Abstract: Drug use, nicknamed “white death” is considered a social phenomenon, which has grown in recent years in our country and is difficult to stop at this time. The most vulnerable categories are the students and the students, included in the groups aged 15-25 years. In the psychological profile of the young consumer, neurotic features, affective dependence, frustration intolerance, separation anxiety, isolation and affective dependence, irritability, timidity and hypersensitivity dominate. There are many causes that push young people towards drug use such as: curiosity, temptation, desire for strong feelings, boredom, disorientation, loneliness, lack of friends, death of a loved one, personal problems, family disruption etc.

Adolescence is the age of physical and mental transformation with many small and big social challenges, which the adolescent must face when he passes outside the boundaries of the security of the parental home.

Group pressure, the desire to become an adult, the intention to look more confident, the reduction of daily pressure, the imitation of the media and movies, are some of the most important reasons for a novice child to use drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, without actually knowing the consequences of this act in the future. In his work, “Our Children and Drugs,” Ross Campbell defines the drug as coffee “a substance whose use turns into habits and directly affects the brain’s nervous system,” change the disposition, the perception or the state of consciousness ”.

Drug use can gradually lead to drug abuse that is defined by the same author as “misuse or exaggeration of a drug, to the point where it becomes a panacea or the main focus on which one lives.”

In the psychological profile of the young consumer, neurotic features, affective dependence, frustration intolerance, separation anxiety, isolation and affective dependence, irritability, timidity and hypersensitivity dominate. There is an opposition of the self against the world, which it considers an aggressive, unfair and oppressive element. The solution that the adolescent in question finds to resolve these conflicts is the withdrawal into a world built, determined and maintained by drugs. This world makes him happy, satisfies his primary instincts, fades his conflict for a while.

Gilles Ferreol in “Adolescents and drug addiction” argues that the moment of the appearance of illicit drug use, as a phenomenon with social dimensions, originates in the 1950s-’60s, during the dramatic cultural changes of the Western world. This phenomenon has spread in all communities, progressing extremely rapidly among young people, which is due to several factors.

Thus, the main risk factors that can cause drug use could be: all emotional disorders, anxieties, depressions, insecurities, frustrations and interpersonal conflicts. The fact that some young adolescents use drugs still shows that there are endless barriers between people and generations. During adolescence, depression is common. At this age, the moments of sadness appear easily, but they disappear as quickly.

The dangerous substances used by the adolescent to overcome these moments lay a trap. They make him feel better at the moment, but over time depression returns with much more severe symptoms, creating a vicious circle that increases the dose and frequency of consumption. Consume a dose of the drug today because it feels sad. It is better for a few hours, but when the effect of the drug passes the sadness is even greater. Then take another dose because he saw that he was feeling well. Possibly a larger one to maintain the well being for longer. When the effect is sadness is even stronger. There is also the conviction that they will never overcome this condition and that the only chance to feel good is to consume alcohol or drugs. This is how the vicious circle of addiction-addiction is installed.

Surrounding is also a factor of vulnerability. Very rarely do young people drink or use drugs for the first time alone. Most of the time, these behaviors appear in the group and give the participants the impression that they have something in common, they have shared certain experiences. The biggest problem is that young people do not stop to experience the sensations offered by alcohol or drugs but turn the ritual into a habit.

For fear of not suffering, many adolescents build a wall between the cognitive, intellectual and emotional side. They can seem cold, without feelings, robotic. In this case, the use of drugs or alcohol appears, which comes as a savior to fill the void created by the lack of emotions. The adolescent fears not to suffer, not be left out and uses toxic substances to meet their emotional needs because he has the impression that he is in control and that the drug is a loyal friend who will always be with him.

Drug use, nicknamed “white death” is considered a social phenomenon, which has grown in recent years in our country and is difficult to stop at this time. The most vulnerable categories are the students and the students, included in the groups aged 15-25 years. There are many causes that push young people towards drug use such as: curiosity, temptation, desire for strong feelings, boredom, disorientation, loneliness, lack of friends, death of a loved one, personal problems, dismantling the family (divorce of parents, death of a member family, entourage, etc. At the same time, “adolescents are deprived of adequate information regarding the danger of drug use, but also of specialized psychological help to overcome the moments of existential crisis”

According to Ross Campbell, “many other teens will invoke peer pressure as an excuse for drug use. This is actually a way to suspend the responsibility of the drug user. Unfortunately, accepting the excuse with peer pressure can lead to the ignoring of neurological problems (organic injury to the killer), which may be the cause of drug use. ”

After some studies it was found, moreover, in the drug users, the presence of an uncontrolled and demonstrative emotional state, in the sense of alienation from the others and of a weak control of impulsivity. Self-knowledge and self-definition, solving their own problems is limited, besides, by the adolescent’s cognitive immaturity.

Campbell, Ross (2001). Our Children and Drugs. Bucharest: Curtea Veche Publishing House.

Ferreol, Gilles (2000). Adolescents and drug addiction. Iasi: Polirom Publishing House.

1 Student, 2nd year, Faculty of Communication and International Relations, Specialization Psychology, Danubius University of Galati, Romania, Address: 3 Galati Blvd., Galati 800654, Romania, Tel.: +40372361102, Fax: +40372361290, Corresponding author: marianaalexa1990@gmail.com.

New Trends in Psychology, Vol. 2, no 1/2020, pp. 35-38