Toxicomania: definition, types, causes, signs, prevention, treatment. Toxicomania is ...

Toxicomania was most prevalent among adolescents. Let's see what it is, how it is treated and why it arises.

Toxicomania: the definition of a disease

Toxicomania is the abuse of various chemical, biological and therapeutic drugs not included in the list of narcotic drugs. These substances include varnish, fuel, glue, acetone and other chemical, biological and medicinal products.

Inhalation of toxic substances causes a breakdown in the body's physical and mental functions. Toxicomania causes a change in personality and contributes to the development of persistent physical and mental dependence of a person.

Most often, the disease occurs in adolescents, but it is not associated with the influence of the environment, social status, personality characteristics. Toxicomania is a disease that can develop in older people, especially those who take certain medications for a long time.

The difference between drug addiction and substance abuse is only in the socio-legal factor, there is no difference in the symptoms of the disease from a medical point of view. There are identical disorders of the central and peripheral nervous system, personality changes, problems appear in the patient's social life.

Which inhalants are most commonly used

Chemicals on their influence on the human psyche can be divided into four main groups:

• Aerosols - hair lacquers, dyes, means for processing fabrics. The substances contained in these drugs affect the nervous system and the work of the brain.
• Nitrites influence the circulatory system of the person, cause vasodilation, relax the cardiac musculature. Nitrite to some extent are stimulants of sexual activity. These substances do not cause persistent addiction to the body.
• Gases are represented by medical anesthetics. Most toxicants use nitrous oxide. These same substances can be present in lighters, whipped cream cans and other industrial and household products.
• Volatile solvents evaporate at room temperature. It is with these funds that children's substance abuse begins. Solvents can be represented by stain removers, certain types of glue, correctors, gaskets for markers, gasoline, washings for paint and varnish materials.

The development of substance abuse affects people of any gender and age. The widespread use of household and industrial means provides an unconscious development of dependence in children. Toxicants very rarely prefer certain types of inhalants. More often they breathe everything that comes to hand, causing irreparable harm to their health.

Classification of substance abuse

Types of substance abuse differ depending on the inhaled agent. Classify the disease can be on the following groups:

• Abuse of sleeping pills and any drugs that have a calming effect on the body. These drugs include tranquilizers, antiallergic drugs, hypnotics. Pathological dependence in this case develops seldom enough, however through time specific symptoms start to be shown.
• Dependence on substances that stimulate the work of the central nervous system: coffee, power engineers and all drugs that give the body a vivacity, improve mood and general condition. With such dependence, a person constantly raises the dose of the substances used, without the strength to refuse subsequently stimulant drugs. Treatment of substance abuse in this case requires great effort.
• Dependence on cholinolytics. These substances, getting into the body, cause the blocking of the natural mediator of acetylcholine. The intake of substances provides euphoria and a sense of elevated mood in patients. After the cessation of the substance, fatigue, fatigue, and often a person falls into a serious depression.
• Dependence on household and industrial chemicals. This type of dependence is most often found in children and adolescents. When inhaling gasoline, paints, solvents, glue comes intoxication, like alcohol. There are violations in the work of internal organs and sensory organs.
• Dependence on nicotine. When smoking in a person decreases working capacity, there are mental and physical disorders.

With the dependence of several psychotropic substances at once, the patient develops polytoxicomania.

Substance abuse: causes of the disease

The main cause of the development of the disease are personality characteristics, in particular:

• Infantilism;
• passivity;
• Demonstrativeness;
• addiction;
• Emotional instability.

Inability to plan their own leisure time, lack of interest in learning, inferior families, problems in the upbringing of children - all these factors contribute to weakening the mentality and qualities of the adolescent's character, resulting in the development of substance abuse. This disease affects not only the physical condition of the body, but also mental health.

When inhaled psychoactive drugs, children develop hallucinations that look like bright and colorful dreams, often very pleasant, so teenagers try again and again to inhale hallucinogenic substances.

Guys, as a rule, gather in groups of several people to get the same hallucinations. The causes of substance abuse are very different, in every adolescent the disease develops under different factors.

Symptoms

According to the peculiarities of behavior it can be concluded whether a particular teenager has substance abuse. Symptoms of the disease can be expressed in varying degrees, depending on the duration and severity of the disease. Most common with toxicomania are characterized by symptoms:

• Sharp and frequent change of mood, secrecy, irritability;
• Problems with the physical condition - teeth are destroyed and drop out, exhaustion, premature aging of the organism develops;
• Brain activity worsens, speech and reaction slow down;
• The person is in constant euphoria;
• A specific odor spreads from the patient, which is associated with the rapid absorption of psychotropic substances into the blood and the gradual spread of them throughout the body;
• In the morning the patient is accompanied by nausea, poor health, headache.

