Higher drug abuse among gay youth likely tied to rejection

July 17th, 2011

For a lesbian, gay, or bisexual youth, “coming out” is an extremely stressful, though important event that can result in improved self-esteem, social-support, and psychological adjustment.

However, a recent study found that the reactions to such a disclosure have a lot to do with the risk of those youths abusing alcohol and drugs.

Social rejection and drug abuse among gay youth

The results revealed that the more rejecting reactions a youth receives, the more likely they are to engage in drug abuse including alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use. This was true even after researchers controlled for a number of other important variables like emotional distress and demographics (race, ethnicity, education, socioeconomic status, etc.).

This makes a lot of sense. After finally deciding to go through with such a monumental disclosure, harsh rejections likely cause some serious damage to a youth’s self-esteem, making escape by drugs an attractive option. Although coming out can eventually lead to increased self-esteem even for this youth, the road there is not an easy one.

The good news was that accepting reactions seemed to protect youths from the harmful effects of being rejected – Social support helps!

The researchers suggested that drug abuse prevention attempts with LGBT youths address the impact of rejecting reactions to sexual-orientation disclosure directly in order to hopefully reduce their negative impact.

Here’s a video about the difficulties of coming out in high-school:

Reference:

Rosario, Schrimshaw, & Hunter (2009). Disclosure of sexual orientation and subsequent substance use and abuse among lesbian, gay, and bisexual youths: Critical role of disclosure reactions. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 23, 175-184.

Posted in:  Alcohol, Education, For others, Marijuana, Tips Tags: abuse, accepting, Alcohol, bisexual, coming, drug abuse, Drugs, gay, lesbian, marijuana, out, pot, rejection, self-esteem, smoking, support, transexual, weed

420, smoking weed, and drug problems : Marijuana facts

April 20th, 2011

Co-authored by: Jamie Felzer

It’s April 20th, or 4-20, and anyone who smokes marijuana knows what that means – It’s time to smoke weed- a lot of weed!

In honor of this “stoner” holiday, or perhaps in reverence of its implications, I wanted to put together a post that explored some recent findings having to do with the most commonly used illegal substance in the U.S.
These two studies deal specifically with smoking weed, teenagers, and drug problems.

Study 1 – Misconceptions of marijuana use prevalence

An article in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs has revealed that most young adults greatly overestimate how many of their peers smoke weed. Teens surveyed believed that 98% of their peers smoked marijuana at least once a year – In reality, only 51.5% off the teens reported actually ever smoking marijuana.

To make matters worse, even though only 15% of the teens reported using once a month or more, the estimate among peers was closer to 65%!!! Since we know that perception of peer behavior affects adolescents greatly, such misconceptions can easily lead to false peer-pressure towards marijuana use.

So next time instead of assuming everyone smokes weed, think again.It’s one of the most commonly used drugs but the notion that everyone smokes weed is simply wrong.

Reference: Kilmer, Walker, Lee, Palmer, Mallett, Fabiano, & Larrimer (2006). Misperceptions of College Students Marijuana use: Implications for Prevention. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 67, pp. 277-281.

Study 2 – Teens reducing use can reduce marijuana dependence risk

This next study dealt with early patterns of weed smoking as possible predictors of later problems use. They followed more than 1500 respondents from adolescence (ages 15-17) into young adulthood (ages 21-24).

The article revealed some interesting overall patterns, but I’ll keep the results short and simple, it is 4-20 after all…

The good news? Teens who reduced their use during the first phase of the study (the teens years) were at a significantly lower risk for marijuana dependence and regular use in early adulthood. This suggests that successful interventions may be effective at reducing later problem use.

The bad news? All marijuana smokers who used at least weekly showed the highest risk for later problems even if they reduced their use… This is not that surprising of a finding though since dependence usually involves regular use.

The bottom line? Reducing marijuana use at any stage will lower your risk for later problem use, but those who find themselves smoking often are most likely to end up in some trouble even if they try to cut down. Knowledge is power, so if you think you might be at risk and are concerned, talking to someone can’t hurt. Knowing marijuana facts can’t hurt either.

