Harmful Effects of Drugs

Introduction

Drug abuse and addiction have no geographic or social boundary; millions of people worldwide, rich and poor, urban and rural, women and men, abuse or become addicted to drugs annually. Both legal drugs, such as tobacco and alcohol, and illegal drugs, such as cocaine and heroin, can be abused. The most common drugs of abuse are listed below. 1. Legal or illegal drugs acquired from unauthorized sources: i. Analgesic opiates; ii. Analgesic synthetic narcotics; iii. Stimulant drugs; iv. Cannabis drugs; v.

Hallucinogens; vi. Propoxyphene. b. Legal psychoactive drugs prescribed under a doctor's supervision: i. Sedatives; ii. Hypnotics; iii. Anxiolytics; iv. Stimulants. People begin using drugs for a variety of reasons. They can be influenced by social, psychological, or environmental factors. Many individuals start consuming illegal drugs as children. Drug dependency is a chronic, recurring condition evidenced by a compulsive tendency to use a substance despite destructive effects. Whether it's prescription drugs, street drugs, or alcohol, people can become addicted to them. Drug addiction, like many other diseases, is frequently linked to an increase in the possibility of getting caught. It's a problem in adolescence. Some of the people who are addicted face a lack of resources to support their addiction. They are presented with a stark set of options: seek help, continue to use chemically, or perish. The first contact with the drug and the taker's personal descent into addiction can cover a variety of steps. The person can begin using drugs out of curiosity or experimentation. They can take drugs out of peer pressure, or they can hand over substances since their spouses do. They can alter substances because they crave the joy, stress relief, or counteractive pleasure they provide in various conditions that can overwhelm the more conventional joy. Once they start using drugs, long-term use may result in personality changes, impair judgment, generate confusion, and disrupt social interactions. In the case of certain drugs, addiction can eventually develop. Halted use of the medication is resolved after the addiction is triggered. Withdrawal symptoms occur when prolonged regular use of the medication is stopped. These symptoms can be very stressful. Withdrawal symptoms depend on the type of medication used and the length of time it has been used. Some of the most commonly noted withdrawal symptoms include nausea, vomiting, fatigue, weakness, tiredness, depression, irritability, and restlessness.

Physical Health

Drug abuse touches all the systems in the body and can bring on an array of physical health problems. Many drugs and substances can either damage the organs or systems they impact or increase the body’s work over time, leading to wear and tear. The result for many is a prematurely aged body. This section looks at a range of substances and their effects on the body, starting with alcohol, tobacco, and over-the-counter and prescription medications. It then covers the illegal substances. Although there is data for many of these effects, little research has been done into some areas.

When a person uses any of these substances, noradrenaline signals increase heart rate and may dangerously raise blood pressure. This increase in exertion can push up blood pressure, increasing the chance of a stroke or a heart attack. While some short-term effects are common to most stimulants, there are also specific short- and long-term effects for each, especially where snorting and smoking are common. Complications of stimulant use include increased physical activity and decreased appetite, which can lead to malnutrition, a particularly high risk for people with eating disorders. Infections, like anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs, can increase the risk for infectious diseases whose transmission often includes the comingling of blood, such as hepatitis, HIV, and some types of bacterial infections. Overdose. In addition to the heightened risk of acute health crises related to drastic changes in behavior, the effects of stimulants on the cardiovascular system can increase the risk of an overdose. Overdose is marked by high fever, delirium, irregular heartbeat, and the risk of cardiovascular collapse and death.

