Social Determinants of Health (SDH) affecting various forms of Addiction:
Poverty & Drugs: Poverty has been seen to be directly linked to addiction, mainly substance abuse. The National Bureau for Economic Research has supported this finding following its research on this particular subject. The study has even brought forward another important observation which states that poverty is not only directly related to addiction, but addiction is a cause of poverty (Yim, 2015). On one hand, when a person becomes addicted to drugs he loses his job, indulges in buying drugs and hence gets engulfed by poverty. On the other hand, poverty leads to stress and the poor people then try to get involved with substance abuse. Therefore, it can be said that drug abuse and poverty are cyclical (Seacliff Recovery, 2013). One leads to the other. It is a vicious cycle, a person who gets trapped into this may struggle all his life to come out of it, but the hard truth is that it becomes almost impossible to get rid of the cycle. Poverty can also be directly linked to homelessness and therefore it can be said that the homeless people are at higher risk of becoming addicted than those with a secure home and family environment (Keane, Magee and Lee, 2014).
According to National Council on Drug Abuse, one of the most important risk factor of substance abuse is poverty. A person living hand- to- mouth may resort to drugs in order to cope up with the emotional and physical stress that he or she has been going through. In a research done by a renowned researcher it was found that cocaine and marijuana significantly increase the chances of poverty. One of the worst sufferers are the poor young women who are often forced to indulge in sexual relationships with strangers for monetary gains under the influence of drugs. One of the worst effects of drug abuse is that the person withdraws himself from the real world and hence making treatment accessible to him becomes almost an impossible task (Smith, 2016).
(Social Determinants of Health, 2016)
Education & Alcohol: Education and alcohol are intricately linked to each other. In a research conducted with different people belonging to different education levels , it was found that the children who were school dropouts were more likely to get addicted to alcohol and develop lifelong dependence on the same than those who were college graduates (Crum, Helzer and Anthony, 1993). The findings were consistent with the results obtained by other in their individual studies (Alcohol Rehab, 2016). Early indulgence in alcohol among the youngsters who were relatively less exposed to education leads to multiple health and psychological issues among them. The reason behind such early involvement could be negative peer pressure and the stress of not being able to up with the pressure of studies. The children find alcohol as an option to escape from the extremely high level of pressure that they are subjected to in school and even at home. The children who do not excel in studies are bound to face humiliation not only in their schools but also at their home and in the neighbourhood. The children develop a feeling of guilt and shame which increases their mental pressure further to the next higher level. In such situations, a child becomes highly vulnerable and is easily convinced by negative company, he finds solace in different forms of addiction. The momentary relief that he experiences becomes a need and develops into a habit. The child thus gets used to it and wants to experience it again and again. This leads to the entrapment of the child into the mesh of alcohol indulgence and the child finds it impossible to free himself of this trap. Educating children at school level is thus, highly important. An early education can save the children from getting involved into an addiction which may cost someone’s life.
Racism and Drug Abuse: Another major social determinant associated with addiction is racism. Studies have shown that African Americans are more prone to get arrested for drug rules violation than their white counterparts. The major reason for this could be the humility these black skinned has to face in the hands of the whites. The trauma of being abused repeatedly on racist grounds force the African Americans to take help of drugs in order to control the anger, frustration and pain that they are dealing with each and every day. Even these black skinned people are more targeted when it comes to police checking. The intense racist discrimination in many parts of the world subject these people to the high extent of mental trauma. They develop inferiority complex about themselves and find themselves trapped among people who treat them with disregard and disrespect. The constant hampering of their self esteem makes them to cut off from the world around and keep themselves indulged in a world of their own which is filled with illegal drugs and abuse. It is important to sensitize the people about the need to remove racist feelings from their minds and accept everyone whole heartedly and treat everyone with dignity and honour (Tennessee Intervention Help, 2016). The harmful effects of drug abuse are engulfing millions of lives everywhere, these lives need to be saved through dedicated efforts (Degenhardt and Hall, 2012).
References
Alcohol Rehab. (2016). Education Level and Substance Abuse. [online] Available at: http://alcoholrehab.com/drug-addiction/education-level-substance-abuse/ [Accessed 7 May 2016].
Crum, R., Helzer, J. and Anthony, J. (1993). Level of education and alcohol abuse and dependence in adulthood: a further inquiry. Am J Public Health, 83(6), pp.830-837.
Degenhardt, L. and Hall, W. (2012). Extent of illicit drug use and dependence, and their contribution to the global burden of disease. The Lancet, 379(9810), pp.55-70.
Keane, C., Magee, C. and Lee, J. (2014). Childhood trauma and risky alcohol consumption: A study of Australian adults with low housing stability. Drug and Alcohol Review, 34(1), pp.18-26.
Seacliff Recovery. (2013). The Connection Between Poverty and Drug Abuse - Seacliff Recovery. [online] Available at: http://seacliffrecovery.com/addiction-recovery-blog/the-connection-between-poverty-and-drug-abuse/ [Accessed 7 May 2016].
Smith, P. (2016). Poverty & Drug Abuse. [online] Ncda.org.jm. Available at: http://ncda.org.jm/index.php/publications/drug-talk/66-poverty-a-drug-abuse [Accessed 7 May 2016].
Social Determinants of Health. (2016). [image] Available at: http://image.slidesharecdn.com/socialdeterminantshealthdrtroutman-091013132535-phpapp01/95/social-determinants-health-by-dr-adewale-troutman-29-728.jpg?cb=1255440550 [Accessed 7 May 2016].
Tennessee Intervention Help. (2016). Effects of Racism on Addiction | interventionhelptennessee.com. [online] Available at: http://www.interventionhelptennessee.com/intervention-guide/effects-of-racism-on-addiction [Accessed 7 May 2016].
Yim, M. (2015). Social Determinants of Health | Healthy People 2020. [online] Healthypeople.gov. Available at: https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/social-determinants-of-health [Accessed 7 May 2016].
