Prescription Drug Use by Age: Addiction Is Not Age Specific

Prescription drug use by age and gender is not a point to discuss, because addiction is not specific to age or gender. Drug Abuse or Drug Addiction is a disease in which the victim knows what will happen to him/her shortly or to his or her end; despite being aware of the disadvantages of drug addiction, they continue using for a more extended period. Drug abuse often or always has negative consequences. After you have become addicted to it, you can not get rid of it quickly.

Drug abuse does not respect any age or gender. You can become a drug addict at any age, in any circumstance, or at any stage of life. Teenagers and young adults often start using drugs in school life when they become independent and responsible.

When you become a young adult, you are responsible for your actions and words. This means a lot to you. You feel free at the same time when you feel responsible. Eventually, suppose you fail to start a successful life or get an injury or loss or anything else. In that case, you may become a drug addict sooner or later. Peer pressure can make or break a teenager in his or her early life; but, if he or she fails, then the first thing he or she may get would be drug addiction. So, teenagers are more exposed to drug abuse, and eventually, they can get caught by drug addiction. So, it becomes obvious that prescription drug use by age is not limited to age even gender.

Grown-ups may start taking drugs after a trauma or medication, and now they struggle. Teenagers sometimes start taking drugs due to environmental factors like a family burden, failure in the exams after studying a lot, friends and other relatives can also be a cause. There is another reason behind a teenager indulges drugs that may be a boring life. As we know, a teenager does not have enough resources to fulfill his or her desires, so that they may become an addict.

So, we can easily say that addiction to drugs becomes a problem for prescription drug use by age at every stage of the life cycle.

It is essential to understand the problems, diseases, or disorders and their causes, symptoms, and stages to help your friends and family avoid future damages. Let us start our age cycle and understand how prescription drug use by age and stage of life can get affected by drug addiction disease.

Introduction to Drug Addiction

Although prescription drug use by age is not specific even to gender, we can say that addiction to drugs is a disease related to the brain. This disorder affects neurotransmitters in the brain badly. Those neurotransmitters are accountable for joy, life rewards, and control over oneself, which means stability in our behaviour over time. He or she is unable to make decisions related to his o her life.

When classical conditioning becomes influential to drug addiction, there is a great and undeniable need to achieve the satisfaction level developed earlier. When becoming addicted to a specific type of drug, they can not tolerate fulfilling satisfaction with any means. 

Symptoms of Drug Addiction

Although prescription drug use by age has not boundaries and limitations, but drug addiction becomes further worse with the age for example the addiction symptoms in children are less or mild when compared to elders.

• Needs more drugs; otherwise, the addict may behave irregularly (show intensive behaviour)
• Health depends on drugs only. If the victim stops using the drug, he or she may feel unfit or may become ill
• There is no time for favorite activities and spending more time indoors
• No or gradually decreasing social activities. Less time spending with friends
• You can see visual changes in physical health and mental health
• There are no hygienic conditions in the bedroom, especially
• Representation of ultra-violent behaviour when talking to people
• Increased chances of participation in hazardous activities like taking drugs while driving etc
• You can note the apparent symptoms if he or she does not take the drugs persistently
• It increases illegal behaviour like theft and fraudulent activities, etc
• They are spending more money on drugs

Drug Addiction in Children

Children may not become addict to drugs at the first encounter, but if the persistent encounter continues, there are higher chances that they may become addicted to drugs.

Some studies show that children become addicted at the second or third time when they encounter drugs. Some surveys show that the most popular drug used by teenagers is alcohol. Teenagers become addict to alcohol very soon when they are engaged in it.

The same studies highlight that 60 percent of high school students consume alcohol regularly. This is called addiction at the first stage of the encounter.

Fifty percent of grade 12 are reported being drunk once in life, and 9 percent in grade 8 are written the same. These are some facts and figures from a survey of 2017. Whatever the situation is we can say that prescription drug use by age is not age-specific.

The same study includes that a 1.3% increase in the use of marijuana is seen among teenagers. The same survey shows 10% for grade 8, 26% for grade 10, and 37% for grade 12 students daily use marijuana. This report can be seen across all three age groups, an annual increase in the use of other illicit drugs. So, this report clarifies that prescription drug use by age is not limited to age.

Up to 25 years of age, the brain proceeds to grow, but if a person under the age of this category can damage his or her brain progress and may even damage the chemistry of the Prefrontal Cortex. This part of the brain’s significance for making decisions and responsible for planning future activities is high. Still, you need to pay attention to the fact that at teenage, making perfect decisions is lower than age 25. This is why a teenager who uses drugs may face more issues and struggle more than those who do not use drugs at the same age. Sometimes teenage drug abusers can not decide what to do with classwork or homework. This clarifies that prescription drug use by age has varieties of side effects such as the symptoms can be more dangerous at the childhood stage but can be mild as compared to the elderly stage of life.

