The Secret Diary of The Beautiful Mind

  The International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, or World Drug Day, is marked on 26 June every year to strengthen action and cooperation in achieving a world free of drug abuse. The aim of this year’s campaign is to raise awareness about the importance of treating people who use drugs with respect and empathy; providing evidence-based, voluntary services for all; offering alternatives to punishment; prioritizing prevention; and leading with compassion. The campaign also aims to combat stigma and discrimination against people who use drugs by promoting language and attitudes that are respectful and non-judgmental. This year’s World Drug Day is a call to : Raise awareness about the negative impact of stigma and discrimination on people who use drugs and their families. Raise awareness about the AIDS and hepatitis epidemics among people who use drugs and expand and strengthen HIV and hepatitis prevention programmes. Promote evidence-based, voluntary services for all peo

  On 31 May 2023, WHO and public health champions around the world will come together to celebrate World No Tobacco Day (WNTD). This year’s theme is “We need food, not tobacco”. The 2023 global campaign aims to raise awareness about alternative crop production and marketing opportunities for tobacco farmers and encourage them to grow sustainable, nutritious crops. It will also aim to expose the tobacco industry’s efforts to interfere with attempts to substitute tobacco growing with sustainable crops, thereby contributing to the global food crisis. Tobacco growing and production exacerbates food insecurity. The growing food crisis is driven by conflicts and wars, climatic shocks, and the economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Structural causes like the choice of crop also have an impact, and a look into tobacco growing reveals how it contributes to increased food insecurity: i. Across the globe around 3.5 million hectares of land are converted for tobacco growing each yea

  The main club drugs are: Flunitrazepam (roofies) GHB (liquid ecstasy) Ketamine (special K) LSD (acid) MDMA (ecstasy or molly) Methamphetamine (meth) Club drugs contain a combination of agents that affect your brain and central nervous system. All of them can lead you to make choices or do things you wouldn’t otherwise do. Stimulants make you excitable. They can cause you to feel open, aroused, and unafraid. Depressants slow your nervous system and affect your ability to react. Hallucinogens affect your ability to think, feel, judge, and act. They make it hard to know what’s real or not. They can cause you to forget periods of time. Methamphetamines are stimulants that cause excitement. They can make you hyper, anxious, or paranoid.

  Effects of hallucinogen withdrawal and overdose Effects of hallucinogen withdrawal: Long-term abuse of a hallucinogen may cause one to endure a series of unpleasant physical and psychological symptoms when not under the influence of the drug of choice. These symptoms are known as withdrawal and may include the following effects: Diminished speech Impaired reflexes Seizures Agitation Memory problems Muscle twitches Anxiety Confusion Depression Effects of hallucinogen overdose: If a hallucinogen is consumed to the extent that the body can’t safely metabolize it, then there is risk of experiencing an overdose. An overdose should be viewed as a potentially life-threatening problem, so one should seek emergency medical attention if any of the following effects become apparent: Loss of muscle control Tachycardia Coma Convulsions High blood pressure Muscle rigidity Rapid eye movement Seizure High pain tolerance

  Signs and symptoms of hallucinogen abuse Users of hallucinogens could present with any of the following behavioral, physical, cognitive, or psychosocial symptoms are present. Behavioral symptoms: Spending a lot of time getting, using, and recovering from hallucinogen abuse Attempting but failing to stop the abuse of hallucinogens Abusing hallucinogens in situations when it is dangerous to do so Continuing to use hallucinogens even after experiencing negative consequences as a result Violent or aggressive behaviors Physical symptoms: Nausea Vomiting Dizziness Increased blood pressure Perspiration Numbness in arms and legs Respiratory distress Vision problems Increased heart rate Muscle spasms Cognitive symptoms: Poor judgment Amnesia Delusions Poor focus Paranoia Poor concentration Dissociation Hallucinations Psychosocial symptoms: Loss of interest in enjoyable activities Agitation Mood swings Social withdrawal Aggression Irritability