Reference: Swift, Coffey, Carlin, Degenhardt, Calabria & Patton (2009). Are adolescents who moderate their cannabis use at lower risk of later regular and dependent cannabis use? Addiction, 104, pp 806-814.

For a different view on 420, see this video:

Posted in:  Drugs, Education, For addicts, For others, Marijuana, Tips Tags: 420, alcohol drugs, college, dependence, illegal, journal studies alcohol, journal studies alcohol drugs, later risk, marijuana, marijuana addiction, marijuana addictive, marijuana facts, marijuana use, misconception, peer, pressure, risk, smoke, smoker, smoking weed, stoner, studies alcohol drugs, teen, use, user, weed, weed and teenagers

Sometimes it just takes blind faith – Depression and drug use

April 19th, 2011

I don’t normally like sharing this kind of stuff, but I think that if the point of the blog is be truthful, I need to cover all bases. When it comes to depression and drug use, I have personal experience with the connection.

When depression hits – Drug use and self-medication

I don’t always wake up ready to take on the day.

I know that what I’m doing is important, and I know that if I keep going I’ll be successful. Still, sometimes I wake up and feel like there’s really no point; like getting out of bed is useless and that I’m doomed to be nothing. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in:  Addiction Stories, For addicts, Opinions Tags: belief, depression, drink, drug, drug use, faith, feeling, help, help depression, hope, isolation, know, pain, weed

The music must change! Obsesssion, compulsion, shame an guilt in addiction

March 28th, 2011

Guest co-author: Jeff Brandler from Changeispossible.org

The nature of addiction is one of obsession and compulsion. Regardless of the substance, behavior, or process, the addicted person will continue to obsess (countless and endless thoughts) and have compulsions (repetitive actions). They will repeat this obsession-compulsion ritual over and over.

Imagine a radio station that plays the same song over and over. Imagine that song being a steady diet of thoughts, and feelings of guilt, shame, remorse and self-loathing (GSRSL). Imagine an endless supply of obsessive thinking and compulsive replays of the thing(s) that the addict did to start the song playing.

People get involved in all kinds of self-defeating/self destructive behaviors. There are numerous reasons for this. The top ones that I see are: addictive disorders, mood disorders, self-sabotaging behavioral and personality traits. The GSRSL is a constant loop. It never stops. The problem with it never stopping is that it creates more GSRSL. The more GSRSL, the greater the need for the behavior. The more behavior that happens, the more GSRSL that you need and so on and so on. Does your head feel like it wants to explode?

Obsession and Compulsion – An example

Let’s say I had a fight with my spouse. I decide to smoke a joint in order to relax, escape, or unwind. Afterwards, I feel a lot of GSRSL. I have guilty thoughts, feel embarrassed and shameful. I have remorse for what I did, and beat myself up unmercifully. So what do I do in order to stop this behavior? You got it, smoke another joint, or maybe have a drink, only to feel more GSRSL. In doing so I then have the trifecta GSRSL of before, during and after-The music must definitely change!!!!

Or, imagine an alcoholic who receive a 3^rd DWI citation after finally getting his license back following a 2 year suspension for his previous offenses. That’s some serious GSRSL. I have the most recent driving incident plus the 2 years where I lost my license swirling around my head like a blender. Talk about a bad song!!!! Please change the music!!!!

How does a person change this music?

It’s easy to change a radio station, but something that is so ingrained, so obsessive & compulsive is going to be much harder to change. Part of stopping this music is recognizing: 1) this is going to be hard to do 2) that I have been doing this for a while, and 3) it’s going to take some time to stop it. The key word that describes this is permission – I have to give myself permission to take the time that it’s going to take to make this major change. I’m also going to need to use a variety of approaches to change these thoughts and feelings (i.e. thought stopping, disputing irrational beliefs, identifying affirmations, (and using them regularly), and finding gratitude despite the pain).

