1. What motivates people to take drugs or drink alcohol and why?
Enough extent of stress is necessary for life but sometimes people experience some stressful event out of their tolerance. In these situations if they can not find the solution, they may want to escape from its problem with distorting the reality. Because of this they come to illicit drugs, alcohol and other psychoactive drugs to distort the reality.
Use drugs for confronting with stressful life events is very total motivation and we can divide it to some cases.
People use drugs to have a better feeling (Valfere 2001, p. 325), to be more attendance and have more energy (Halgin, withbourne 2007, p. 357 ). Some young people when see their friends use drugs and forget their problem and experience elation encourage using drugs curiously. Some individuals use drugs for escaping from anxiety thoughts and worrying. Another motivation can be economical problems like unemployment. Increasing the sexual pleasure can be another wrong motivation because substance abuse decreases it. Lonesomeness feeling, having no good friend, family and social problems can lead individual to substance abuse. Availability and easy preparation of drugs can encourage people for using them (Sotoude 2007, p.197-198). Medias play an important roles in encourage youths to substance abuse. Medias show champions with extraordinary potential, stars with ideal body and newest fashion which have a large influence on adolescents (pickhardt 2008, p. 89) Medias with showing ideal people who are addicted to drugs can make positive attitudes about substance abuse in youths. Being like them can be another motivate for adolescents to substance abuse.
2. Who is most vulnerable to substance abuse?
“Several theories have attempted to explain why people use mind-altering chemicals. Biological theories state that there are variations between ethnic groups that offer genetic and biochemical explanations for substance abuse. Theories relating to psychological problems as causes, and environmental theories concentrate on the individual, the family and sociocultural surroundings in which substance abuse takes place”(Valfere 2001, p. 332).
According to biological theories, vulnerability to substance abuse is heritage. Recent researches show addicted people have up to 36% relatives who substance abuse while, this extent is 15% in control group (Teesson, Degenhardt, Wayne 2005, p.37) substances abuse vary according to minority group. For example, the use of cocaine is higher among blacks, whereas whites and hispanics prefer alcohol(Valfere 2001, p. 327).
According to psychological theories, individual develop some troublesome beliefs about using alcohol by mixing reinforcement with observation learning when they are child(Halgin, withbourne 2007, p.343).
Researchers of environmental theories, believe that when stressful life events in family, community, culture and genetic vulnerability mix with each other, lead individual to substance abuse(Halgin, withbourne 2007, p.344). These theories concentrate on individual like his attitudes; “Positive attitudes about substance abuse and having friends who hold similar views are attitudes and beliefs found to be associated with substance use”(Mash, Wolfe 2005, p.374). family is an important place for learning behaviors. Parents who use drugs and alcohol, make their children at risk of being addicted in their adolescent. “If teens held positive expectancies about alcohol use and believe their parents did not hold strong expectations for them not to drink, they were much more likely to initiate alcohol use. Low monitoring, or the extent to which parents do not know where their adolescent are and who they are with has consistently emerged as a predictor of adolescent substance use”(Mash, Wolfe 2005, p. 374). Poverty, social pressures, unemployment, illiteracy, liaison, membership in special music groups and involvement in some religious groups can be predictor for people to substance abuse(Kashani, Vaziri 2008, p. 233).
References:
Halgin P. / Krauss Whitbourne Susan: Abnormal Psychology. Fourth edition, translated in farsi by Y. Seyed Mohammadi, (2007), Ravan, Tehran, p. 343 - 357
Lotfi Kashani Farah / Vaziri Shahram: Child Psychopathology, Second edition. (2008), Arasbaran, Tehran, p. 233
Mash Eric J. / Wolfe David A.: Abnormal Child Psychology, Third edition. (2005), Thomson Learning, Inc. United States of America, p. 374
Morrison Valfere: Mental health care , second edition. (2001), Mosby, Inc. United States of America, p. 325 - 332
Pickhardt Carl E.: Keys to Raising a Drug-Free Child by. translated by M Hounan, (1380) Saberin, Tehran, p. 89
Sotoudeh H.: Social Pathology. Third edition, (2007), Avaye No, Tehran, p. 197 - 198
Teesson Maree / degenhardt Louisa / Hall Wayne: Addictions. translated in farsi by M. Sadeghi Benis, A. Taheri, F.N. Al Agha, (2005), Savalan, Tehran, p. 37