  Complications of Nicotine Smoking - Tobacco smoke contains more than 60 known cancer-causing chemicals and thousands of other harmful substances. Even "all natural" or herbal cigarettes have harmful chemicals. You already know that people who smoke cigarettes are much more likely to develop and die of certain diseases than people who don't smoke. But you may not realize just how many different health problems smoking causes: Lung cancer and lung disease - Smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer deaths. In addition, smoking causes lung diseases, such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Smoking also makes asthma worse. Other cancers - Smoking increases the risk of many types of cancer, including cancer of the mouth, throat (pharynx), esophagus, larynx, bladder, pancreas, kidney, cervix and some types of leukemia. Overall, smoking causes 30% of all cancer deaths. Heart and circulatory system problems - Smoking increases your risk of dying of heart and blood ves

  Depending on how long you’ve smoked and how many cigarettes you have a day, symptoms of nicotine withdrawal can last anywhere from several days to several weeks. Nicotine withdrawal involves physical, mental, and emotional symptoms. The first week, especially days 3 through 5, is always the worst. That’s when the nicotine has finally cleared out of your body and you’ll start getting headaches, cravings, and insomnia. Most relapses happen within the first two weeks of quitting. If you can get over that hump, the physical symptoms will start to go away -- but you’ll still be dealing with mental and emotional challenges such as anxiety, depression, and irritability. Those will also taper off after a few weeks. Physical Withdrawal Symptoms in Nicotine Withdrawal - Everybody is different, and symptoms of withdrawal depend on many things, like how long and how many packs a day you’ve smoked. But for the most part, you can expect to have these common physical issues when you quit: Appetite

  The benefits of quitting smoking are almost instant. As soon as a person stops smoking their body begins to recover in the following ways: After 1 hour: In as little as 20 minutes after the last cigarette is smoked, the heart rate drops and returns to normal. Blood pressure begins to drop, and circulation may start to improve. After 12 hours: Cigarettes contain a lot of known toxins including carbon monoxide, a gas present in cigarette smoke. This gas can be harmful or fatal in high doses and prevents oxygen from entering the lungs and blood. When inhaled in large doses in a short time, suffocation can occur from lack of oxygen. After just 12 hours without a cigarette, the body cleanses itself of the excess carbon monoxide from the cigarettes. The carbon monoxide level returns to normal, increasing the body’s oxygen levels. After 1 day: Just 1 day after quitting smoking, the risk of heart attack begins to decrease. Smoking raises the risk of developing coronary heart disease by lower

Both risk and protective factors affect youth at different life stages, from pregnancy through young adulthood, as well as well as in various domains including individual, peer, family, school and community. When not properly identified and dealt with early on negative behavior can further a child’s risks for drug use and other problems. Effective preventative interventions reduce risk and increase protection at each developmental stage, as well as within each domain. The possible impact of any particular risk or protective factor changes as a person ages. Specific risk and protective factors in particular domains, such as the home environment, can have a greater influence on younger children, while peer level risk and protective factors can be more important for adolescents.Early life family dynamics can either increase the risk for drug use, given poor nurturing or ineffective parenting, or reduce the risk through developing strong initial child parent bonding and providing clear, co

  Key findings associated with cannabis use, cannabis-induced, and cannabis-related disorders include the following: Mood :Acute use may be associated with feelings of euphoria, uncontrollable laughter, increased appetite, and difficulty concentrating. In chronic use or withdrawal, patients may report a depressed mood characterized by apathy, lack of motivation, irritability, loss of interest in typical activities, difficulty concentrating, and possibly isolation. Affect : Acutely, affect may span the spectrum from euphoric to anxious. In chronic use, affect may be constricted or flat. Thought process and content : As in any mental status examination, assessing the patient for the presence of suicidality or homicidality and taking appropriate action is critical. Patients may demonstrate flight of ideas, loose associations, and, in some cases, delusions and hallucinations. Cognition : In both acute and chronic use, difficulty concentrating and memory impairment are common. Physical sig