Using this total package will be a first step towards change. It begins a long process of turning down the GSRSL music . I may need to also speak to a therapist to examine why I do these behaviors and what they are “wired” to. If in fact there is something biologically based, there may be a need for medication to “tune” these thoughts/feelings into healthier ones. Yes the music can change– It can go from “Comfortably Numb” to “Peaceful Easy Feeling”. The process of change is possible, but it’s going to take time and hard work.

Posted in:  Education, For addicts, Tips Tags: affirmation, Alcohol, change, cocaine, compulsion, dwi, gsrsl, guilt, music, obsession, obsession compulsion, permission, recovery, remorse, shame, weed

Is marijuana addictive? You can bet your heroin on that!

November 25th, 2010

This is the ultimate question for many people. In fact, when discussing addiction, it is rare that the addiction potential for marijuana doesn’t come up.

Some basic points about marijuana:

The active ingredient in marijuana, THC, binds to cannabinoid receptors in the brain (CB1 and CB2). Since it is a partial agonist, it activates these receptors, though not to their full capacity. The fact that cannabinoid receptors modulate mood, sleep, and appetite to some extent is the reason behind many of marijuana’s effects.

But how is marijuana addictive? What’s the link to heroin?

What most people don’t know is that there is quite a bit of interaction between the cannabinoid receptor system (especially CB1 receptors) and the opioid receptor system in the brain. In fact, research has shown that without the activation of the µ opioid receptor, THC is no longer rewarding.

If the fact that marijuana activates the same receptor system as opiates (like heroin, morphine, oxycontin, etc.) surprises you, you should read on.

The opioid system in turn activates the dopamine reward pathway I’ve discussed in numerous other posts (look here for a start). This is the mechanisms that is assumed to underlie the rewarding, and many of the addictive, properties of essentially all drugs of abuse.

But we’re not done!

Without the activation of the CB1 receptors, it seems that opiates, alcohol, nicotine, and perhaps stimulants (like methamphetamine) lose their rewarding properties. This would mean that drug reward depends much more heavily on the cannabinoid receptor system than had been previously thought. Since this is the main target for THC, it stands to reason that the same would go for marijuana.

So what?! Why is marijuana addictive?

Since there’s a close connection between the targets of THC and the addictive properties of many other drugs, it seems to me that arguing against an addictive potential for marijuana is silly.

Of course, some will read this as my saying that marijuana is always addictive and very dangerous. They would be wrong. My point is that marijuana can not be considered as having no potential for addiction.

As I’ve pointed out many times before, the proportion of drug users that become addicted, or dependent, on drugs is relatively small (10%-15%). This is true for almost all drugs – What I’m saying is that it is likely also true for marijuana (here is a discussion of physical versus psychological addiction and their bogus distinction).

Citation:

Ghozland, Matthes, Simonin, Filliol, L. Kieffer, and Maldonado (2002). Motivational Effects of Cannabinoids Are Mediated by μ-Opioid and κ-Opioid Receptors. Journal of Neuroscience, 22, 1146-1154.

Posted in:  Drugs, Education, Marijuana, Opiates, Tips Tags: about addiction, addiction, addiction research, addictive, addictive properties, Brain, canabinoid receptors, cannabinoid, cannabinoid receptor, CB1, cb1 receptor, cb1 recpetor, dopamine, drug abuse, Drugs, fact, heroin, is marijuana addictive, marijuana, marijuana addictive, neuroscience, opioid, pot, receptor, receptors, THC, weed

Gambling on marijuana use makes for bad decisions

November 12th, 2010

I just can’t seem to stay away from the marijuana debate, even given the recent defeat of Proposition 19 that aimed to legalize marijuana in California. This article is a short one, but speaks to some of the cognitive issues associated with marijuana use.

A study (see here) conducted by a Wake Forest University team (Including Doctor Linda Porrino) found that habitual marijuana smokers (those who smoked an average of twice a day for seven years) may be bad at detecting negative outcomes.

The experiment used fMRI scanning technology to examine the brain activity of smokers and controls during the Iowa Gambling Task, which uses four decks of cards. Two of the decks yield large, infrequent, rewards as well as losses. The other two decks yield small, more frequent rewards, and less losses. The first two are considered the “bad” decks, and the latter two the “good” decks, because selecting from the small-gain, small-loss, decks will result in more gain overall. The task is considered a pretty good, if complex, measure of risk-taking, decision making, and loss-discounting.

