The University of Texas at Austin is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 52,384 students as of Fall 2022, it is also the largest institution in the system.
Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods that are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder. Differing definitions of drug abuse are used in public health, medical, and criminal justice contexts. In some cases, criminal or anti-social behavior occurs when the person is under the influence of a drug, and long-term personality changes in individuals may also occur. In addition to possible physical, social, and psychological harm, the use of some drugs may also lead to criminal penalties, although these vary widely depending on the local jurisdiction.
Alcohol abuse encompasses a spectrum of unhealthy alcohol drinking behaviors, ranging from binge drinking to alcohol dependence, in extreme cases resulting in health problems for individuals and large scale social problems such as alcohol-related crimes.
The University of Texas System is a Public university system in the U.S. state of Texas. It includes nine universities and five independent health institutions. The UT System is headquartered in Downtown Austin. Its total enrollment of nearly 240,000 students is the largest university system in Texas. It employs 21,000 faculty and more than 83,000 health care professionals, researchers and support staff. The UT System's $30 billion endowment is the largest of any public university system in the United States.
Drug rehabilitation is the process of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and street drugs such as cannabis, cocaine, heroin or amphetamines. The general intent is to enable the patient to confront substance dependence, if present, and stop substance misuse to avoid the psychological, legal, financial, social, and physical consequences that can be caused.
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center is a public academic health science center in Dallas, Texas. With approximately 23,000 employees, more than 3,000 full-time faculty, and nearly 4 million outpatient visits per year, UT Southwestern is the largest medical school in the University of Texas System and state of Texas.
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) is a public academic health science center in Houston, Texas, United States. It was created in 1972 by The University of Texas System Board of Regents. It is located in the Texas Medical Center, the largest medical center in the world. It is composed of six schools: McGovern Medical School, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, UTHealth School of Dentistry, Cizik School of Nursing, UTHealth School of Biomedical Informatics and UTHealth School of Public Health.
William Charles Powers Jr. was an American attorney, academic, and university administrator who served as the 28th president of the University of Texas at Austin, becoming the second-longest serving president in the university's history. He held the position from February 1, 2006, to July 2, 2015, when he was succeeded by Gregory L. Fenves. Before his death, Powers held the Hines H. Baker and Thelma Kelley Baker Chair at the University of Texas School of Law.
William Richard Miller is an American clinical psychologist, an emeritus distinguished professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. Miller and Stephen Rollnick are the co-founders of motivational interviewing.
Phoenix House is a nonprofit drug and alcohol rehabilitation organization operating in ten states with 150 programs. Programs serve individuals, families, and communities affected by substance abuse and dependency.
Reclaiming Futures is a non-profit organization aimed at assisting teenagers out of trouble with drugs, alcohol and crime. It began in 2001 with $21 million from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. As of 2010 it operates with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment and the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust. As of 2010 the group is based at the Regional Research Institute for Human Services of the Graduate School of Social Work at Portland State University in the United States, and operates in 26 communities across the U.S.
The Moody College of Communication is the communication college at The University of Texas at Austin. The college is home to top-ranked programs in advertising and public relations, communication studies, communication and leadership, speech, language and hearing sciences, journalism, and radio-television-film. The Moody College is nationally recognized for its faculty members, research and student media. It offers seven undergraduate degrees, including those in Journalism, Advertising, and Radio-Television-Film, and 17 graduate programs. The Moody College of Communication operates out of the Jesse H. Jones Communication Complex and the Dealey Center for New Media, which opened in November 2012.
Substance abuse prevention, also known as drug abuse prevention, is a process that attempts to prevent the onset of substance use or limit the development of problems associated with using psychoactive substances. Prevention efforts may focus on the individual or their surroundings. A concept that is known as "environmental prevention" focuses on changing community conditions or policies so that the availability of substances is reduced as well as the demand. Individual Substance Abuse Prevention, also known as drug abuse prevention involves numerous different sessions depending on the individual to help cease or reduce the use of substances. The time period to help a specific individual can vary based upon many aspects of an individual. The type of Prevention efforts should be based upon the individual's necessities which can also vary. Substance use prevention efforts typically focus on minors and young adults – especially between 12–35 years of age. Substances typically targeted by preventive efforts include alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, inhalants, coke, methamphetamine, steroids, club drugs, and opioids. Community advocacy against substance use is imperative due to the significant increase in opioid overdoses in the United States alone. It has been estimated that about one hundred and thirty individuals continue to lose their lives daily due to opioid overdoses alone.
