Exploring Human Services Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Exploring Human Services - Essay Example Apart from drug abuse, alcohol abuse and tobacco abuse also come under the label of substance abuse. Substance abuse is increasing day by day all over the world because of increasing stress levels at family, society and workplace. The current generation is tied up with so many commitments and responsibilities at family, society and workplace and it is difficult for them to fulfill all the commitments. The failure or pressure to fulfill the commitments increases the stress levels of an average person which finally lead him towards substances like alcohol, drug or tobacco in order to get at least some temporary relaxation. â€Å"Abused substances produce some form of intoxication that alters judgment, perception, attention, or physical control. The 1996 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse estimated the number of users of illicit drugs in the United States to be about 13 million. In addition, the survey estimated that 10% of Americans abuse or are dependent on alcohol, and 25% of Americans smoke cigarettes† (Substance Abuse Overview). This paper briefly explains the substan ce abuse through the perspectives of human services in New York City. Substance abuse can be prevented with the combined effort of family, school, community, individual and peer. If either one component of the above mentioned domains neglect the substance abuse issue, the prevention would be much more difficult. The persons who are already addicted to substance abuse must be given proper treatment and at the same time prevention also should be given priority. Substance abuse can cause problems not only to the person who is addicted, but even for the relatives or other family members as well. For example, an alcohol or drug addicted pregnant woman can cause severe damages to the physical and mental development of the fetus. Moreover, substance abusive behavior of either of the parents can cause lot of damages to the children irrespective of their age or sex. So the