ABSTRACT The aim of this thesis is to explore the impact of treatment on male addicts who attend Narcotic Anonymous (NA) meeting between the ages of 45 to 60 years that have been free from drug addiction without relapse in 10 years. The interest is to really understand how the addicts have been impacted and what factors have contributed to their being able to remain free from drug abuse without relapse. The research is a qualitative study. Semi structured interviews based on interview guide that are made up of six open ended questions was used to generate information (Primary data) from eight interviewees. The data generated was analyzed using qualitative content analysis in hermeneutic perspective. Also, Maslow’s need hierarchy theory and early research was used to analyze the data that were generated. It was found that the former addicts experienced improvement in their psychological health identity and social situation. Furthermore, they were impacted by different treatments like cognitive behavioral therapy, environmental therapy and the NA 12-step program. The findings of the study also indicates that the interviewees gained job, education and driving license because of the drug abuse treatment they have undergone. In addition, having a partner, stable family and regular attendance of NA meeting have helped the interviewees to remain free from drug use in 10 years. Furthermore, from the findings, improved psychological health, improved changes in identity and social situation are themes found from the coding and categorization from qualitative content analysis method. The main theme found is getting new ways of gaining control of addiction in relation to improved psychological health, improved changes in identity and improved social situation.

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published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

A study of data from 85 undergraduate and graduate students involved in church youth groups revealed a significant relationship between degree of religious belief and drug using behavior and attitudes. Highly religious subjects disapproved of drinking alcoholic beverages and used cigarettes and alcohol less than subjects professing lower religiosity. Protestant subjects had more negative attitudes and less personal use of tobacco and alcohol than Catholics. Similar findings pertaining to drug using behavior and attitudes were reported between groups for all other substances.

The focus of this study was to determine if certain personality traits could be detected within a population of substance-abusing adolescents. The Depression (d), Psychopathic Deviant (Pd), Paranoia (Pa), and Hypomania (Ma) scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) were utilized as indicators of psychopathological traits for this project. It was found that a significant degree of elevation on these scales was achieved by the subject, when compared to an ideal normative sample. It was concluded that this indicated the presence of certain psychopathological personality traits within this population. The implication that personality differences within this population can be detected could lead to a greater understanding of substance abuse among adolescents, and the potential for more appropriate counseling approaches with such substance abusers.

Chronic pain affects approximately 100 million Americans. Opioids are the mainstay therapy for the treatment of chronic pain. While physicians and patients alike are apprehensive about using opioids due to their side effects including respiratory depression and addiction, 259 million opioid prescriptions were written in 2012. Although opioids are the most efficacious available analgesics, they increase both positive and negative reinforcement, ultimately leading to addiction. The pro-nociceptive neurotransmitter, Substance P (SP) and its corresponding receptor (NK₁R), are not only found on pain pathways to promote pain but also found in the ventral tegmental area associated with dopamine neurons. Studies have shown that Substance P can potentiate positive reinforcement of opiates and may play a role in opioid reward. Here using in vivo microdialysis, we show that systemic morphine significantly increases SP release in the VTA, an effect mediated by ventral midbrain GABAergic neurons. Substance P administered to the VTA results in a significant increase in dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens (NAc). Using CRISPR-Cas9 knockdown of NK₁R in the VTA we prevent the induction of opiate reward as tested using a conditioned place preference paradigm (CPP). Finally, we developed a novel opioid agonist/NK₁R antagonist bifunctional compound, TY032, which inhibits acute and chronic pain in male rats. Importantly, TY032 microinjection into the VTA did not increase extracellular dopamine release in the NAc and did not produce a positive CPP score. These data indicate dual targeting of the dopamine reward circuitry and pain pathways with multifunctional opioid-NK₁R compounds may be an effective strategy in developing future analgesics that lack the potential for abuse.

The problem with which this investigation is concerned is that of determining the drug knowledge levels and attitudes toward drug abuse of fifth and sixth grade schoolchildren.

The problem was to identify the differences in attitudes of public school students at various educational levels toward selected drugs, and to determine the relationship between those attitudes and students' knowledge of drugs.