1. STATS Drugs kill more people than any other non-natural cause
More than 20 million Americans are addicted to drugs (SAMHSA)
Every day drugs kill over 365 Americans, more than any other preventable health problem
Approximately 135,000 deaths a year in the US are directly attributed to drugs…that does not count deaths as a result of suicide, homicide and other accidents, car accidents, heart attacks, strokes, hepatitis, etc.
7 million Americans try drugs every year. (SAMHSA)

2. What is Addiction?
Addiction is a ___________________characterized by compulsive ________________________, in spite of negative health, social and behavioral consequences
Interferes with our well-being
Addiction is a ___________ disease
Sustained drug abuse leads to __________ in both the structure and function of the brain

3. Addiction: A Brain Disease
Images of healthy brains vs. addicted brains.

4. WHAT HAPPENS TO THE BRAIN?
Drugs cause a major _______________________________________, a ________________ that is released to help us feel good
Drug use also affects the recycling of neurotransmitters
The overload of _____________ causes a decrease in receptors, leading an addict to use more to feel normal.

5. Neurons Talking

6. The Pre-frontal Cortex
Located in the _________ of the brain
Allows us to weigh risks and _____________s
Referred to as “The Seat of Sober Thought”
Pre-Frontal Cortex still ___________ in teenagers
“What are the implications of this information?”

7. Why????
Drug use often isn’t about drugs, it is about life. Often, drugs are a symptom, not a cause.
Early usage
Genetics
Stress
Trauma
Mental illness
Combinations of the above
It is hard to get to the root of the cause of addiction while the person is using. Drugs make us feel more, and make us feel less…an escape..make social situations earier, sadness easier, social awkwardness disappears, confidence is more, etc.

8. The risk factors are related to:
BIOLOGY, PSYCHOLOGY, ENVIRONMENT
Risk factors

9. Teenage Brain Adolescent brain is still changing…into the early ___’s
The impact can be on the __________ functions as well as the _____________ and _____________ areas
“An 18 year old who walks into my office and asks for help with his addiction who’s been using since he was twelve years old, is twelve years old. That’s when his social-skill development stopped working, because he started using opiates or other drugs to figure out problems he should have figured out in appropriate ways.”

10. Teen Brain
The posterior subcortical region of the brain, where the “_____” system is, develops early—impulsive, reckless behaviors. ________ system- pre-frontal cortex develops later- decision-making, judgment—and can’t inhibit the reward system. When you use drugs, the brain chemistry makes teens more susceptible to using, and drugs impede the maturation of the prefrontal cortex, slowing the development of the brain’s braking system.

11. The end result: Cravings
Our brains are wired to pursue natural rewards (food, love, sex)
Drug use begins to activate these same circuits
This activation causes our brain to _______ the drug
These cravings become even stronger than those for food and love.
The power of a _____________,_____________,
___________________
Craving is a word used by professionals to mean “desire”
Cravings are a natural part of our existence
Our brains naturally will crave certain things such as food and sex because they are needed for survival
Drugs use, through the changes in the dopamine pathway previously discussed, will begin to activate these same pathways.
Just like our body can be motivated to experience pleasure (ie eating) through external stimuli, external stimuli will begin to cause the brain to crave drugs
Recent imaging studies have shown that cues as brief as 1/3 of a seconds can activate cravings in an addict.

12. How Addiction is Diagnosed
For a person to be diagnosed as an addict at least 3 of the following symptoms must be present:
Symptoms of ___________________
Symptoms of ______________ (MARIJUANA-IRRITIBILITY, SLEEPING DIFFICULITIES, CRAVINGS, ANXIETY,)
Use of substance in large amounts or for longer then intended
The desire or attempt to _________ or ___________ use
Spending considerable time or effort to obtain the substance
A reduction in social, recreational or occupational activities because of drug use
Continued use despite _________________________problems
This is the clinical definition of drug addiction.
Remember that drug use doesn’t start off as an addiction. Drug use/abuse should be thought of as being part of a continuum. Drug addiction first starts as drug abuse, which is defined as any use of a mind altering drug or the deliberate misuse of medication. It may then progress to addiction.
Tolerance: person needs increasing doses of a drug to achieve the same high.
Withdrawal: Abnormal physical or psychological response to abrupt discontinuation of a drug. Symptoms include: sweating, tremors, vomiting, nausea, anxiety and muscle pain

13. Risk Factors for Addiction
Having parents or immediate family members who are/were addicted to drugs or alcohol
Being ____________ or anxious
Other mental disorders
Experiencing trauma, such as physical or sexual abuse
_____________ life events
_____________ at home
Exposure to drugs, or being pressured to use them
Using drugs or alcohol before the age of 15

14. Myths About Addiction Addicts are bad, crazy or stupid
Addiction is an issue with will power
Addicts need to be punished for using drugs, not treated.
People who are addicted to one drug will become addicted to another
Addiction cannot be treated with medication
Addiction is a behavioral problem.

15. ALCOHOL—REACHES THE BRAIN AND OTHER ORGANS WITHIN 90 SECONDS
FEEL RELAXED, DEPRESSED, LOSE INHIBITIONS, RECKLESS BEHAVIORS, CALMNESS
EFFECTS DEPEND ON _____________, AMOUNT OF BODY _____, AMOUNT OF ALCOHOL CONSUMED, TIME SPENT DRINKING, MALE VS. FEMALE
TEN PERCENT OF ETHANOL IS ELIMINATED AND THE LIVER TRIES TO METABOLIZE THE REST. ---ABOUT A HALF OUNCE PER HOUR

16. ALCOHOL
AFFECTS MEMORY FORMATION, _______________, AND IMPULSE CONTROL.
SLOWS REACTION TIME, AFFECTS MOTOR SKILLS, CAN AFFECT ____________ VOLATILITY, LOSS OF COORDINATION, AND VISUAL DISTORTIONS
INCREASED DOPAMINE CAN CAUSE INITIAL SENSE OF __________, BUT THEN THAT DISAPPEARS AND _____________ CAN RESULT
AFFECTS SEROTONIN RECEPTORS THAT HELP REGULATE ________ AND _____________.

17. ALCOHOL TEEN BRAIN CAN TOLERATE NEG.
EFFECTS OF DRINKING BETTER THAN OLDER
ADULTS MORE LIKELY TO KEEP
DRINKING GREATER CHANCE FOR
ADDICTION, DATE RAPE, DUI’S, CAR CRASHES,
DEPRESSION

18. MARIJUANA
LONG TERM USE IS RELATED TO PERSONAL LIFE __________________ AND _______________, INLCUDING EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT. (nida)
AMOTIVATIONAL SYNDROME-THC BINDS TO THE CANNABIINOID RECEPTORS IN THE PREFRONTAL CORTEX, WHICH KEEPS ________________ BEING RELEASED FEEL RELAXED AND CALM. STUNTS COMMUNICATION BETWEEN BRAIN REGIONS AND IMPAIRS HIGHER LEVEL THINKING.
COMPLEX-ATTENTION SKILLS AFFECTED- WORK SLOWER, LEARN LESS, PERFORM AT A LOWER LEVEL

19. MARIJUANA AND OTHER DRUGS
YOUNG SMOKER
BRAIN STILL DEVELOPING------
DRUGS WREAK HAVOC ON DEVELOPING BRAIN- --
_________________, _____________, EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT-----

20. WE TALKED ABOUT WHY LHS STUDENTS USE DRUGS…..
STRESS, PRESSURE, FIT IN, BORED…..
WHAT ARE YOUR COPING SKILLS?