Transcript Glamorise This!

Glamorise This?
By Sue Redmond
Regional Drugs Education Support Worker
Cocaine
Cocaine – Classy?
Cold Sores
Cold Sores sexy?
Nose collapse
Missing Septum
Increases Spots
Increases Spots Breakouts
Early aging & Wrinkles
The Transport into the
country and to your table
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Rectally
In Sores
Passed in stools
Through women bodies sold to
prostitution
Cocaine
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Stimulant
Increases Heart Rate and Blood Pressure
Cocaine can be ‘cut’ with other stimulants
Effects last only 20-30 mins
Can Increase Aggression
Repeated use over several hours can lead to
extreme agitation, paranoia and toxic
psychosis
Cocaine Short Term Effects
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Euphoria
Increased energy and confidence
Appetite suppressed
Dilated pupils
Increased sexual interest
Grinding teeth
Crashes in days after use, very depressed and
tired
Hyperthermia
Mental illness, stillbirth, miscarriage
and suicide have also been associated
with cocaine
Cocaine Long Term
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Extreme mood swings
Eating disorders/weight loss (appetite suppressed)
Paranoid thinking
Psychotic behaviour
Nose damage if snorting
Ongoing rhinitis
Depression
Stroke
Cerebral haemorrhage
Heart failure
Renal failure
Death from respiratory arrest
Cocaine - Signs of use
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Hyperactive
Talkative
Unusually confident or arrogant
Nose irritation (runny nose or itching)
Small appetite
Wide awake/full of energy
Excessively tired (days after use)
Depressed or low (days after use)
Rolled up notes (sniffing)
What to do in an
emergency
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Stay calm
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Dial 999 or 112 and ask for an ambulance
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Ensure their airways are clear
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Turn them on their side – recovery position
and stay with them
Give any powders, tablets, etc. that you find
to the ambulance crew
What to do in an
emergency
The Heart
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Blood vessels expand
Artery walls constrict
Causes spasm
Heart attack
Arrhythmia (heart
disturbance)
Cocaine makes the blood
thicker and increases
chances of a clot and
heart attack
How a neuron works
How it works
The Brain
It can take years for the
dopamine and activity levels of
the brain to reach levels it was at
before cocaine use, especially in
Chronic cocaine users.
Dopamine has important roles in
behaviour and cognition, motor
activity, motivation, reward,
sleep, mood, attention and
learning.
How does this lead to
addiction?
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The initial decision to take drugs is mostly voluntary.
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However, when drug abuse takes over, a person's ability
to exert self control can become seriously impaired.
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Brain imaging studies from drug-addicted individuals
show physical changes in areas of the brain that are
critical to judgment, decision making, learning and
memory and behaviour control
These changes alter the way the brain works, and may
help explain the compulsive and destructive behaviours
of addiction.
Dependence
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Drug dependence is characterised by
impaired control over the drug,
preoccupation with use, continued use
despite negative consequence, and
sometimes evidence of physical dependence
on the drug.
Various factors, such as your personality,
your genetic makeup and peer pressure,
affect your likelihood of becoming addicted
to a drug.
Genetic factors
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Account for a percentage of
vulnerability to addiction
The effects of environment on gene
expression and function.
Adolescents and individuals with
mental disorders are at greater risk of
drug use and addiction than the
general population.
Environmental Factors
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Home and Family. The influence of the home
environment is usually most important in childhood.
Parents or older family members who use alcohol or
drugs, or who engage in criminal behaviour, can
increase children's risks of developing their own
drug problems.
Peer. Friends and acquaintances have the greatest
influence during adolescence. Drug-abusing peers
can sway even those without risk factors to try
drugs for the first time. Academic failure or poor
social skills can put a child further at risk for drug
use.
Other Factors
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Personality. Another psychological problem, depression, post-traumatic stress
disorder, ADHD etc., People who exhibit aggression, a lack of self-control and a
difficult temperament may be at greater risk of drug addiction.
