HOW TO PREVENT ADDICTION IN ADOLESCENTS AND ADULTS - ARTE - 2025

Knowing how to prevent addictions in adolescents and adults is essential to avoid the problems derived from them. Once a person is addicted, damage has already occurred to the person, family and society, making detoxification more difficult.

An addiction is a repetitive, compulsive behavior that the person has difficulty avoiding. This concept can be applied to addictions to substances, behaviors, games or technologies.

Some of the most common substance addictions are to cocaine, heroin, nicotine, methadone, or morphine. Non-substance addictions can be gambling or addictions to new technologies. Finally, there may be addictions to behaviors, such as eating, shopping, physical exercise or sexual relations.

One of the main differences between addiction to substances and to behaviors or technologies is that in substance addictions, the withdrawal syndrome is much more intense and polydrug addiction occurs more frequently.

What is the goal of prevention?

The goal of drug addiction prevention is to achieve a reduction or elimination of addiction and its associated problems. This reduction can be done with two general measures:

-Detecting and reducing the risk factors for addiction; that is to say, which facilitates the start or maintenance of consumption.

-Powering protection factors; that is to say, what favors the development of the person and that guides her towards a healthy lifestyle.

This prevention will not be carried out solely with the individual, but in a framework of education for health and well-being aimed at an entire community.

Population to target prevention

Programs and actions aimed at preventing addictions will have to take into account a number of populations:

-Society: strengthen social entities, promote cultural values ​​of family and personal responsibility, social skills, long-term information actions…

-The family: improvement of family cohesion, participation of families to promote prevention, information to families…

-Children, adolescents and young people: young people and adolescents are the population that most consume drugs such as alcohol or cannabis. They need to be taken into account to apply prevention actions and develop them.

-Educational community: involvement of students, families and teachers, and their coordination with health centers.

-Working population: involvement of companies, workers and unions

Actions for the prevention of addictions

Addiction prevention programs can be carried out at three levels:

1) Primary care

- Establish education programs on drugs, addictions and health education

- Inform the child and adult population about the consumption and effects of drugs.

2) Secondary prevention

- Detect addictions

- Establish contact with the person to seek solutions, seeking to make them aware of the addiction and informing them about the resources and alternatives available to them

- Motivate and promote an attitude favorable to change

- Foster stable and healthy personal relationships within families with addicts.

3) Tertiary prevention or assistance

- Evaluate the physical and psychological state of the addict to propose a treatment and follow-up

- Establish a system of care for emergency situations due to substance use

- Encourage the addicted person to establish constant contact with prevention centers near their home.

Goals to achieve with adolescents

The main goals to achieve with children, adolescents and young people in general:

- Inform the general population about the phenomenon of drug addiction

- Establish positive role models

- Reduce the starting age of addictive substance use

- Identify causes that can generate risk situations for the initiation of drug use, proposing action proposals

- Intervene on the social conditions that affect the consumption of substances capable of generating dependence

- Educate the population for responsible decision making

- Implement and develop community prevention programs.

- Limit the presence, promotion and sale of drugs in the social environment

- Minimize the damages associated with drug use

- Promote training and free time actions

- Generate leisure, cultural and free time alternatives, promoting healthy life habits.

Most frequent addictions

The types of drugs that have caused the greatest addiction in Europe and Latin America are:

Alcohol

• Every year 3.3 million people die in the world as a result of the harmful consumption of alcohol, which represents 5.9% of all deaths.
• Harmful use of alcohol is a causal factor in more than 200 diseases and disorders.
• There is a causal relationship between the harmful use of alcohol and a number of mental and behavioral disorders, in addition to non-communicable diseases and injuries.

Tobacco

• Tobacco kills up to half of its users.
• Tobacco kills almost 6 million people each year, of which more than 6 million are tobacco users and more than 600,000 are non-smokers exposed to second-hand smoke.
• Unless urgent action is taken, the annual death toll could rise to more than 8 million by 2030.
• Almost 80% of the 1 billion smokers in the world live in low- or middle-income countries.

Cannabis

The cultivation and production of cannabis herb (marijuana) remains widespread, but the production of cannabis resin (hashish) is still limited to a few countries in North Africa, the Middle East and South-West Asia.

Read more about its consequences here.

Cocaine

Cocaine use is still more concentrated in America, Europe and Oceania, while practically all world production takes place in three countries in South America. It has serious side effects.

What is a drug?

According to the WHO, a drug is any substance that, when introduced into a living organism, modifies one or more of its functions. This definition includes toxic substances, medicines, and some foods.

To clarify doubts, alcohol and tobacco are drugs, although it is allowed in practically all western countries.

Both substances produce effects at the neuronal level, generating structural changes in the brain in the medium and long term.

They are psychoactive substances that have the ability to modify mental activity:

• Perception
• Emotions
• Sensations
• Behaviors
• Thought