Substance Use and Addiction

College Students (Health Consequences of Alcohol Misuse)

1,825 college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die from alcohol-related unintentional injuries, including motor-vehicle crashes. 696,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are assaulted by another student who has been drinking. 97,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 report experiencing alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape. About 1 in 4 college students report academic consequences from drinking, including missing class, falling behind in class, doing poorly on exams or papers, and receiving lower grades overall.

Approximately 4.3 million people ages...

12-20 (11.3 percent of males and 11.4 percent of females) reported binge drinking in the past month.

Depression Addiction - Psychological Complications

A 2014 study linked lifetime use of a number of different substances to increased levels of depression.

Adults (Health Consequences of Alcohol Misuse)

An estimated 88,000 people (approximately 62,000 men and 26,000 women) die from alcohol-related causes annually, making alcohol the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States. More than 10 percent of U.S. children live with a parent with alcohol problems.

Health Consequences of Smoking

Cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Smokers are at greater risk for diseases that affect the heart and blood vessels (cardiovascular disease). Smoking can cause cancer almost anywhere in your body. Smoking can make it harder for a woman to become pregnant. Smoking can also affect men's sperm, which can reduce fertility and also increase risks for birth defects and miscarriage. Smoking can affect bone health. Smoking affects the health of your teeth and gums and can cause tooth loss. Smoking can increase your risk for cataracts. Smoking is a cause of rheumatoid arthritis.

Adverse circumstances: Addiction - Psychological Complications

Drug addiction might lead people to financial problems, homelessness, criminal activity, and prison.

Health Consequences of Drug Misuse

Drug use can also have indirect effects on both the people who are taking drugs and on those around them. This can include affecting a person's nutrition; sleep; decision-making and impulsivity; and risk for trauma, violence, injury, and communicable diseases. Drug use can also affect babies born to women who use drugs while pregnant. Broader negative outcomes may be seen in education level, employment, housing, relationships, and criminal justice involvement.

46% of U.S. adults say they have a family member or close friend who is addicted to drugs or has been in the past.

Identical shares of men and women say this (46% each), as do identical shares of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents when compared with Republicans and Republican leaners (also 46% each). There are no statistically significant differences between whites (46%), Hispanics (50%) and blacks (52%).

Psychoactive substances Addiction - Psychological Complications

Many drugs directly cause hallucinations and longer-term psychological effects that can lead to severe mental health problems.

Suicide Addiction - Psychological Complications

People use certain drugs as a way to attempt suicide, such as heroin.

Loneliness: Addiction - Psychological Complications

People with addiction tend to push away the people closest to them and this removes or drastically reduces an individual's support network when they need it the most.

Adolescents (Health Consequences of Alcohol Misuse)

Research indicates that alcohol use during the teenage years could interfere with normal adolescent brain development and increase the risk of developing Alcohol Use Disorder. Delayed puberty and/or negative effects on the reproductive system. In addition, underage drinking contributes to a range of acute consequences, including injuries, sexual assaults, and even deaths—including those from car crashes.

Drug use can have a wide range of short- and long-term, direct and indirect effects.

Short-term effects can range from changes in appetite, wakefulness, heart rate, blood pressure, and/or mood to heart attack, stroke, psychosis, overdose, and even death. -These health effects may occur after just one use. Longer-term effects can include heart or lung disease, cancer, mental illness, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, and others. Long-term drug use can also lead to addiction. -Drug addiction is a brain disorder.

Addiction - Psychological Complications

Substance use has a two-way relationship with mental health. Mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety, might occur ahead of substance use addiction. However, substance use can also set off the symptoms of these conditions as well as causing them to develop when they were not present before. Substance use addiction not only impairs a range of bodily functions but also changes the way a person thinks. Substance use alters how some brain circuits work.

In 2016, about 7.4 million Americans ages 12 and older (2.7%) reported behavior in the past year that meets the criteria of an "illicit drug use disorder."

These criteria include a drug user making "unsuccessful attempts to cut down on use" or continuing the habit "despite physical health or emotional problems associated with use." The illicit drugs included in the SAMHSA survey are marijuana, cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, inhalants, methamphetamine and the misuse of prescription drugs, such as pain relievers or stimulants.

14.4 million adults...

ages 18 and older have Alcohol Use Disorder. This includes 9.2 million men and 5.3 million women.

86.3 percent of people...

ages 18 or older reported that they drank alcohol at some point in their lifetime. - 55.3 percent reported that they drank in the past month.

26.45 percent of people...

ages 18 or older reported that they engaged in binge drinking in the past month.

54.9 percent of full-time college students...

ages 18-22 drank alcohol in the past month compared with 44.6 percent of other persons of the same age.

36.9 percent of college students...

ages 18-22 reported binge drinking in the past month compared with 27.9 percent of other persons of the same age.

Anxiety, restlessness, guilt, and shame Addiction - Psychological Complications

can also result from prolonged substance dependency and behavioral addiction.

29.8 percent of 15-year-olds...

report that they have had at least 1 drink in their lives

Smoking rates today are highest among...

the poor and less-educated, according to government data.

In 2011, 19% of adult Americans, or 43.8 million...

were current cigarette smokers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Vaping

•Before recent outbreak, vaping was on the rise in U.S., especially among young people. •An outbreak of lung injuries among e-cigarette users across much of the United States has focused national attention on the potential dangers of vaping.

Alcohol and Drugs

•Fewer teens these days are drinking alcohol compared to those in previous decades. •However, use of marijuana among 12th-graders is nearly as high as it was two decades ago.

Vaping

•Nicotine was the most commonly cited substance being used in e-cigarettes for most groups of students in 2018. •Across all four student levels, the overall shares who report vaping any substance during the last 30 days have increased since 2015.

Drug Overdoses

•While a relatively small share of Americans report having an illicit drug use disorder, the number and rate of drug overdose deaths has grown sharply in recent years, with opioids accounting for a rising share of these fatalities. •Opioids now account for more than six-in-ten drug overdose deaths.

Vaping

•Young adults are more likely than older people to vape, but less likely to smoke cigarettes. •Those under 30 were less likely than older Americans to believe vaping is harmful to one's health.