Prevalence of Opioid Use in Yong Adult: Treatment Regimen

Introduction

Opioid addiction among the young adults has become a national epidemic in the United States. This has been more prevalent in North Carolina where the statistics indicate that addiction, abuse, untimely deaths caused by overdose are common in urban areas. The problem in rural areas has been found to be worse in the rural areas due to lack of adequate resources to deal with concerns (Anderson & Jones, 2017). Various range of innovative interventions for drug abuse treatment have been proposed and developed which includes a video-based education that has been said as having potential of relapse (Ghouchani, Niknami, & Hojjat, 2016)

The history of addiction has been controversial even capturing the interest of religious groups which consider this as a sin rather than a disease. The earlier version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental disorders considered this as a form of the societally disapproved disorder that branches from the personality disorder (James & Jones, 2017). One of the treatment plans that have used in the prevention of relapse is the video-based education whose effectiveness is proved in a study (Ghouchani H., Niknami, Aminshokravi, & Hojjat, 2017).

Addiction has for long been a controversial issue even among the religious groups with some viewing it as a sin while others view it as a moral transgression. In its previous versions, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder considered addiction as a socially disapproved disorder (DSM I and II). DSM III viewed it as a theoretical, and descriptive diagnosis that needed tolerance (Nathan, Conrad, & Skinstad, 2016).

Comparison of Research Questions

The analyzed literature covers the topic of opioid and substance abuse through a variety of research questions. Csiemik & Rowe (2017) research focuses on determining what idea is needed for understanding and responding to addiction as a process of learning. The other article focuses on determining the drug dependence as a psychological and behavior symptom with an emphasis on dependence (Nathan, Conrad, & Skinstad, 2016). The article by Wani and Saukar in the research paper focuses on determining the excessive drugs largely effecting individual mental health (2016). Other research questions that have been researched in the other articles include an onset of drug abuse to create personality disorder, rapid progression effect, and problems.

Anderson & Reinsmith (2017) in their research sought to establish the process of drug use and how it affects people in committee criminal act. Other research question sought to determine how morphine and naloxone create withdrawal for drug-addicted individuals, what causes young adult personality disorder, and what is the constitute the education in the retention of addiction treatment?

For my study, I will be seeking to establish the prevalence of opioid use among the young adults in North Carolina. This will further be broken down to determine the treatment regimen for the opioid abusers. The specific research question be “What is the effectiveness of medication-assisted treatment regimen as compared to psychosocial intervention for treating opioid among young adults?

Comparison of sample populations

For my study, the sample population will include young Adults aged 24-40 years. The sample will be drawn from a population of opioid drug substance abuser. They will be divided into two groups, with one being subjected to medication treatment regimen while another group will be subjected to psychosocial intervention. This will allow a comparison of the differences in the effectiveness of these treatment regimen.

Other previous studies being considered in this have sample population drawn from various and diversified sources such as adolescents & parent addicts, addicts under morphine and naloxone treatment, people with different personality disorder, alcohol-dependent people, people in a mental health setting. It is clear that none of the studies had specifically addressed the prevalence of opioid abuse among the young adult and assessing the different treatment regimen that the affected youths are subjected to.

Limitation of the study

The study will face a number of limitations that may affect its successful progress. The limitation of this study will include:

1.    Not all respondents in the sample reside in the rehabilitation center thus it may be difficult to impose control to prevent the addicts from exposing themselves to factors that cause a relapse.

2.    The population from where the sample will be selected will be in different treatment regimen as they admitted or registered in the facilities at different times.

3.    The access to this drug may not very difficult as not all of them are illegal with some being used as prescription drugs for pain relieving. This means that these drug users may get access to these drugs thereby prompting a relapse to the problem of their abuse again.

Recommendations for Future Study

Further studies should be conducted to come up with an optimal treatment regimen for assisting young adults addicted to opioid use. Studies should also be conducted to develop pain relieving drugs with not tendency of forming addiction for those using. This could lead to discovery pain management methods with reduced risks of substance dependency

References

Anderson, J., & Jones, K. (2017). Opioid Addiction in Rural North Carolina: A Criminal Justice and Public Health Issue. International Journal of Socisal Science Studies.

Ghouchani, H. T., Niknami, S. A., & Hojjat, S. (2016). Effectiveness of the Video-based Education in the Retention Treatment . Journal of Substance Use, 253-259.

Ghouchani, H., Niknami, S., Aminshokravi, & Hojjat, S. K. (2017). Effectiveness of the Video-based Education in the Retention of Addiction Treatment. Journal of Substance Abuse.

James, A., & Jones, K. (2017). Opioid Addiction in Rural North Carolina A Criminal Justice and Public Health Issue. International Journal of Social Science Studies.

Nathan, P., Conrad, M., & Skinstad, A. (2016). History of the Concept of Addiction . Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 29-51.