PROPOSED TOPIC: How is drug use related to mental illness describe and how do drug use and cases of psychological Illness vary among individuals of different races and ethnicity, age, gender and the area in which they reside in?
Drug abuse is the excessive and compulsive use of drugs or substances in a self-damaging way that may lead ultimately to dependence or addiction which may cause inevitable damage to body organs or the brain and end up causing mental illness (Boing et al., 2014). Continued use of drugs always leads to short-term and long alternations in the mind which may include depression, aggression, paranoia, hallucinations among other problems. Most people who are diagnosed with mental disorders have their cases associated with excessive drug use. People who are drug dependent are twice likely to get involved with diseases caused by anxiety and bipolar disorders. Drug abuse dates back to the slavery and human trafficking period in the U.S. the slaves subjected themselves to unlimited drug usage as means of escaping realities of their lives.
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Men are more susceptible to drug abuse than women. However, women are more likely to get dependent on drugs and are highly vulnerable to drug craving and relapses which are primary or unique addiction cycle phases (Boing et al., 2014). The gender play in the drug addiction menace is intertwined with the mental ability of men and women.
Age has been found to be a contributing factor to drugs abuse. Women of color are more susceptible to facing abuse or being victims of racial discrimination and violations like physical violence, rape and to the extent of being stalked by intimate partners ( Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, 2004). Women between the ages of 18 to 45 are most likely to be more vulnerable to drug use that causes fatal mental illnesses. There is a definite link between mental illness and drug abuse. (National Bureau of Economic Research) Has shown that patients with mental disorders at one point in their life were accountable for having consumed 69% alcohol, 84% cocaine, and 68% cigarettes; this shows a clear relationship in mental health disorders and drug use because each drug is in possession of its unique side effects to the body. Most drug users are known to use drugs for self-medication. These addicts use drugs to improve their mental health to cure symptoms that they conclude to be uncomfortable with or destructive by using alcohol and drugs which unfortunately cause more damages to patients ( Smith, Mazure & McKee, 2014) . The peddlers fail to tackle the underlying issue permanently and thus the need to continually keep the supply of drugs running.
RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS: Drug can be linked to most mental illnesses and thus making psychological disorder patients more likely to suffer mental illness and the places, gender, and race in which people exist in contributes to this factor.
NULL HYPOTHESIS: Drug use cannot always be linked to mental illnesses, and the race, gender, and the places in which someone resides do not count as contributing factors in drug usage.
This study leaves us to the discretional factor of the impacts of drug abuse cases among the societal members. For instance, there is need to determine the correlation between the increase in the number of mentally ill admissions in the hospitals against the rise in the name of drug abuse reports. The health reports of the mentally ill persons and their history with drugs will be sufficient is providing the required data in determining these variables. On the contrary, it is upon this research to prove that despite the increased number of drug abuses, there are entirely no correlations with the rising mental cases. The analysis should, therefore, find independent evidence to prove that mental conditions are naturally caused and not a matter of drug misuse.
PARTICIPANTS: The participants in this research are selected from Texas and California area.
In this study, several observations are made. First, there should be individuals who have been known to have a drug usage history. These individuals should be of different races and ages. The tracks should include women of color; that is, African/American, Mexican Americans, Hispanic/Latinos (the ones in the area) and the white women in the same city or region. This community of Hispanic/Latinos is one of the most growing ethnics groups in the U.S; the population makes up of this area includes approximately 33% of adolescents and children residing in poverty ( Smith, Mazure & McKee, 2014) . These groups of kids are likely to attend low-end schools (Boing et al., 2014). Kids in such places are also less likely to have medical insurances. Thus, their health is adversely affected.
The participants would be selected from the Texas California region due to the diversity of races in this region ranging from whites to Hispanic/Latinos. The two chosen groups would be the whites who include the Hispanic/Latinos and the whites. The Hispanic/Latinos represent women of color while the white women will represent the normal or the group whose mental health is kept at a constant due to less abuse or dependence on drugs ( Lo, Monge, Howell & Cheng, 2013) . The age of the participants will range from 18 to 45 years, and they tend to offer insight of what potential age women abuse drugs or whose mental health is compromised due to the drug addictions. The expected participants among the Hispanic/Latino are expected to be 75%, and the white women are supposed to be about 27.8%.
THE SAMPLING METHOD: Snowball sampling will be used to distinguish between these two races.
This project aims to gain information on how drug use and mental illnesses relate, and how it affects women of different races, ethnic groups, age and the how the places they reside in matters. Te selected group of individuals is required to indicate potential members with same characteristics to participate in this study. The area of sampling will be in Texas and Colorado because these two places have the highest number of women under drug use and also because of the presence of different ethnic groups thus providing sufficient individuals for this study.
This sampling method will enable the research to get more accurate results because the people selected by the initial participant will give information that is first hand and that will be able to represent other community members facing the same level due to contact ( Emerson, 2015) . The two groups selected can identify the layers in the research study. These numbers can be adjusted however equal amounts of the races of women will be crucial in establishing the difference in their exposure to drug use and mental illnesses. The estimated numbers are a hundred and ten Hispanic/Latino and fifty-five for the white women.
The best way to contact the respondents or participants would be through emails that should be followed up by individually contacting the potential participants. This is the best sampling method, and all other sampling methods may not work efficiently. The referral process that is chained enablers the research to reach this population of individuals that is difficult to sample.
References
Boing, A. C., Peres, K. G., Boing, A. F., Hallal, P. C., Silva, N. N., & Peres, M. A. (2014). EpiFloripa Health Survey: the methodological and operational aspects behind the scenes. Revista Brasileira de Epidemiologia , 17 , 147-162.
Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. (2004). Clinical guidelines for the use of buprenorphine in the treatment of opioid addiction.
Emerson, R. W. (2015). Convenience sampling, random sampling, and snowball sampling: How does sampling affect the validity of research?. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness (Online) , 109 (2), 164.
Lo, C. C., Monge, A. N., Howell, R. J., & Cheng, T. C. (2013). The role of mental illness in alcohol abuse and prescription drug misuse: a gender-specific analysis of college students. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs , 45 (1), 39-47.
Smith, P. H., Mazure, C. M., & McKee, S. A. (2014). Smoking and mental illness in the US population. Tobacco control , 23 (e2), e147-e153.