  The “Equalize” slogan is a call to action. It is a prompt for all of us to work for the proven practical actions needed to address inequalities and help end AIDS. These include: Increase availability, quality and suitability of services, for HIV treatment, testing and prevention, so that everyone is well-served. Reform laws, policies and practices to tackle the stigma and exclusion faced by people living with HIV and by key and marginalised populations, so that everyone is shown respect and is welcomed. Ensure the sharing of technology to enable equal access to the best HIV science, between communities and between the Global South and North. Communities will be able to make use of and adapt the “Equalize” message to highlight the particular inequalities they face and to press for the actions needed to address them. Data from UNAIDS on the global HIV response reveals that during the last two years of COVID-19 and other global crises, progress against the HIV pandemic has faltered, r

  Cannabis and Mental Illness - Cannabis use is associated with psychotic symptoms, schizophrenia, anxiety, and depression.When compared with those who have never used cannabis, young adults who began using the drug at age 15 or younger are twice as likely to develop a psychotic disorder, and four times as likely to experience delusional symptoms. A dose‐response relationship was found; that is, the longer the duration since initial cannabis use, the higher the risk of psychosis‐related outcomes. Cannabis and Cognitive Effects - Cannabis‐dependent teens show short‐term memory deficits as well as delayed recall of visual and verbal information. Teens who continue to use cannabis heavily show poorer complex attention functioning as well as slower psychomotor speed, poorer sequencing ability, and difficulties in verbal story memory. Cannabis and the Respiratory and Cardiovascular Systems Because cannabis is frequently smoked, bronchial and lung diseases are not uncommon. There is a four‐

The active ingredient in cannabis, delta‐9‐ tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), is only found in small portions of the cannabis plant, in the flowering tops and in some of the leaves. After consuming cannabis, users typically report the feeling of euphoria and relaxation.As those effects subside, some users report feeling sleepy or depressed, and others may feel anxious or panicked, or have paranoid thoughts or experience acute psychosis depending on pharmacogenetic characteristics and vulnerability. Cannabis use is linked to deficits in tasks of executive functioning. It has negative effects on memory, including the ability to form new memories, and on attention and learning. These effects can last up to 28 days after abstinence from the drug. Functional imaging of brain shows adults who use cannabis heavily often exhibit deficits in executive functioning, attention, learning, and memory within a few days following use. Science confirms that the adolescent brain, particularly the prefrontal c

  Cannabis is one of the most widely used psychoactive substances. It has a rich history spanning thousands of years and varying representations throughout human civilization. The more prevalent term ‘marijuana’ typically refers to the dried leaves, stems, and flowering buds of the two more commonly consumed strains of sativa and indica. A few active components of cannabis, namely delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabinol (CBN), and cannabidiol (CBD), have been found to produce its intoxicating effects, which include feelings of euphoria, altered perception, relaxation, and wellbeing. In India, cannabis is commonly known to have three distinct derivatives; a) ganja (marijuana), the dried flower buds or fruits of the female cannabis plant, b) charas (hashish), the resinous exudation secreted by the plant c) bhang, a grinded paste of only the matured leaves. The use of cannabis has steadily grown in recent years, and more than 200 million people worldwide used cannabis in 2019 alone

  Cocaine is also known as coke, C, flake, snow, crack, and blow. It is most commonly snorted, but can also be smoked (also known as “freebasing”) or dissolved in water and injected. It's popularity as a recreational substance is in part due to its perceived positive effects on mood, motivation, and energy—heightening concentration, increasing sociability, decreasing shyness, and more. Cocaine acts in the deep areas of the brain that reward us for “good behavior” – such as activities that lead to food, sex, and healthy pleasure. Stimulating this brain area with cocaine feels good and can create a powerful craving to use more and more cocaine. Repeated cocaine use leads to tolerance – higher and higher doses needed to attain the same effects, dependence, and addiction. There is no amount of cocaine usage that is considered safe. Cocaine has extremely negative effects on the heart, brain, and emotional wellbeing of users. Many people who use cocaine become physically and psychologica

