Information for Young People
Substance Misuse
Definition of a substance
A substance is anything legal or illegal that you put inside or on your body, which will make you feel, think or behave differently.
It’s not just the obvious stuff like alcohol and illegal drugs, it could be prescription medication, over the counter medicines and even caffeine packed drinks. All sorts of things can become harmful and affect your health and wellbeing if they aren’t used properly.
"Any chemical substance that brings about a change in a person’s emotional state, body functioning or behaviour."
Institute for the Study of Drug Dependency
If you are concerned about your alcohol or drug use call 01709 836047 for more advice, support and information.
How can they effect you ?
Some substances give you a feeling of confidence and will cause you to do things that you normally wouldn’t do. Others will make you feel sad or miserable. We know that alcohol, if used often enough can make you feel sad or miserable, particularly the day after. Others, such as caffeine may appear to cause no effects other than to keep you awake or to concentrate for longer, but because this happens, our bodies need rest and if we don’t get it we can feel tired after we have stopped using them. This can have an impact on our mental health and the way we deal with everyday things.
Other drugs, such as cannabis, can make us feel relaxed or “chilled”, but it also affects our mental health, mood and concentration. Medicines bought over the counter and prescribed can also affect us in a similar way.
You can’t really be sure how a drug will affect you until you take it. If you don’t like it or it doesn’t like you, it’s a bit late. If you’re unsure, don’t take it.
Drugs are usually put into one of 3 categories:
Stimulants - 'stimulate' the brain and central nervous system. They usually increase alertness and physical activity. They include amphetamines, cocaine, and coffee and can be addictive. People who stop drinking coffee often suffer withdrawal symptoms.
Depressants - slow down the activity of the brain and nervous system. For medical purposes they can be prescribed to calm nerves, relax muscles and can be useful for sleeping disorders such as insomnia.
Hallucinogens - interfere with the brain and central nervous system in a way that results in radical distortions of a user’s perception of reality. Profound images, sounds and sensations will be experienced, but they will not actually exist. These are vivid hallucinations.
Substances are also categorised by class. There are legal (alcohol), prescribed, and then class A, B and C. It is worth remembering that the term ‘legal high’ does not mean it is safe to use or legal to possess or supply.
The effects aren’t just on how we feel when we take them, they can directly affect our safety and cause us to behave differently as they wear off and the ‘morning after the night before’. Someone else's substance use can pit us at risk too. You can end up doing things that you would never usually do and put yourself at risk of harm, (for example having unprotected sex or getting in a car with someone who has also used something.) They can also be costly. You may end up spending all your money so have none left over for things you really need or want, which can leave you excluded from other things your friends may be doing. Taking drugs affects your skin, your weight, your general physical and mental health, your safety and your work, (including school and college work.)
Get the facts on individual substances and more information on classes of substances and legal issues at www.talktofrank.com
If you are concerned about your alcohol or drug use call 01709 836047 for more advice, support and information.
If you think that you may have had unprotected sex or would like information on contraception visit: www.s-wordrotherham.co.uk
Mixing substances
When we take more than one substance whether illegal or legal, prescribed or bought over the counter, it increases the effects that the substances have on our bodies. So for example, if we take antibiotics and then drink alcohol, this causes the antibiotics to leave our bodies quicker than they should because alcohol causes us to go to the toilet more often, it can also cause you to be sick. This causes the antibiotics not to act as efficiently as they should on the infection. Combinations of substances affect the way they are absorbed into our blood stream and some can be dangerous and may cause us to stop breathing or could act like a poison.
“When you take any drug, its like playing Russian roulette with your life. But taking these different concoctions is like putting another bullet in the barrel. It’s like using your body as a test tube in a chemistry lab and is potentially lethal. You can’t possibly know what effects the drugs will have on your body, and mixing them only makes them more unpredictable. If you get a dodgy combination it can stop your heart beating and you could be dead within minutes.”
- Les Vasey
Director of drug-testing company Modern Health Systems
If you are concerned about your alcohol or drug use call 01709 836047 for more advice, support and information.
Choices
We are often encouraged to take substances by others. This could be a doctor encouraging you to take a medicine, friends offering you something so you don’t feel left out, or parents and relatives offering us alcohol at special occasions. This can all end up with some very mixed messages!
If you don’t want to take a substance and don’t feel able to just say no, you can make excuses. You could say you’ve had it before and it has a bad effect and makes you ill. You could say you’re on medication or don’t want another row with your parents. Plan some of them and rehearse them through so that you feel confident when you’re saying it.
We all like to have friends and be liked, but are they really your friends if they encourage you to do something that may cause you harm or put you at risk? Getting into a car with someone who has consumed alcohol or taken drugs is a good example of this. They don’t want to hurt you but by drinking or taking drugs and driving they increase the risk to you. (Drug driving is just as illegal as drink driving.)
If you are unsure it is usually better not to, or to get more information before you make a decision. For example, you could say to the doctor you would like someone to come in with you or check out details of the drug people are talking about at www.talktofrank.com
If you are concerned about your alcohol or drug use call 01709 836047 for more advice, support and information
Talk about it
Ideally it would be great to have an open and honest conversation with parents about alcohol and drugs and (particularly with alcohol) agree some clear boundaries on what is acceptable and what isn’t. It can be hard for adults to bring the subject up so if you find the opportunity maybe you could start the conversation with them. They could be worried that you know more than they do so talking about it together means you both get the facts - consider looking at the internet together.
There might be someone else you feel you can talk things through with and there may be people at school or college that you trust.
If you are using a substance you may worry about being caught by your parents, carers or someone in authority. Some people including your parents or carers may have tried the same as you when they were your age and are now aware of the risks that come with using a substance, including alcohol.
Most parents, carers and people in authority don’t want you to get into trouble or come to any harm. Although you may think that your parents, carers or teacher may be upset when they find out, they are mainly concerned that you may come to harm. Try talking about it with them, or looking at the information together and chatting about it. You will probably be able to teach them some things as well.
If you are concerned about your alcohol or drug use call 01709 836047 for more advice, support and information.
How to minimise risks
The best way is to avoid alcohol and drugs. That way you are making conscious decisions that aren’t blurred by any substance. If you decide you are going to use a substance follow these simple rules.
- Always get the facts - follow the instructions if it’s a medicine or look at www.talktofrank.com if it’s not. Remember legal highs are generally neither safe nor legal.
- Start drinking later - if you can’t wait until you’re 18, go out later in the evening and set a deadline to stop drinking at a certain time or after a certain amount.
- Don’t drink or use drugs before you go out - this is called pre-loading and is responsible for an increased rate of accidents, violence and sexual assaults.
- Go home earlier - you can think of an excuse, just make sure you can get home safely.
- Try to establish your limit - so you stay in control and not the substance.
- Don’t mix your substances - for all the reasons listed above, this includes alcohol!
- If you don’t know what’s in it don’t take it - most drugs are ‘cut’ with things that we wouldn’t like the sound of (talcum powder, baby laxatives, cleaning solutions) so be careful.
- Don’t use a substance then drive
- Don’t get into a car with someone you know or suspect has taken a substance
- Don’t take any risks with your own safety
- Don’t leave your mates
- Consider ‘where’ you are - Are you safe? Can you get home? Also bear in mind that a group is often noisy and can cause distress to residents.