Drug Addiction in Adults

You can say that “it’s clear that a teenager is using drugs because his or her brain is unable to decide what to do, but when you see an adult abusing drugs, what can you say, although he or she has a fully developed mind.” So, we come to know that prescription drug use by age creates problems at every stage for example it can create dependency.

Prefrontal Cortex, which is related to decision making, is also significant for the following processes.

• Attention: Attention means focusing on something or some idea while ignoring other things, which may be called distractions.
• Impulse Control: Impulse control can control the “self” while maintaining discipline and avoiding driven behaviours.
• Logical Thinking: Logic comes from our brain; this means the ability of our brain to take intelligent steps according to one’s rationale.
• Organized Thinking: Being organized is the preference of our mind. This part of our brain contains thoughts in a fashioned manner.
• Personality Development: Over time, a man becomes more acceptable, and his thoughts become mature. This is all because of our brain, and this part of the brain helps a lot in personality development.
• Managing Risks: How do we realize some dangers before they happen? How can we say that I’d be in gain or loss if I’d start this business? All this is because of the Confrontal Cortex. This part analyses the situation and determines the advantages or disadvantages.
• Short Term Memory: This is the ability to remember many things for a short period until you revise them and save them in long-term memory.

The desire to use prescription drug use by age, alcohol, and other drugs to cope with campus life’s stress, the formation of existing relationships, and a need for professional success can be daunting for younger people. This causes some tension in young people, but coping with these types of stresses is awful.

The drugs that appear to relieve tension and aid healing potentially prevent the creation of an ordinary mind, which youngsters require to cope with any of these concerns productively. So, we can say to gain the advantage of drugs the young people get addicted to drugs and face the disadvantage.

Drug Addiction in Elders

Alcoholism can be caused by prescription drug use by age, which is an area of drug misuse that is often ignored. Some people think that using a lot of alcohol does not make you addicted, but it is normal. In the majority’s point of view, alcohol addiction is the basis on which the building of drug abuse stands. As per NCADD’s report for the year 2017, despite accounting for just 13percent of the total population, seniors aged 65 years or older are given over 30percent of all drugs yearly. We can say that estimates suggest that elders are at a high risk of abusing drugs. 

Physicians suggest that drug abuse habit in elders is due to some critical psychological factors. Some environmental factors like parents in old age are limited to their bedrooms, no social activity, loneliness and other factors. Still, there is a need to research in this field so that the elders may get some peace of mind and do some physical activities to maintain fitness. There is a need to educate health workers and general people to provide specific drugs to seniors to avoid drug misuse. The best way to avoid developing an addiction to opioids and other narcotics is to properly administer all prescription drugs, as well as over-the-counter medications and supplements. 

Alcoholism in the elderly is a significant issue faced by the American nation. Alcohol addiction is said to be due to the same symptoms related to other diseases in the elder age. Like

• Mispronounced speech
• Lack of engagement in favorite activities
• Unhealthiness 
• Hatred or sadness
• Memory decline
• Confusion

Statistics of NCADD Related to Addiction in Elderly

 Here are some facts and figures related to the elders of America and their drug abuse:

1. The current alcohol or opioid epidemic impacts 2.5 million older adults.
2. Alcohol or opioid issues were the causes of 6 percent to 11 percent of aging patient admissions, including admissions in crisis departments and admissions to elderly hospitals.
3. Those widowers who are above the age of 75 in the USA had the most significant predominance of alcoholism.
4. Approximately half of nursing home patients deal with alcoholism.
5. Hospitalizations for alcoholic-related disorders are as common in older people as heart attacks.
6. Per year, nearly 17 million prescriptions for tranquilizers are issued for the elderly.
7. The most widely overused and misused prescription drugs by the elderly are benzodiazepines.

The United States of America is currently facing a fast-growing health issue: drug abuse in senior age people.

But, more research is needed to know that what are the exact reasons behind the abuse of drugs in the elders. This will help a lot in saving seniors from the risks of mental illness and other health issues. There is a need to educate health workers and general people to provide specific drugs to seniors to avoid drug misuse. Prescription drug use by age is not making the addiction worse at every stage but also keeps the individual at the very stage of addiction without boundaries of age or gender.

The Remedy for Drug Addicts of All Ages

If proper care and treatment are given to the victim at an early stage, they can save their lives from destruction. So, all you need to do is take care of your family and friends and take notes at the early stage. Otherwise, it can be more challenging to handle the situation. If prescription drug use by age is not treated at the proper time, it may change into a mental illness. So, be alert and save a life.  Contact us on our helpline, 844-675-1221. If not checked properly, Prescription drug use by age can be harmful.