The take-home result from the study: Not only did marijuana smokers take longer to learn how to maximize their rewards, but their decision-making brain regions seemed to show lower overall responding during the task, meaning they were less active while performing the decisions. And as you can see from the graph on the left, while the controls were able to achieve overall gains, the same was not true for the long-term marijuana users even after 100 repetitions. It seems that marijuana smokers’ brains were not as efficient at detecting losses and responding to them. Maybe that’s why marijuana users are the first to claim that marijuana use has no negative outcomes associated with it…

As usual, it is important to note that since the participants in the study were not randomly assigned to long-term marijuana smoking, it’s impossible to know if these deficits are specifically caused by marijuana use or if they were pre-existing. Nevertheless, these results strongly suggest that individuals who engage in long-term use of marijuana are cognitively distinct from those who don’t. I think that plays into the argument that marijuana legalization would not increase use, because if that’s actually true, then there’s something different about individuals who choose to smoke weed and it is not the legal status that matters. I suspect that in actuality, people who currently choose to smoke marijuana long-term are in fact distinct, in some ways, from some of the people who would take up smoking the stuff if it became legal.

Citation:

Christopher T. Whitlowa, Anthony Liguoria, L. Brooke Livengooda, Stephanie L. Harta, Becky J. Mussat-Whitlowb, Corey M. Lamborna, Paul J. Laurientic and Linda J. Porrino (2004). Long-term heavy marijuana users make costly decisions on a gambling task. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 76, 107-111.

Posted in:  Drugs, Education, Marijuana Tags: Brain, decision, decision making, fMRI, gambling, long term, loss, marijuana, marijuana use, marijuana user, marijuana users, reward, risk taking, smoker, task, weed

About Addiction: Sex and Drugs, and Addiction’s impact on children and stress

October 27th, 2010

Have questions about addiction? You should browse our content and check out the links in this article and all the others we’ve written. It’s a great quick stop for 30 minutes of information!

Sex and Drugs

Science Centric- What a great way to help others! A peer based outreach service have been developed to aid sex workers resolve their drug problems. The program is lead by current and former sex workers and is helping to increase entry to detox and residential drug treatment programs among women in sex work.

Take Part- A male porn star has tested positive to having HIV. This positive test has put a halt to production of new sex tapes. This article provides five things that individuals should know about the porn industry. It is a great read!

Addiction inbox- Spice has been marketed as a synthetic cannabis. It can get a person high but at the same time will allow individuals to pass a drug urinalysis. That fact is making spice very common in places like police stations, fire department, and army bases.

Breaking the Cycles- Everyone knows how hard it is to break a habit, it often takes time and it is a struggle to maintain the new behavior. This is the same when an addict or alcoholic successfully makes it through their rehab. The hard part however comes when individuals are trying to prevent relapse.  SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) suggests that to prevent relapse individuals should think about doing something as opposed to not doing something. This allows individuals to create an anti-drug and anti-drink. This article follows the pattern of our earlier writing on relapse prevention by replacement.

Addiction’s impact on children and stress

Sober teens online- This is not a typical article post that we love to provide you, however it is no doubt very moving. This site displays artwork which depicts the emotions of foster children who are victimized by addiction.

Stress and addiction- Does stress cause addiction? Does addiction cause stress? That’s a popular question when people are trying to figure out the causes of addiction. It is no surprise that stress and addiction have a reciprocal relationship with each other. Stress can cause an individual to start drinking or taking drugs, and stress often triggers addict to use drugs or alcohol. Stress such as early childhood trauma may cause an individual to become an addict when they are older. This article examines the interplay of stress and addiction and also offers a great video about stress and addiction.

Posted in:  Links Tags: about addiction, addiction, Addiction Inbox, cannabis, detox, HIV, marijuana, porn, prevent relapse, SAMHSA, Sex, sex workers, Spice, stress, stress addiction, weed