Managing vulnerable situations - The consequences of normalising illicit substance use
While normalisation of recreational use of illicit drugs has meant less stigma for young adults, it has also unfortunately meant that the constant use of illicit drugs can turn into a habit for some, or can lead to drug abuse or addiction. It can be hard to identify drug addiction in friends or family if the use of drugs is considered ‘fine’ and ‘normal’ in the surrounding environment where illicit drugs are commonly used. It’s also hard to recognise drug addiction in yourself if it’s you who is dealing with consequences of consistent drug use. While you or others might sometimes be able to admit that you have a problem with drugs or consume too much at times, you might not consider yourself an addict. Narcotics Anonymous Australia (2022) says everyone has a preconceived idea of what an addict is, which makes it difficult to determine sometimes.
We found that more than 33% of respondents to our study said that recreational illicit drug use becomes unhealthy if it occurs once a week in environments where alcohol is consumed, while a quarter of respondents said that it becomes unhealthy when drug consumption occurs multiple times a week in private and separate from alcohol consumption. Other answers included that it becomes unhealthy “when it begins to affect the things you care about and you can't control it - does not matter how many times [you consume]”, and “when a dependency is being developed”.
Lifeline (2022) provides advice and guidance on what substance misuse is and what signs to look for in anyone you think might be misusing or is addicted to drugs. Lifeline has also recently launched a curated library of tools, techniques and information that can help you or someone you know:
Understand what you’re going through
Learn ways to self-manage through evidence-based tools and techniques
Access support, should you need it
You can try using this tool through this link.
Other useful links for getting help are below:
While talking to professionals is of course strongly encouraged, talking to family about drug use can also be extremely valuable, at any point. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s blog post as we find out how often young adults actually talk about drug use at home, and the importance of doing so.
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