualified mental health professional if you have any signs or symptoms of mental illness.
• Avoid high-risk situations. Don't go back to the neighborhood where you used to get your drugs. And, stay away from your old drug crowd.

When to seek medical advice

Addiction is a chronic relapsing disorder, meaning you tend to fall back into old addictive behaviors, including drug use, even after treatment. The sooner you seek help, the greater your chances are for a long-term recovery. If you're initially reluctant to approach a doctor, help lines or hot lines may be a good place to start to learn about treatment. You can find these lines listed in the phone book or on the Internet.

Because denial is often a characteristic of addiction, many people who are addicted to or who abuse drugs won't seek medical treatment on their own. Family members, friends or co-workers may need to persuade the user to undergo screening for drug addiction. Breaking a drug addiction may involve counseling, an outpatient treatment program or residential treatment.

How Teen Challenge London can help

If you think you — or a friend — may be addicted to drugs, talk to Teen Challenge today. Apply to our drug rehab so we can give you the help you need free of charge. It's especially important for someone who is going through withdrawal from drugs to speak with a professional counselor. Withdrawal can be dangerous when it's not monitored, all our services are free for any type of drug withdrawal.

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