  How is alcohol use disorder treated? Treatment may include a combination of: Behavioral therapies: Counseling, or talk therapy, with a healthcare provider like a psychologist or mental health counselor can teach you ways to change your behavior. Motivational, cognitive-behavioral, contingency and 12-step facilitation are the most commonly used techniques. Medications: Medicines approved are naltrexone and acamprosate for the treatment of alcohol use disorder. Topiramate and gabapentin can also decrease cravings in some people. An older medication — disulfiram — is also used. These medications seem to help decrease the background obsessional thinking around alcohol. Support groups: Group meetings with other people who have alcohol use disorder can help you stay sober. Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings are usually free and are available in many places.

  Neurological Complications of Alcohol Use Neurological Complications of Alcohol Use - 1. Alcoholic Neuropathy      a. Acute Alcoholic Neuropathy      b. Alcohol-related - Compressive Neuropathy - Excessive alcohol consumption is traditionally associated with ‘Saturday night palsy’, caused by compression of the radial nerve against the humerus for several hours.      c. Chronic Alcholic Neuropathy - The onset of symptoms is insidious and symmetric, predominantly sensory, in the form of dysesthesia, burning sensation and burning pain on the soles of the feet that later develops into cramp in the calves and the hands. Motor symptoms usually manifest later, and are characterised by muscle weakness and atrophy, especially in the distal muscles of the upper or lower limbs. Vegetative vascular and skin defects (sweaty, atrophic, glossy, almost hairless skin) with associated dysautonomia are also typical. 2. Withdrawl symptoms and delirium tremens - The manifestations of withdrawal syn

  5 subtypes of patients having alcohol addiction: Young Adult Subtype - 31.5%, largest group. Have lower comobidity and family history. Binge pattern of drinking observed, less help seeking behaviour. Functional Subtype - 19.5%. More likely to hold jobs and relationships. Depression, cigarette smoking common. Highest education, income amongst patients having alcohol concerns. Intermediate Familial Subtype - 18.8% - high rates of family history of substance use and also of psychological issues and other substance use. Hold on to jobs but less help seeking behaviour. Young Antisocial Subtype - 21%. Almost half of them have antisocial personality disorder, along with other psychological issues. High rates of other substance use disorder. Lowest levels of education, employment, and income, but highest help seeking behaviour. Chronic Severe Subtype - 9.2%. 70% have family history of substance use, high antisocial personality diagnosis and other psychological and substance use concerns. Aff

  The last 2 diagnostic criteria that we will look at while making a diagnosis of dependence is salience and harmful use. Salience means importance. Progressive neglect of alternative pleasures or interests because of psychoactive substance use, increased amount of time necessary to obtain or take the substance or to recover from its effects; Harmful use: Persisting with substance use despite clear evidence of overtly harmful consequences, such as harm to the liver through excessive drinking, depressive mood states consequent to heavy substance use, or substance-related impairment of cognitive functioning. Efforts should be made to determine that the user was actually, or could be expected to be, aware of the nature and extent of the harm. Any 3 of the 6 criteria, if present in the last 12 months indicates presence of dependence, a condition that requires medical attention to deal with.

  Addictions are characterised by dependence on substance or activity. There are certain features that indicate dependence, 2 which we saw last time - craving and difficulty controlling use. We will have a look at 2 more this time and the last two - salience and harmful use next time. Withdrawal features - A physiological withdrawal state if substance use is stopped or even reduced, as evidenced by: the characteristic withdrawal syndrome for the substance; or use of the same (or a closely related) substance with the intention of relieving or avoiding withdrawal symptoms; This is one of the main reason why people using substance are unable to move beyond it, despite its adverse impact on physical and mental health, on relationships and professionally as well. The discomfort felt and the knowledge that substance will relieve it, creates a viscious cycle that spirals in the downward direction. Tolerance - This reflects that body is getting used to the substance being consumed. Here, incre