Essay on Drug Abuse
Answers
Drug addiction can pose different dangers in different settings—all of which can affect more people than just the user.
Physical dangers to the user include:
• Developing a tolerance to the drug.
• Developing psychological and physical dependence.
• Withdrawal symptoms when trying to cut back or quit.
• Other physical problems, like irregular heart rate, high blood pressure, lung damage, and seizures.
Other dangers might be:
• Becoming pregnant while addicted and harming the fetus and newborn baby.
• Jeopardizing your relationships with friends and family.
• Neglecting work responsibilities.
• Having an increased risk of crime.
• Losing your life.
Even for professional counselors and doctors, it can be hard to identify the point where recreational drug use crosses over into addiction.
But it isn’t hard to recognize the damage that drugs can cause to a person, a family or a community. The dangers of drug addiction are far-reaching, ranging from an individual to a national level. When you’re ready to confront your own addiction, your main concern should be how drug abuse can affect your life and the lives of those around you.
The exact cause of drug addiction remains a mystery, but according to the National Institutes of Health, there are certain factors that may make certain people vulnerable to addiction:
An underlying mental disorder, like schizophrenia, depression or generalized anxiety
A low sense of self-worth combined with a tendency to respond to peer pressure
Exposure to high levels of stress from personal, professional or financial sources
Exposure to an environment where drug use is accepted and drugs are readily available
Education alone isn’t enough to help an addict get clean. But learning about the dangers of drugs can be an important step if you’re thinking about experimenting with heroin, marijuana or meth — or if you’re wondering whether you’re ready to seek help for addiction.
Phases of Addiction
The term “drug” can refer to any chemical substance that alters your brain chemistry, affects your feelings and perceptions, or changes the way your body functions.
Drugs may include prescription medications, illegal street drugs, marijuana or alcohol. Some users seek out drugs in order to relax and unwind, while others turn to chemicals to expand their perceptions or give them energy. For many addicts, drugs are a way to relieve physical or emotional pain.
Drug addiction rarely happens overnight. You may start by doing a little speed to lose weight or taking prescription pain medication after a car accident. Before long, you may notice that you’re spending more time thinking about how you’re going to get the drugs, when you’re going to take them and how you’re going to pay for them. You may feel anxious, depressed or angry when a deal falls through or you can’t get your prescription filled. The Merck Manual provides an analysis of the stages of drug dependence:
Tolerance. Your body gets used to a certain amount of the drug. You can tell that you’ve reached a state of tolerance when you find yourself needing more of the drug to get the effects you’re looking for.
Psychological dependence. You’ve gotten used to the sensations that a drug generates, and you feel disoriented, edgy or unable to function when you can’t take the drug. Psychological dependence doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re physically dependent on the drug, but the compulsion to use the substance may be so powerful that it feels like a physical addiction. Drugs that often cause psychological dependence include marijuana, meth and hallucinogens.
Physical dependence. Your body experiences strong withdrawal symptoms when you stop using the drug, such as nausea, vomiting, sweating, shaking or seizures. Drugs that can cause physical withdrawal symptoms include alcohol, heroin, benzodiazepines (Valium, Xanax and Ativan) and cocaine.
Addiction. Although there’s no universal definition for drug addiction, this condition is often defined by a compulsive need to seek and obtain the drug of choice. Addiction is also defined by the dangers that it presents to the user, including the danger of physical illness, the threat of violence, exposure to crime, the destruction of personal relationships and the loss of personal integrity.
Answer:
People from all walks of life can experience problems with their drug use, regardless of age, race, or background. While some are able to use recreational or prescription drugs without experiencing negative effects, others find that substance use takes a serious toll on their health and well-being. Abusing drugs can leave you feeling helpless, isolated, or ashamed. If you’re worried about your own or a loved one’s drug use, learning how drug abuse and addiction develops—and why it can have such a powerful hold—will give you a better understanding of how to best deal with the problem and regain control of your life.
When does drug use become drug abuse or addiction?
People start using drugs for many different reasons. Some experiment with recreational drugs out of curiosity, to have a good time, because friends are doing it, or to ease problems such as stress, anxiety, or depression. However, it’s not just illegal drugs, such as cocaine or heroin, that can lead to abuse and addiction. Prescription medications such as painkillers, sleeping pills, and tranquilizers can cause similar problems. In fact, next to marijuana, prescription painkillers are the most abused drugs in the U.S. and more people die from overdosing powerful opioid painkillers each day than from traffic accidents and gun deaths combined. And addiction to opioid painkillers can be so powerful it has become the major risk factor for heroin abuse.
Of course, drug use—either illegal or prescription—doesn’t automatically lead to abuse, and there is no specific point at which drug use moves from casual to problematic. Drug abuse and addiction is less about the type or amount of the substance consumed or the frequency of your drug use, and more about the consequences of that drug use. If your drug use is causing problems in your life—at work, school, home, or in your relationships—you likely have a drug abuse or addiction problem.
Recognizing that you have a problem is the first step on the road to recovery, one that takes tremendous courage and strength. Facing your problem without minimizing the issue or making excuses can feel frightening and overwhelming, but recovery is within reach. If you’re ready to seek help, you can overcome your addiction and build a satisfying, drug-free life for yourself.
Risk factors for drug addiction
While anyone can develop problems from using drugs, vulnerability to substance addiction differs from person to person. While your genes, mental health, family and social environment all play a role, risk factors that increase your vulnerability include:
Family history of addiction
Abuse, neglect, or other traumatic experiences
Mental disorders such as depression and anxiety
Early use of drugs
Method of administration—smoking or injecting a drug may increase its addictive potential
Drug addiction and the brain
While each drug produces different physical effects, all abused substances share one thing in common: repeated use can alter the way the brain functions. This includes commonly abused prescription medications as well as recreational drugs.
Taking the drug causes a rush of the hormone dopamine in your brain, which triggers feelings of pleasure. Your brain remembers these feelings and wants them repeated.
When you become addicted, the substance takes on the same significance as other survival behaviors, such as eating and drinking.
Changes in your brain interfere with your ability to think clearly, exercise good judgment, control your behavior, and feel normal without drugs.
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