Webinar: Adolescents, young adults and opioid use: When is it a problem? What to do?
Description: Experimenting and pushing limits are normal developmental parts of adolescence and young adulthood. This may encompass experimenting with various substances that are easy to acquire and, unfortunately, that includes opioids. Whether they're buying pills and heroin off the street or getting prescriptions from medical professionals, how can we best prevent opioid abuse in this population and provide the best intervention and treatment when there is a problem? This webinar will explore 1) vulnerabilities to developing an opioid addiction 2) warning signs that a young person is misusing a prescription 3) conversations (that take 3 minutes or less) that can help prevent misuse of mediation and 4) various options for treatment with the pros and cons of each.
Presenter: Matthew Felgus MD, FASAM, is Board Certified in Addiction Medicine and Psychiatry, President of the Wisconsin Society of Addiction Medicine (WISAM) and a Fellow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM.) He has been treating individuals with substance use, abuse and dependence for over 20 years. Before he went to medical school, Dr. Felgus was a drug counselor and brings that perspective to treating his patients. He has a clinical faculty appointment to the UW Department of Psychiatry, and has been lecturing for the past 18 years on addiction issues to doctors and doctors-in-training as well as nurses, occupational therapists, physical therapists, and whoever else will listen. He has a Bachelor in Science in Psychology from Penn State University, received his MD from Hahnemann University in Philadelphia, completed a Psychiatry residency at the University of Connecticut, and a Research Fellowship in Substance Abuse at the University of Connecticut Health Center.
