Addiction & Substance Use – Ask The Expert

This FREE ‘Ask the Expert’ online event is exclusively for Teachers, and offers insights into the latest evidence-base around anxiety in children & adolescents. They are brought to you as part of an exciting new partnership between The Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH) and Coram Life Education (CLE), two charities who are dedicated to making a difference to the mental wellbeing of children and young people.

About the event

Adolescence is a key period in human physiological and psychological development. It is also a time when some young people will initiate substance use. A mix of genetic and social factors appear to explain why some young people are at risk of developing problems; young people who experience adversity or trauma are at an increased risk of developing a problematic relationship with drugs (Moustafa et al, 2018). There is evidence pointing to the disruptive effect that drug use has on education, relationships and other areas of development, particularly in adolescence (Degenhardt et al, 2016).

A class of drugs known as Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS) continues to present a risk to some young people even though most of these substances were made illegal following the introduction of the Psychoactive Substances Act in 2016. The term NPS is an umbrella term for synthetic drugs which claim to mimic the effects of other drugs, although, some NPS derivates will produce markedly differing effects compared to their more traditional counterparts.

Young people who develop problems with drugs will have issues that go beyond just the type of drugs used, whether that is coping with mental health, trauma or social problems. As anchor institutions in society, schools play an important role in supporting pupils who may be at risk of substance use. As teachers, it is important to be aware of some of the trends and risks of frequent and/or long-term drug use and its consequences to psychological wellbeing, in order to better support young people who are experiencing difficulties.

Key Takeaways

• Understand the trends and prevalence of substance use amongst young people
• Challenge some of the common myths around addiction and substance use
• Explore the associated risks and potential psychological consequences for young people who regularly use drugs