Problematic Substance Misuse and Mental Health

Problematic Substance Misuse and Mental Health
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Problematic Substance Misuse and Mental Health
Introduction
Recurrent substance abuse in society has been a prevalent issue for decades. It is seemingly impossible to eradicate since the users tend to fall back to their drug abuse ways as much as they receive assistance. Elements such as clinically substantial deficits in health, societal functionality, and physical and psychological control over drug and alcohol use mark a substance use disorder (Tkach, 2018). Mental health is a withdrawal effect of substance abuse, which perpetually exists in society as the users are in a psychological battle with the implications of halting their usage. Although most treatments have taken place in specialized drug abuse treatment facilities with little participation from primary health care, change is taking place toward delivering treatment services for regular users. Guerrero and Khachikian (2020) indicate that normalized therapy within the standard health care system might be enough for people with mild to moderate drug use disorders. The essay aims to discuss how trauma-informed care can be adopted to treat and manage substance abuse disorders. Trauma-induced treatment is a set of procedures that translates the science of cognitive, emotional, and psychological knowledge of how trauma arises in neurological systems and how evidence-based therapeutic practice can be applied for treating trauma symptoms. Such methods do not target to treat the trauma but aid in managing symptoms and reducing the patient’s risk of reverting to trauma in the care process. Thus, trauma-informed approaches increase the probability of improving outcomes for people with co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders.
Background
The youth are the most affected by substance abuse and imbalanced mental health. Statistics indicate that 20.8 million people between 12 and 23 years recorded a substance abuse disorder in 2015 (Guerrero & Khachikian, 2020). Such numbers are worrying since those figures are an increasing trend from previous years. Regarding health inequalities, the youths have a higher rate of substance abuse disorder due to prevalent exposure to drugs. At the same time, they face difficulty receiving mental health care due to poor access to financial income. Moreover, youths have low access to insurance services that cover mental health ailments. In this context, mental health nursing is crucial because it assists in examining and evaluating the client’s mental health, preparing a care plan, and consultative approach with other health practitioners regarding the treatment and care plan. It also assists in providing care and psychological treatment, maintaining medical records, and providing support and information to patients and their families (Gabrielson et al., 2020). Mental health and substance abuse disorders are bonded together through a clear lens since substance abuse leads to mental health, while some mental health issues, such as PTSD, lead to drug abuse.
Trauma has been highlighted as a root cause of mental health and drug abuse problems among youths. Conservative estimates reveal that 92 percent of trauma-injured adolescents have a history of drug and substance abuse (Baird, 2018). Hence, lacking the capacity to address its consequences negatively influences client safety and results in poor treatment outcomes. Since the drugs induce them into their systems, trauma-informed care is the foundation of treatment for substance abuse patients with mental health issues. Further findings indicate that substance abuse is one of the primary causes of mental health disorders in teenagers and young people aged 12 and 25. As a causal factor, research suggests that Substance Abuse Disorder (SUD) among youth aged 12 to 25 years had a record of 20.4 million people in 2019, 14.5 million in 2018, and 8.3 million users in 2017 (SAMHSA, 2019). Over the last three years, the significant rise in users proves that youths are more susceptible to substance use disorders linked to mental health issues. In this regard, recovery methods intertwined with trauma-informed approaches are invaluable to change these statistics.
Trauma-informed care demonstrates that recovery-based principles include the restoration of power within the individual, the creation of a safe context, and the development of self-worth for patients. Rebuilding power from trauma entails strength-building, choice, empowerment, and skill growth (Tkach, 2018). It involves working with substance abuse patients to develop a strength-based strategy that empowers and encourages people to heal from their symptoms. This aspect is when the patient’s rehabilitation begins with psycho-education to assist them in comprehending how the symptoms link to trauma and why trauma reactions are biological and cognitive processes (Levenson & Willis, 2018). Such an aspect involves procedures that occur below conscious awareness to safeguard the individual from additional injury. A safe context arises through transparency, predictability, choice, trust, and relevant and consistent imbalances. According to Hien et al. (2020), self-esteem regenerates through relationship restructuring, respect, compassion, mutuality, and, most importantly, acceptance and moral judgment for the patients. The trauma-focused elements enable recovery from substance abuse disorder cages towards stable and recommended mental health.
An administration for mental health and substance abuse called SAMHSA is in charge of federal regulation and the legal framework for substance abuse and mental health disorders. As a primary component of the SAMHSA’s objective, documented policies and guidelines creating a trauma-informed approach are established to ensure that implementation of the same is value-based, effective, and sustainable. The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008, for instance, mandates that insurance companies that provide packages for abuse of substances and mental health problems deliver benefits that are equivalent to those offered by average medical insurance (SAMHSA, 2019). In addition, monthly deductions, payments, terms, conditions, and treatment restrictions for mental health and drug use patients must be not unfair and restricting as those for regular medical care. Trauma-informed concepts are reflected in protocols, including collaboration with community-based groups, to ensure the targeted youth groups engage in a recovery journey aimed at helping them. Thus, it is critical to integrate these policies into the organization’s processes and procedures to assure mental health control and promotion among the population.
Substance abuse disorder is a critical topic in mental health care since it links to the mental well-being of an individual. Drug-induced disorders lead to psychological health issues such as depression, stress, obsessive-compulsive disorders, suicidal thoughts, mood issues, dissociation, and bipolar problems (Kim et al., 2020). As a result, the topic is imperative to mental health care since any issue that disrupts mental well-being must be dealt with decisively and radically before triggering harm. SAMHSA (2019) indicates that mental illness caused by substance abuse among youth aged 18-25 rose from 6.1 million (or 18.5%) in 2008 to 9.9 million people (29.4%) in 2019, which is a record 62.2% in a decade. As for the UK, in 2018, 38% of young people in England and 15% in Scotland admitted to using drugs, leading to mental illnesses in varied capacities (GOV.UK, 2019). Due to such statistics, substance abuse has become a significant issue in public discourse, where governments have to put measures in place to slay the SUD dragon before it causes more mayhem among youths.
Critical Review
The term “co-production” refers to constructing a dialogical environment in which the user, family members, caregivers, and service owners form an integrated medical collaboration to enhance their care and service provision (Park, 2020). In today’s mental health policy and practice, the phrase “co-production” is extensively used and has a lot of discussions. Park (2020) adds that, despite the existence of guides and principles to assist organizations in working collaboratively, most corporations, care providers, families, and policymakers still lack the confidence to approach co-production with persons who have lived experience with mental health disorders. Park (2020) adds that policymakers view co-production as a management perspective in mental health care, while families think it is a resource-oriented issue. Nurses argue that it correlates to change-oriented and value-based practice for patients&r...