Mental Health

The relationship between substance use and psychiatric disorders is complex. On the one hand, it has been shown that excessive drug consumption may exacerbate existing psychiatric illnesses. On the other hand, intoxication and withdrawal of specific substances may produce symptoms that can mimic mental disorders, thereby making the diagnosis and appropriate treatment difficult. In addition, the use of illicit drugs may also lead to mental health conditions that were previously non-existent, including, for example, depression, paranoia, or panic attacks. Drug addiction can exacerbate the symptoms of psychiatric disorders. A case in proof can most likely be seen in depression, where drugs can significantly affect the course of the disease. For example, alcohol is frequently used by those suffering from depression as a way of alleviating depressive symptoms, though excessive alcohol use can exacerbate the problem, possibly leading to the worsening of the initial psychiatric symptoms. Another example is anxiety, where benzodiazepine abuse can worsen the pre-existing anxiety further. Dual diagnosis refers to an individual who is affected by both a substance use disorder and another form of mental health disorder. More specifically, over 40% of people suffering from a dual diagnosis can be said to have schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. One of the numerous effects that using drugs has on the brain is that of altering the brain’s chemical processes. This has the potential to produce significant alterations in the mood, cognition, and behavior of individuals. Chemicals make it possible for the movement of signals sent by neurotransmitters to occur in an organized, precise manner that can be compared to the way in which cars travel along a specific route: when the level of one of these neurotransmitters is suddenly changed by the intake of drugs, it is like a traffic jam occurs – the signals sent are baffled and the individual behaves and feels differently.

Long-term abuse of drugs can lead to addiction, not only because of the changes made to the brain’s physical structure, but also because the individual’s judgment is impaired. The chemical-driven changes that some drugs have the potential to cause can have an adverse effect on the brain’s cognitive ability, causing impairment to the individual’s decision-making process and their capability to learn and remember. It is not only the case that the drugs can lead to impairment, but the underlying condition which gives rise to the taking of drugs, such as addiction or psychosis, can also cause cognitive impairment, which can then subsequently lead to further taking of drugs. It is considered a catch-22 predicament. To compound matters in relation to an individual’s well-being, mental health workers have seen in practice that it is common for drug treatment to be instilled as a single replacement for addiction. Once the drugs have been administered, the treatment ends. The ideological belief is that the reason why the individual was suffering from a mental health condition was due to them taking drugs and, once the drugs have ceased, the individual will no longer be mentally unwell. However, the fact is, once the drugs have ended, the individual’s past traumas and issues will still remain and without the drugs to suppress them, the symptoms of this mental health condition are likely to reoccur, meaning that the roots of the mental health problems were present prior to the taking of the drugs. In addition, the underlying condition, which gave rise to the individual taking drugs in the first instance, also needs to be treated. If this is not completed, it is more than feasible for the individual’s mental unwellness to reoccur as they may turn to drugs again to alleviate that pain. It is essential that the two are treated along the same trajectories.

Social and Economic Consequences

One of the consequences of drug addiction is that it disrupts the social and economic structures of society. Emotionally, heavy and long-term use of drugs may destroy family structures and relationships. Various members of the family become completely involved in fighting the drug problem, paying the high cost of chronic and heavy drug use. The users may become excluded from family activities and eventually from the family structure. The stigma associated with drug abuse and drug addiction carries over into treatment and comprehensive follow-up options. Accordingly, seeking help is often bypassed if outpatient and other resources are not available in the geographic area. With societal perceptions and attitudes toward the addict unchanging, it is likely that this injury to an individual will go unrecognized.

In practice, a large proportion of those who present for treatment have few economic resources. They suffer from concomitant mental disorders or infectious diseases and are at the low end of the employment possibilities, with job retention being difficult. Moreover, the impact of this disease on pharmacological, interpersonal, and social systems of work appears to place them, as workers, lower in the income brackets. Drug addiction has a significant impact on healthcare costs, as the vast majority of patients who have used drugs will eventually have some health problems. In treating the drug addict, there is accumulated evidence that effective, comprehensively focused treatment is cost-effective in reducing healthcare costs. The high economic cost of drug addiction related to law enforcement, healthcare use, and lost wages in low-earning workers has attracted attention. Both public and private health policymakers recognize the cost-effectiveness of effective treatment. Repeatedly, the positive cost-benefit ratio of treatment has been shown. Improved treatment, if invested in, will reduce the total costs of addiction to society. The primary bottleneck for these breakthroughs is the lack of local resources and community commitment to make comprehensive treatment available. Long-term recovery for many is the result of hard work in treatment. Community-based drug treatment is essential to improve public safety and enable the country to use scarce dollars to control drugs in the most effective manner.

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