Handout: Mental Health and addictions What is our population? Our group is going to demonstrate the population which is mentally ill people particularly addicted to the drugs. When the individual is in positive esteem shows interest in the life and there is more cohesion in the life then he is mentally healthy. If the mind remains frustrated, feel burn out and there is very low level of self esteem then there is mental illness. Drug addiction is a disorder that affects the brain and affects the organs throughout the body, it leads to consequences such as diseases like heart disease and affects functioning of organs which may cause death. When people are getting addicted to the use of the drugs which include the things like tobacco, alcohol and lot more than they are suffering from the mental illness. There are many reasons which took the person towards the use of drugs. Generally, people take drugs to feel good, to feel better, to do better and for curiosity or social pressure. Stats: It is observed that 1 in 5 Canadians experiences a mental illness or addiction problem 23% of students in Ontario were sold drugs at school within last year which is 219,000 students 42% of students who did surveys said they did drugs within the last year The kind of substances that students have used: 58% used alcohol; Cannabis (marijuana) 25%; Nonprescribed use of prescription pain relievers such as codeine, Percocet, Percodan, Demerol, or Tylenol #3, 17%; Tobacco 11.7%. 60% of illicit drug users in Canada are between 15 and 24. It is found that 54% of females in Toronto dies prematurely due to over dosage of drugs. Canadian studies show that the cost of the drug abuse runs $22.8billion per year. More than the 700,000 people stated they are undergoing harm only due to the usage of drugs. Issues: Mentally ill people face lot of challenges in daily life. They are unable to focus on the everyday activities like self care, household activities and relations with dear ones. Anxiety, hallucinations and get addicted to alcohol seems as a big issue for this population. The drug addicted population are often suffering from the things like disability, family discord and suicides. Oppression: People who have the drug conviction are kept away from the rights and opportunities to which other people have access. They are stereotyped as disabled people who are not willing to perform any work. They go through the feeling of the inequality, segregation and exploitation due to the addiction. Agencies: ADAPT (Halton, Ontario) Canadian addiction rehab (Toronto, Ontario) Canadian centre on substance abuse (Ottawa, Ontario) Canadian centre for addiction and mental health (Toronto, Ontario) References 1. https://sencanada.ca/content/sen/committee/381/soci/rep/report1/repintnov04vol1part2e.htm 2. https://www.camh.ca/en/driving-change/the-crisis-is-real/mental-health-statistics 3. https://charityvillage.com/cms/organizations/addictions-and-substance-abuse
