{"id":18752,"date":"2025-02-22T17:21:23","date_gmt":"2025-02-22T16:21:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/?p=18752"},"modified":"2025-05-20T19:09:26","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T18:09:26","slug":"five-common-false-beliefs-about-drug-use-users-and-addiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/2025\/02\/five-common-false-beliefs-about-drug-use-users-and-addiction\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Common False Beliefs About Drug Use, Users, and Addiction"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div id=\"block-pt-content\" class=\"block\">\n<article data-history-node-id=\"5031066\">\n<div class=\"blog-entry--header\">\n<div class=\"blog-entry--header-second\">\n<h2 class=\"blog-entry__subtitle--full\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Dangerous but common misconceptions can prevent crucial early addiction treatment.<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"blog-entry--body\">\n<div class=\"blog-entry--body-second\">\n<div class=\"blog_entry__key-points\">\n<h3 class=\"blog_entry__key-points-title\">Key points:<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"blog_entry__key-points-item-list\">\n<li class=\"blog_entry__key-points-item\">Misconceptions and the ignoring of research-based evidence prevent crucial early treatment of addiction.<\/li>\n<li class=\"blog_entry__key-points-item\">Drugs of abuse cause health, life, and relationship problems with many long-lasting effects.<\/li>\n<li class=\"blog_entry__key-points-item\">Teen and young adult drug prevention is necessary and needs funding.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"field-name-body\">\n<p>Research published in high-quality peer-reviewed journals reveals key information on the realities of addiction, exposing pervasive myths and misconceptions, as in these examples.<\/p>\n<h2>False Belief 1: Drug experimentation is normal for teens and shouldn\u2019t alarm parents.<\/h2>\n<p>Drug use and experimentation among teens often is ignored by many\u2014even parents, who then may be unaware that\u00a0<em>any\u00a0<\/em>use places adolescent\u00a0brains in jeopardy.\u00a0For today\u2019s teens, life often feels overwhelming, but avoiding\u00a0alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and other drugs is their one best choice to promote continued healthy physical and mental development. Preventing or delaying all teenage substance<em>\u00a0<\/em>use not only reduces their current risks for\u00a0depression,\u00a0psychosis, and school\/learning problems, but it also significantly decreases their probability of addiction as adults.<\/p>\n<p>Harvard\u2019s Sharon Levy, MD, MPH, and founding National Institute of\u00a0Drug Abuse\u00a0Director Robert DuPont, MD, strongly advocate a zero-tolerance approach to youth substance use. They emphasize that\u00a0<em>no amount<\/em>\u00a0of drug use is safe for young people. They promote the\u00a0One Choice\u00a0initiative encouraging adolescents to avoid substance use: alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and other drugs.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s now known that THC in marijuana interferes with the developing brain circuits responsible for regulating behavior, leading to\u00a0increased risk-taking and poor decision-making. Even infrequent\u00a0teen\u00a0use can impede judgment, increasing the probability of risky behaviors and accidents. Adolescents also are more likely than adults to develop\u00a0cannabis use disorder (CUD)\u00a0due to their heightened neuroplasticity during this developmental stage. The resulting impairment may lead to academic underperformance and problematic interpersonal relationships.<\/p>\n<h2>False Belief 2: Addiction is a personal weakness.<\/h2>\n<p>Addiction is not about people being weak-minded. It\u2019s far more complicated. Becoming addicted depends on the drug used, dose, route, frequency, and risk factors like ages of users. Also, the same drug at the same dose affects people differently because of personal differences, as well as the presence\/absence of\u00a0traumatic\u00a0past life experiences.<\/p>\n<p>Yale\u2019s Joel Gelernter identified\u00a0genetic variants associated with vulnerability to addictions. However, genetic characteristics themselves interact with environmental factors in developing substance use disorders (SUDs). As Nora Volkow, director of NIDA, has\u00a0said, \u201cAddiction is a complex disease of a complex brain; ignoring this fact will only hamper our efforts to find effective solutions &#8230;\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>False Belief 3: People must hit &#8220;rock bottom&#8221; to recover from addiction.<\/h2>\n<p>No, no, and no! Roadside alcohol testing has prevented thousands of deaths and helped many people with alcohol use disorders (AUD) obtain help, sometimes by coercion of courts. About 50 percent of those arrested for DUI have an AUD. Users often deny they have a problem with drugs or alcohol and believe they are truthful.\u00a0But they are\u00a0lying\u00a0to themselves.<\/p>\n<p>Addiction is a chronic, relapsing condition driven by changes in brain circuitry, particularly in areas controlling reward,\u00a0stress, and\u00a0decision-making. While some people seek help after suffering dire consequences, others are compelled into treatment by the courts, based on a past offense.\u00a0Waiting to hit \u201crock bottom\u201d\u00a0increases major risks of harming the person\u2019s relationships, job, and health\u2014and strengthens the hold of the drug over the person.