Drug Abuse in Mental Health Patients

Drug abuse among patients with mental problems is a serious issue that has gained some popularity in America today because it affects people from all lifestyles and age groups. The associated health problems are common, serious, and recurrent although the prospects of recovery on both issues cannot be ruled out. Therefore, knowledge on common drug abuse and mental health problems is important. It helps the society and other stakeholders in recognizing their signs and guiding victims to seek medical help. Studies of drug abuse in mental health patients confirm their high comorbidity hence the classification as ‘co-occurring’ or ‘dual’ disorders.
Mental disorders normally involve the change in and people’s thinking, behavior, and mood that later affects how they make certain choices and their relationship to other people in society. They occur in different forms such as schizophrenia, which makes an individual have extremely bad temperament (Newman, 2016). Moreover, some people can be deep-rooted in deep anxiety levels, their reduced ability to focus or even behave appropriately. Drug abuse is a common problem today. It is related to the consumptions of non-prescribed substances recurrently such as alcohol or drugs resulting in the significant impairment or altered cognition. In the long term, it may result in disability, health problems, and failure to adhere to essential routines such completing tasks or attending school. It can be classified as a co-occurring condition when mental health patients are involved.
There is a significant and strong relationship between drug abuse and mental illness. Many people believe that drug abuse is a precursor to mental illness because many people tend to consume drugs that alter the function of the brain. Although this could be true, the argument can be disputed in instances where mental health problems are associated with family history/genetics, exposure to environmental triggers as seen in the case of PTSD, or in case of accidents resulting in the damage of some brain cells. Therefore, the following handout expounds the health issue further whilst educating the audience on ways that can be adopted so that the millennials are not affected. The message from the handout will show the young generation that there is hope for drug users with mental illness. The support system present in our societies, learning institutions among others and self-help groups goes a long way in reaching out to such individuals. Moreover, there is a window to overcome dual diagnosis and reclaim one’s life.
Description of Audience
The young adults are the target audience for this handout because they are the most affected by the health issue. The millennials have a high propensity of moving back with their because of economic constraints or their growing tendency of delaying typical adulthood rites of passage like starting a career. They are also known as Gen Y.
The characteristics of these Millennials is that of being lazy, are prone to jump from job to job and narcissistic. Moreover, the quick when adapting to the rapid technological changes taking place in the world. Millennials are known to be politically and civically disengaged because they focus more on material things and this makes them prone to engage in drug abuse. Such behaviors have made this audience to be less concerned when helping in the community. The trend of this generation emphasizes their extrinsic values such as fame and money and less on their intrinsic values that encompass things like group affiliation, self-acceptance, and community.
Moreover, millennials are open-minded, self-expressive, confident, are receptive to new ideas and ways of living and liberal. Besides, they are known to engage in less sexual activities, and this is good because the risk of them getting infections has been lessened. They are more likely to use public libraries thereby creating an avenue through which the message of drug abuse in mental health patients can be delivered to them.

Description of the health issue
Addiction is the physical and psychological dependence of an individual on drugs or even multiple drugs including alcohol (DrugAbuse.com, 2017). Mental illness is the state of imbalance present in an individual and the US, DSM-5 is the standard used to identify the characteristics of this disorder. The industry standard will offer different diagnostic criteria sets for each mental illness. Moreover, the standard supplies classification information and explanations of the specified disorder.
Comorbidity describes two or more illnesses that occur in the same person. In this case, the focus is on drug abuse in mental health patients, which happens to worse people’s extent of interaction. For many, they will want to know whether addiction is a mental illness. Yes, it is because it changes the brain in many fundamental ways that disturb the normal hierarchy of an individual’s needs and desires. This disturbance results in the individual substituting new priorities connected with procuring and use of drugs. By so doing, an individual becomes compulsive in his or her behavior, and this will normally weaken their ability when it comes to controlling their impulses. Even with the negative consequence, they are similar to the hallmarks of other associated mental illnesses (NIH, 2011).
The co-occurring or dual disorder relates to the diagnosis for people with drug abuse disorder and mental illness such as anxiety and depression. In such a case, the combination of mental health disorders and drug or substance abuse qualifies to be diagnosed under this criterion. Therefore, alcoholism and depression fall in this category (SAMHSA, 2017).