Anxiety, depression and loneliness. Using drugs can become a way of coping
with these painful psychological feelings
Early Use. Although taking drugs at any age can lead to addiction, research shows
that the earlier a person begins to use drugs the more likely they are to progress to
more serious abuse
Method of Administration. Smoking a drug or injecting it into a vein increases its
addictive potential. Both smoked and injected drugs enter the brain within seconds,
producing a powerful rush of pleasure. However, this intense "high" can fade within a
few minutes, taking the abuser down to lower levels.
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Type of drug. Some drugs, such as heroin and cocaine, more quickly result in
physical addiction than do others.
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Low self-esteem. Can contribute to using drugs and becoming dependent on them.
When Mixed with Alcohol
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Use of alcohol leads to a 30% increase in blood
levels of cocaine
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Combination produces cocaethylene
– Increases dopamine release
– Enhances risk of cardiac death
– Increases violent behaviour
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Harder for the liver to break down
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Alcohol leads to increased brain-to-plasma cocaine
ratio
Dangers of Use
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Alcohol
Heart attack
Arrhythmias
Stroke
Spontaneous abortion
Birth defects
Psychiatric problems
Liver disease
Pancreatitis
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Cocaine
Heart attack
Arrhythmias
Stroke
Spontaneous abortion
Birth defects
Psychiatric problems
IV drug use
Psychiatric effects Combined
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Increases alcohol’s cognitive
impairment
Violence
Sexual risk-related behaviour
Impulsive decision making, impaired
learning and memory
Withdrawal
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Alcohol
Anxiety
Tachycardia
Nausea
Tremor
Disorientation
Seizures
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Cocaine
Agitation/restlessness
Intense cravings
Depression
Vivid unpleasant
dreams
Paranoia
Fatigue
How do you know if it’s a
problem for you…
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Doing more than last year or 6 mths ago
Being aggressive or violent
It’s affecting your mental health;
depression, anxiety etc.,
It’s affecting your sexual health; impotence,
promiscuity, failure to use contraception
It’s affecting your relationship with others,
arguments/fights about your drug use
Can’t socialise without it
Every time you do a line…
You
glamorise
drugs to
young
people
A Farmer
in South
America
subject to
poverty
You Put
yourself at risk
of serious
adverse effects
and death
You put
yourself at
risk of
addiction
Cocaine
If we stop
the
market
for it, we
stop it
Colombian
refugee
Someone
engages in
criminal
activity to
get it to you
You engage
in illegal
activity
A child is put
at risk of
poverty,
abuse,
neglect, low
literacy and
education
drop out
For WHAT??? A Good time?
Now ask yourself ‘is it worth it?’
What help is available..?
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There are many and varied reasons someone turns
to drugs & alcohol as a form of coping in their
lives.
Counselling can be a place to think about this and
other forms of coping strategies (that are healthier)
and relapse prevention & support.
The second stage of withdrawal can last for a long
time ie years & most people don't realise this.
During this stage you'll have fewer physical
symptoms, but more emotional and psychological
withdrawal symptoms. Where Counselling support
can really help.
Where to go for help?
NUI Galway offer a free and confidential counselling
service to all students and have a specific drug &
alcohol counsellor
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Contact: Student Counselling Service, 5 Distillery Road, NUI
Galway. Office Hours: Mon – Fri between 9.15am and 1pm and
2.15pm and 4.15pm.
Website: www.nuigalway.ie/student_services/counsellors
Appointments 091-492484 or email counselling @nuigalway.ie
Drop in any time Mon – Fri between 2.15-4.15pm to see a
counsellor
Counsellors : Bea Gavin, Emer Casey, Geraldine Connolly,
Eamonn O’ Dochartaigh
Drug & Alcohol Counsellor: Mark Campbell
Where to go for help?
Drugs Counselling Service:
 Galway 091-561 299
 Mayo North 096-60060
 Mayo South 094-9020430
 Roscommon 071-9664900
Cocaine Clinic 091-561 299
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Drugs Helpline: 1800 459 459
Alcoholics Anonymous: 091-567807
Narcotics Anonymous: 01 6728000
Samaritans 1850 609 090
Text Help to 51900
Live help online www.drugs.ie