Substance Abuse (Chapter 12)

Smoking, alcohol abuse and use of illicit drugs are known to be leading causes of premature and preventable deaths worldwide. Heart disease, various cancers, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, periodontal disease, asthma and other diseases have been frequently associated with smoking. Likewise alcohol abuse can lead to insomnia, memory problems, increased injury, liver disease, depression, hypertension, stroke and coronary heart disease. Illicit drug use can lead to twitching, sleep disturbance, over or under eating, depression, anxiety and paranoia and social withdrawal. Despite the substantive evidence for the impact that these substances have on the individual’s health, their families, communities and health services there is limited evidence of the effect in people with intellectual disabilities. Within this chapter we examine health promotion with regards to smoking, alcohol and illicit drug use. There is growing concern about the number of people with intellectual disabilities having access to such substances and the impact that these have upon their health as more people are supported to live in the community. This chapter identifies the risk factors for using such substances and examines the health promotion strategies that can be used to prevent people with intellectual disabilities from smoking, abusing alcohol and using illicit drugs.