Integrated treatment is a common term in such health issues. It defines the focus given to the treatment of two or more conditions such as drug abuse and mental illness. Moreover, the treatment uses multiple options such as the combination of pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy geared towards ensuring the recovery is guaranteed.

Resources
Newman, T. (2016). Schizophrenia risk increased with alcohol, drug abuse. Medical News Today. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/313602.php
The article is useful in helping the audience understand what the existing relationship between drug abuse and mental illness. The data used take an in-depth look at the conundrum and shows how the challenge increases the risk of developing mental disorders like schizophrenia.
SAMHSA. (2017). Mental and substance use disorders. Retrieved from https://www.samhsa.gov/disorders
The website is useful for the audience to get a clear picture of what the research is all about because key terms have been defined. Moreover, the information gives vivid explanations of what SAMHSA has done to reduce the impact of drug abuse in mental health patients on America’s communities.
DrugAbuse.com (2017). Mental health and drug abuse. Retrieved from https://drugabuse.com/library/mental-health-and-drug-abuse/
In this site, the author looks at the existing relationship between mental illness and drug abuse. Such information is helpful because it gives readers a clear picture of where the problem lies and how the disorders arise and infiltrate the society. Secondly, it also looks at the problem related to chronic abuse, which has been seen to exacerbate the symptoms of mental illnesses among patients. The site has also addressed the issue of treatment, which is relevant because it shows the audience that full recovery from co-occurring disorders is possible. Finally, the site identifies the different programs available for the patients because they are all facing different forms of mental illnesses.
NIH. (2011). Comorbidity: Addiction and other mental disorders. Retrieved from https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/comorbidity-addiction-other-mental-disorders
In this government publication, the information passed relates to comorbidity and through the discovery made, knowledge is passed to the audience using simple and clear language.
Discussion: Health Literacy
Health literacy is very important for people to grasp and fully use because it implies that they placed in a better position of making sound health decisions and choices. Credible information on the Internet can be obtained through using well-known medical and government sites such as MedLine Plus, HealthyPeople.gov, National Institutes of Health for studies and clinical trials, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The other sign to look for concerning the credibility of Internet sources is the display of “Health on the Net” seal. The voluntary certificate helps to standardize and raise the quality of information relating to health in websites. The code of conduct displayed assures consumers that data presented and the information provided is credible and reliable.
When developing strategies to increase health literacy for patients, nurses can use evidence-based strategies. These strategies help in empowering patient interactions levels on obtaining, understanding, and acting on information required for optimal health to be obtained. Therefore, it is imperative for nurses to communicate and educate their patients concerning health issues especially those with low literacy skills (Speros, 2011). Moreover, nurses can use evidence-based interpersonal communication strategies that will help them in their clinical practice thereby improving their interpersonal communication. Other effective strategies that can be used by nurses includes encouraging consumers to ask questions, follow up phone calls, and encouraging clients to rely on their support person (Berkman, Davis & McCormack, 2010).


References
Berkman, N., Davis, T. and McCormack, l. (2010). Health literacy: What is it? Journal of Health Communication, 15(S2): 9-19.
DrugAbuse.com (2017). Mental health and drug abuse. Retrieved from https://drugabuse.com/library/mental-health-and-drug-abuse/
Newman, T. (2016). Schizophrenia risk increased with alcohol, drug abuse. Medical News Today.
NIH. (2011). Comorbidity: Addiction and other mental disorders. Retrieved from https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/comorbidity-addiction-other-mental-disorders
SAMHSA. (2017). Mental and substance use disorders. Retrieved from https://www.samhsa.gov/disorders
Speros, C. I. (2011). Promoting health literacy: a nursing imperative. Nursing Clinics of North America, 46(3), 321-333.