Review at least three websites of professional organizations for mental health and related fields provided in this week’s list of Recommended Websites. Compare and contrast the key features of three mental health-related disciplines.

Issues Behind Addictive Drug Use

Prior to beginning work on this discussion, read the required chapters from the text and review the required articles for this week. Humans have engaged in psychoactive drug use, sometimes in formal (ceremonial) settings and sometimes recreationally, since before recorded history. It has only been in the last century or so that abuse and addiction have become large-scale problems. Using the literature and your own insights into these issues, formulate an argument as to why the problem has reached its current scale.  In your discussion, evaluate the employment of psychoactive drugs from the aspects of a risk-benefits analysis and ethical considerations such as the risk of addiction versus the cost of punitive action. Also explain purely pharmacological issues such as pharmacokinetics and routes of drug administration and dose. If needed, include factors such as supply, cultural attitudes to drug use, and the context of drug use.

Review at least three websites of professional organizations for mental health and related fields provided in this week’s list of Recommended Websites. Compare and contrast the key features of three mental health-related disciplines.

Address the following questions in your initial post:

• What are common themes found among each of the professional organizations represented in the websites?
• What are the distinctive themes for each organization?
• How might a professional from each of the disciplines represented in the websites you selected answer the following question “How would a professional in your organization contribute to the treatment of depression?”