Substance use disorder (SUD) is the persistent use of drugs despite substantial harm and adverse consequences as a result of their use. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) states that “Substance use disorder (SUD) is a treatable mental disorder that affects a person's brain and behavior, leading to their inability to control their use of substances like legal or illegal drugs, alcohol, or medications. Symptoms can be moderate to severe, with addiction being the most severe form of SUD”. Substance use disorders (SUD) are considered to be a serious mental illness that fluctuates with the age that symptoms first start appearing in an individual, the time during which it exists and the type of substance that is used. It is not uncommon that those who have SUD also have other mental health disorders. Substance use disorders are characterized by an array of mental/emotional, physical, and behavioral problems such as chronic guilt; an inability to reduce or stop consuming the substance(s) despite repeated attempts; operating vehicles while intoxicated; and physiological withdrawal symptoms. Drug classes that are commonly involved in SUD include: alcohol, caffeine, cannabis, hallucinogens, inhalants, opioids, sedatives, hypnotics or anxiolytics, stimulants, tobacco
Addiction is generally a neuropsychological disorder defining pervasive and intense urge to engage in maladaptive behaviors providing immediate sensory rewards, despite their harmful consequences. Dependence is generally an addiction that can involve withdrawal issues. Addictive disorder is a category of mental disorders defining important intensities of addictions or dependences, which induce functional disabilities. There are no agreed definitions on these terms – see section on 'definitions'.
Motivational enhancement therapy (MET) is a time-limited, four-session adaptation used in Project MATCH, a US-government-funded study of treatment for alcohol problems, and the "Drinkers' Check-up", which provides normative-based feedback and explores client motivation to change in light of the feedback. It is a development of motivational interviewing and motivational therapy. It focuses on the treatment of alcohol and other substance use disorders. The goal of the therapy is not to guide the patient through the recovery process, but to invoke inwardly motivated change. The method has two elements: initial assessment battery session, and two to four individual therapeutic sessions with a therapist. During the first session, the specialist stimulates discussion on the patient's experiences with substance use disorder and elicits self-motivational statements by providing feedback to the initial assessment. The principles of MET are utilized to increase motivation and develop a plan for further change; coping strategies are also presented and talked over with the patient. Changes in the patients behavior are monitored and cessation strategies used are reviewed by the therapist in the subsequent sessions, where patients are encouraged to sustain abstinence and progress.
Community reinforcement approach and family training (CRAFT) is a behavior therapy approach in psychotherapy for treating addiction developed by Robert J. Meyers in the late 1970s. Meyers worked with Nathan Azrin in the early 1970s whilst he was developing his own community reinforcement approach (CRA) which uses operant conditioning techniques to help people learn to reduce the power of their addictions and enjoy healthy living. Meyers adapted CRA to create CRAFT, which he described as CRA that "works through family members." CRAFT combines CRA with family training to equip concerned significant others (CSOs) of addicts with supportive techniques to encourage their loved ones to begin and continue treatment and provides them with defences against addiction's damaging effects on themselves.
Guided self-change (GSC) treatment has been accepted by American Psychological Association Division 12, Society of Clinical Psychology, as an empirically supported treatment.
Risky sexual behavior is the description of the activity that will increase the probability that a person engaging in sexual activity with another person infected with a sexually transmitted infection will be infected or become pregnant, or make a partner pregnant. It can mean two similar things: the behavior itself, and the description of the partner's behavior. The behavior could be unprotected vaginal, oral, or anal intercourse. The partner could be a nonexclusive partner, HIV-positive, or an intravenous drug user. Drug use is associated with risky sexual behaviors.
Prasanna Nair is an Indian-born doctor working in the United States. She works in primary health care with a specialty in pediatric endocrinology