<\/p>\n<h2>False Belief 4: Addiction treatment never works.<\/h2>\n<p>Researchers from the University of British Columbia and Harvard Medical School recently analyzed survey data from nearly 57,000 participants in 21 countries over 19 years, providing clear data. They discovered that the\u00a0<em>number-one barrier<\/em>\u00a0to treatment was addicted people themselves: Most were in\u00a0denial\u00a0and did\u00a0<em>not\u00a0<\/em>recognize they needed treatment.<\/p>\n<p>Alcoholics Anonymous\u00a0is often successful, non-judgmentally providing new members a roadmap, role models, hope, and social connections. Successful people actively involved in AA complain that their friends kept asking them why they &#8220;weren\u2019t\u00a0cured yet&#8221; since they went to so many meetings. But\u00a0<em>going\u00a0<\/em>to meetings\u00a0<em>is\u00a0<\/em>what works.<\/p>\n<p>Even among experts, there\u2019s no consensus on what constitutes successful treatment. To some, success is that the person is still alive and hasn\u2019t been rushed to the emergency room because of an overdose in the past 6 months or year. To others, it is taking treatment medications. And to still others,\u00a0<em>only<\/em>\u00a0abstinence and a full resumption of all family and work obligations counted as success.<\/p>\n<p>Another issue is that most people with SUDs have multiple addictions. Even when they overdosed, most took multiple drugs. It\u2019s also true that many people come to treatment also needing treatment for other medical, addiction, and\u00a0psychiatric\u00a0problems. Yet only rarely are patients evaluated and treated for all issues.<\/p>\n<h2>False Belief 5: Overdoses of drugs don\u2019t cause brain damage.<\/h2>\n<p>Drugs of abuse can harm the brain. Overdose survivors may suffer from undetected brain damage and hypoxic brain injury caused by opioid-induced respiratory depression. As a society, we better understand hypoxia as associated with drowning or choking than its much more common occurrence in drug overdoses with loss of consciousness.<\/p>\n<p>Recent studies estimate that at least half of people using opioids have illicitly experienced a non-fatal overdose or witnessed an overdose. People who regularly use drugs are at elevated risk of brain injury due to accidents, fights, and overdoses. A single\u00a0fentanyl overdose\u00a0could cause hypoxia, brain injury, and\u00a0memory\u00a0and\u00a0concentration\u00a0problems.<\/p>\n<p>Overdoses with counterfeit pills, cocaine, methamphetamine, xylazine, or heroin usually also include fentanyl, making neurologically compromising overdoses more common.<\/p>\n<h2>Summary<\/h2>\n<p>Myths and misconceptions increase\u00a0stigma\u00a0and decrease the likelihood that someone with an addictive illness will receive prompt, effective treatment. We need\u00a0early intervention and treatment\u00a0during the preaddiction phase. Bottom line: Preventing teen and young adult use is crucial.<\/p>\n<div id=\"block-adblock-16\" class=\"pt-ad pt-ad--300x250 d-block d-none d-md-block d-lg-block d-xl-block block\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"region__content-main-additional\">\n<div id=\"block-blogentryaboutauthor\" class=\"block block--content-main-additional\">\n<div class=\"layout-container--grid--content-main-additional\">\n<div class=\"layout-content-main\">\n<div class=\"about-author-card\">\n<div class=\"about-author__photo\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/intl\/contributors\/mark-s-gold-md\" hreflang=\"en\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"Mark Gold M.D.\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn2.psychologytoday.com\/assets\/styles\/thumbnail_115x140\/public\/2024-01\/Mark%20Gold%20.png.jpg?itok=65_nH2eS\" alt=\"Mark Gold M.D.\" width=\"115\" height=\"140\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"about-author__copy\">\n<p><strong>Mark S. Gold, M.D.,\u00a0<\/strong>is a pioneering researcher, professor, and chairman of psychiatry at Yale, the University of Florida, and Washington University in St Louis. His theories have changed the field, stimulated additional research, and led to new understanding and treatments for opioid use disorders, cocaine use disorders, overeating, smoking, and depression.<\/p>\n<div class=\"about-author-online\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Source: https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/intl\/blog\/addiction-outlook\/202502\/5-common-false-beliefs-about-drug-use-users-and-addiction<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dangerous but common misconceptions can prevent crucial early addiction treatment. Key points: Misconceptions and the ignoring of research-based evidence prevent crucial early treatment of addiction. Drugs of abuse cause health, life, and relationship problems with many long-lasting effects. Teen and young adult drug prevention is necessary and needs funding. Research published in high-quality peer-reviewed journals [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73,63,32,129,82,37,60,46,119,40,101,27,19,134],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-addiction","category-brain-and-behaviour","category-crime-violence-prison","category-culture","category-economic","category-hiv-injecting-drug-users","category-marijuana-and-medicine","category-parents","category-prevalence","category-prevention-research","category-psychiatric-drugs","category-social-affairs-papers","category-usa","category-vaping"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18752\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}