Drug Abuse and Its Biological, Emotional, and Psychological Effects

Drug abuse has now become a worldwide epidemic that can affect people from all cultures and socioeconomic statuses. Frequently, those who abuse drugs began to dabble in them out of sheer curiosity while others started in order to socially “fit in.” But as they continued to use the drug or drugs of their choice, the occasional participation became a regular habit they could no longer control. When the drugs became habitual, their tolerance levels began to increasing, requiring them to consume more in order to maintain the level of “high” their bodies and minds were used to.

Those who abuse drugs will develop biological, emotional, and psychological addictions. When these people attempt to seek the appropriate help, their drug addiction has usually altered their entire state of being. And because of the various negative changes experienced by the body, drug abusers find it increasingly difficult to keep their drug urges under control and can no longer ignore them.

In most cases, drug abusers will undergo a variety of biological changes due to their uncontrollable drug use, which results in abusers experiences drastic bodily changes shortly after developing an addiction. A few common changes include memory impairment, weight gain or loss, personality changes, mood changes, onset of chronic diseases, and even impairment or loss of gross motor skills.

Although many people who have a drug problem do seek treatment, not every one of these people will have successful drug addiction treatment results. Sometimes, an individual will undergo multiple treatments before regaining control over their life and their health. However, most of the people who do receive help for their drug addiction do so because the government or their loved ones forced them. There are only a few individuals who have enough self-motivation to recover from their drug addiction on their own.

There is a wide variety of rehabilitation programs that can help drug abusers become free from their addiction. So if one program is unsuccessful for an individual, he or she should try another type of program as that may be the one that triggers success. However, all people are different and will not respond in the same way to a particular treatment.

For those looking for drug treatment programs to help their loved ones overcome an addiction there are many kinds of programs available on a short-term to long-term basis. While the long-term treatment programs overall have the best success rates, plenty of drug abusers have found freedom from their addiction in short-term ones. It is important for the family and friends of a drug addict to understand these programs are only meant to act as a springboard for launching recovery; the long-term recovery happens every day and is assisted by the emotional support from the addict’s family as well as his or her accountability partner.

Drug addictions are certainly huge problems but they can be fixed. The first realization any drug abuser needs to come to is they are not weak for succumbing to their drug urges but are actually being influenced by physical changes taking place inside of them. With the right type of treatment, success can be theirs and sobriety can once again rule.

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Symptoms of Teenage Drug Abuse Problems

Drug abuse problems are one of the major worries that parents face as their child enters teens. With drugs it is not just illegal drugs, even if certain substances are freely and legally available in the market, they could be fatal if consumed beyond certain limits. Parents need to be aware of all these substance and need to protect their child from them. Below are some of the symptoms that can help you identify if you are facing such drug abuse problems:

Lower Personal Effectiveness: The first signs of drug abuse problems are a decline in personal effectiveness at school and home. Teenagers with this problem start dropping grades, you may also start getting more complaints from school, play truant at school and will stop following common rules at home.

Risk Taking: Drug abuse problems can also lead your teenager to take more risks to fuel their addiction, like stealing from friends or family, taking out loans and mixing with socially disruptive individuals. You may even start getting police complaints or have to visit the police station.

Disruptive Behaviour: Drug abuse problems can result in disruptive behaviour like argumentative nature, disregard for relationships and fights at home and outside. They might also break-up with their boyfriend or girlfriend for no obvious reason. They might give up some of their favourite hobbies and sports and become less interested in areas that they were previously very passionate about.

Dress Style Changes: Drug abuse problems often lead teenagers to change their dress style. They start dressing in long sleeved clothes which, may indicate drug injections and needle marks or marks from cigarette buds. The even cover their fingers with rings or paint their nails dark to avoid showing off syringe marks.

Object giveaways: If your teenager is suffering from drug abuse problems, then a visit to their room would reveal unexpected materials like pipes, roach clips or syringes.

Physical Changes: Further signs of drug abuse problems can manifest themselves in changes in physical characteristics of your teenager. Depending on the type of drug taken you may notice some or all of the following: dilated pupils, excessive energy, lack of sleep and restlessness, tiredness, slow body movements, slow speech or reaction time, confusion, disorientation, unusual sleep cycles, weight loss, nose bleeds, bad breath, reddening of eyes, constant coughing and dental problems are all possible signs of drug abuse.

Mood Patterns: Drug abuse problems may also result in increased mood swings displayed by either excessive talking when they are on a high followed by depression, delusion, paranoia, increased irritability and even violence. Social skills take a complete beating when under the influence of drugs and the teenager may prefer to be left alone and be unresponsive and look spaced out all the time.

In the book “Solving Teenage Problems”, various tips to deal with drug abuse problems have been discussed. However, most of these tips can work only in early stages. If you notice certain serious symptoms you need to get external help as soon as possible. The book helps parents to identify these serious symptoms so that no time is wasted in getting the right help for your teenager.

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Prescription Drug Abuse – A National Dilemma

According to a 2006 National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) survey nearly 21% of the population in the U.S. reported non-medical use of prescription drugs at some point in their lifetime. The 2009 National Prescription Drug Threat Assessment states that unintentional overdose deaths resulting from prescription drugs has increased 114% from 2001 to 2005. And according to SAMHSA, prescription drug abuse is the second most common form of recreational drug use in America second only to marijuana. Given these statistics, it is clear that abuse of doctor prescribed drugs in the United States is a serious subject. For our neighbors to the north in Canada, the story is much the same with accidental deaths from opioid use having doubled from 1991 to 2004.

For many people, the stigma of prescription drug abuse is negligible when compared to illicit drug abuse. After all, the substance of abuse was prescribed by a doctor and purchased in a pharmacy. It’s not like the addict was buying heroin, cocaine, or some other street drug from a dealer. So where’s the problem? This type of mentality is contributing to the problem, prevents treatment of the abuse, and if perpetuated can have drastic results. The diversion of these drugs from their intended use has increased drastically from 2003 to 2007. According to the 2009 threat assessment, the diversion of opioid pain relievers has increased the most during this time period: hydrocodone (vicodin) 118%, morphine 111%, and methadone 109%. Other prescription drugs commonly diverted for abuse include Oxycontin which has a street name “80″ or “Hillbilly heroin”, Ritalin (Ritz or Vitamin R), and Xanax (zanies).

The diversion of these drugs occurs through various forms. 56.5% of abusers reported that they received the drugs from a friend or relative for free, and 81% of these people reported that the drugs were originally obtained from a doctor through a prescription. Other ways that these drugs are obtained for illicit use include theft from a family member or friend (5.2%), Internet purchases (0.5%), and purchase from a dealer (4.1%). Another common practice amongst addicts to obtain prescription drugs is “doctor shopping.” This is the practice of visiting several doctors for the same “ailment” to receive multiple valid prescriptions. Amongst teens, the practice of “pharming” can have drastic results when they grab a handful of prescription pills out of a bowl and ingest some or all of them.

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