The Leading Cause of Accidental Death Among Young People? It Isn’t Suicide or Car Accidents. It’s Overdosing.

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Drug addiction is definitely on the rise, but a key part of drug use is the danger of overdose, a problem that is becoming more and more prevalent among young people. According to new research, overdosing on drugs and alcohol remains the biggest cause of accidental death among young adults. The research was reported on by Business Insider and it states that overdoses are the most common causes of accidental death among young adults, ahead of car accidents and even suicide and that alcohol and drug overdoses claim some of the youngest victims in our society. The mistake in assumptions regarding drug use and alcoholism is that overdoses are only for addicts with very serious addictions and behavior, but the truth is is that it happens far more often than people believe, even among young adults who are not considered heavy users. In addition there is a belief that overdoses are not a common occurrence, but the facts paint a much different picture proving that pretty much any drug user despite their level of dependence is at serious risk of overdosing and potentially dying as a result.

The Business Insider article’s data comes from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Some of it’s findings are rather obvious, one finding being that alcohol and drugs are a very serious problem, and that opiate drugs like prescription painkillers and heroin are the most problematic of drugs taken by young adults. A finding in the article that may shock you is the fact that in the US there are nearly 20,000 deaths related to opiate medications and illegal street drugs. Obviously something needs to be done about the sheer amount and availability of these types of drugs, and the subsequent patterns that lead many young people from stealing opiates from family members, to buying their own on the street and eventually not getting the same high anymore and buying a much more powerful and dangerous drug like heroin. Surprisingly though, according to the article, it isn’t the opiates that are killing the most people. It’s the alcohol. It kills more people than any other specific drug and despite the fact that it’s legal it is still highly addictive and very dangerous, more dangerous in fact than many of the opiate substances that are out there poisoning young people and leading to tragic, preventable and accidental deaths.

Even though an accidental death from drugs or alcohol can affect just about any user, regardless of level of use and dependence, addiction to drugs, alcohol or both puts you at a very critical level of risk. If you suspect that you may have a problem, or perhaps you are seeing the signs in someone else, now is the time to act and help yourself or that person in your life who is spiraling out of control. Accidental deaths are a serious problem, but there are other ways to lose your life due to drinking and drug use. Your liver might fail, or you may develop certain types of cancers and other chronic, life-threatening diseases like Hepatitis or HIV. All to say that there are so many risk factors when you drink too much or allow drugs to take over your life, and they need to be addressed as soon as possible in order to get the help that will save you from complications, overdoses and disease.

 

VIA:DIGITALJOURNAL

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Sobriety Foundation