A doctor can establish a diagnosis in the case when a person constantly increases the dose of substances used, and he develops a persistent dependence on them.

Effects

The problem of substance abuse is the development of persistent heavy changes in the work of the whole organism. First of all, the nervous system suffers from the use of toxic substances. Depending on the type of substance abuse, various complications develop:

• Depending on the glue, the patient has weakness in the body, nausea, vomiting, headaches, mental disorders;
• When abusing solvents, chronic fatigue, hallucinations, apathy, nausea and vomiting;
• People, dependent on acetone and gasoline, suffer from short-term hallucinations, mental disorders, impairments in the body's vital functions, there is a deterioration in health and a decrease in immunity.

In adolescence, substance abuse causes severe complications. Patients may experience paralysis, with an overdose of toxic preparations, choking occurs and death occurs.

When dependent on psychotropic drugs, patients rarely return to normal life. Often teenagers switch to heavier drugs - narcotics, so children completely cease to live in the real world. The consequence of such dependencies is in most cases a lethal outcome.

Psychological dependence develops in drug addicts after 2-3 days. A physical is observed after about 2-3 months. Toxicomania, the dependence on which manifests itself very strongly, is difficult to treat, since in the body by this time there are many pathologies in the work of individual organs and systems.

How substance abuse affects the functioning of the body

Depending on the stage of progression of the disease, it can manifest itself differently in the internal state of health. For substance abuse are typical:

• heart failure;
• Convulsions, the cause of which are abnormal electrical reactions in the brain;
• Choking occurs when the breathing is blocked by vomiting;
• Asphyxia is a consequence of the displacement of oxygen from the lungs by inhaling solvents;
• Disability - during disorientation a person often gets serious injuries;
• Coma occurs when most of the brain's functions are upset.

The harm of substance abuse is the damage to the brain centers and the development of vascular sclerosis.

Diagnostics

Self-reliance is almost impossible. To diagnose substance abuse, you need to go to a specialized clinic, where doctors will discover a possible pathology based on laboratory tests, examination and questioning of the patient.

The patient will need to do an electrocardiogram, pass an analysis of urine and blood. It is by the indicators of these studies that the doctor concludes that there is or is no dependence.

Since the signs of substance abuse seem to have many similarities with other pathologies (epilepsy, atherosclerosis, heart failure, hypertension, the consequences of brain injuries), only a qualified doctor can make a correct diagnosis.

Toxicomania is a disease that in many cases is difficult to diagnose due to differentiation with many pathologies in the body's work.

What are the symptoms to see a doctor?

Parents should sound an alarm and lead the child to the examination if they observe:

• Sharp pressure drops;
• insomnia;
• malaise;
• weight loss;
• Brittle nails and hair loss;
• Sharp appearance of caries, loss of teeth;
• Suppuration on the skin surface;
• Traces of injections.

It is very important to closely monitor the environment and pastime of your child. Naturally, you should not cross the border and do not give the teenager a step without parental control. It is important to choose the right tactics of communication, to create trusting and friendly relations with the child, to be genuinely interested in his affairs and to discuss the themes that concern you both. Since substance abuse is a disease that quickly appears and develops, it is very important to be constantly on the alert.

Treatment

Any dependencies should be treated in a hospital environment, this applies to both drug and alcohol abuse and substance abuse. The patient does not realize his problem, believing that he can independently get rid of dependence at the first necessity.

Most clinics take patients in a state of intoxication, forcing them to be treated. All this happens only with the consent of relatives. In treatment, the psychological factor is the most important. Therapeutic course includes:

• Elimination of intoxication - intravenously injected with glucose, prescribed diuretics, sodium thiosulfate and vitamin complexes;
• Work with the patient's psychological health;
• If necessary, the recovery of somatic functions.

Treatment of substance abuse can be carried out only with the constant supervision of psychologists, and in especially severe cases and psychiatrists. Only in this case it will be possible to push the patient to the awareness of his problem and the desire to return to a normal way of life.

Teenage substance abuse is not characterized by a stable dependence, so with proper control of the parents and the help of specialists, this problem can be eliminated. Psychologists recommend first of all to change the environment of the child, the school, and, better, the place of residence. It is necessary to enthrall a teenager, arrange it in sports sections and normalize relations in the family.

Prevention

As a preventive measure against teenage addiction and substance abuse, only strict monitoring of the communication and pastime of the child can be used. It is necessary to explain to a teenager in a timely manner the dangers of substance abuse, since even in well-off families this problem is encountered.

If parents have any suspicions about the child's lifestyle, it is necessary to visit a narcological dispensary. Survey and communication with specialists will allow to reveal the developing dependence in time. Since the earlier this problem is diagnosed, the more likely it is to cure the child.

Prevention of substance abuse helps to protect the child from mistakes, followed by serious health problems.