Emotions, thoughts and life experiences of adolescents using psychoactive substances regarding substance USE

Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the emotions, thoughts and life experiences of adolescents who use psychoactive substances. Method: This study was carried out in a descriptive phenomenological design, which is one of the qualitative research methods. In the study, criterion sampling method, one of the purposeful sampling methods, was used. The sample of the study consisted of 15 adolescents who were treated for a history of substance use in Akdeniz University Alcohol and Substance Addiction Research and Application Center Polyclinic between March 2021 and December 2021. The data were collected by face-to-face individual interview method. Personal information form and semi-structured interview form were used to collect data. The content analysis approach proposed by Graneheim and Lundman was used in the analysis of the data. Data were analyzed using the N-VIVO 10 Pro package program. Results: After the content analysis, four main themes and ten sub-themes were determined: Experiences before substance use (sub-themes: life before substance use, predisposing factors for substance use), substance use process experiences (sub-themes: symptoms of addiction, problems caused by substance use, family attitude in the substance use process, meaning attributed to the substance) and treatment process experiences (motivation, difficulties experienced in the treatment process, support needs, treatment results), prevention recommendations. Conclusion: In this study, the experiences of adolescents with substance use disorder in the process of using substances were revealed in all dimensions. In addition, adolescents made some recommendations to protect children and adolescents from substance use. Interventions can be planned based on the experiences and suggestions of adolescents with substance use, and studies in this area can be increased. Key words: adolescent, life experience, psychiatric nursing, qualitative research, substance use disorder