19 Oct What Are the Effect of Substance Abuse on Mental Health?
Substance abuse affects mental health with dire consequences. Do you feel you are constantly taking the drug? Do you feel weird once the effect of substance wears off?
Are you worried about increased Effect of Substance Abuse on Mental Health? Rather than worrying about these questions, visit a de addiction center in Patna, Dr. Vivek Pratap Singh.
What is the relationship between mental illness and substance abuse?
Substance abuse has direct correlations with mental illness. Drugs target the brain’s reward system by releasing hormones that fill you with a sense of euphoria.
Once an individual gets a taste of this, they get an urge again and again to feel this happy feeling. However, this happy feeling hooks you up with addiction.
A lot of people start taking drugs out of curiosity, or as an act of rebellion, and sometimes because of the influence of their peers. People taking drugs are chasing the feeling of relief through its use.
Alcohol – a depressant causes disruptions in our thoughts and feelings leading to long-term mental health effects.
At the same time, stimulant drugs cause harmful effects on the brain and lose control over our feelings.
How does alcohol and drugs affect mental health?
When addiction turns to substance abuse disorder it affects mental peace. For example,
- Long-term cannabis use has shown to increase anxiety and feelings of guilt.
- Cannabis is also associated with people developing psychosis or schizophrenia.
- The body develops tolerance and needs more drugs to achieve its effects.
- Hypertension and stroke
- Serious medical conditions like pancreatitis and liver inflammation
- Oncological emergencies; so many kinds of cancer are common with drug use like lung cancer, bowel cancer, liver cancer.
- Mood swings
- Irritability
- Interrelationship issues
- Depression
- Lack of motivation towards life
Alcohol and drug abuse change the brain’s chemicals. One becomes so dependent on these substances to survive, they can no longer function daily.
They start getting detached from their family, they feel no one can understand what they are going through or their feelings of despair and turn to substance to relieve them from feelings of being worthless.
Sometimes, these people want to quit but are so ashamed to talk to anyone that they never find the courage to do the right thing.
What are the causes and effects of drug abuse?
People don’t randomly develop an addiction to these substances. Many times there are a lot of factors playing into why they start abusing drugs.
- An individual’s home and family conditions matter a lot. If someone from their family has a history of using drugs, they look up to them and think this is the right way to live a life. At times, they are physically abused to resort to this.
- Emotional trauma leaves a person vulnerable to these addiction habits. Individual who has suffered from sexual abuse, or childhood sexual trauma, emotional and mental abuse go through feelings of anxiety and panic at any time of the day or month without any warning. To get relief from these feelings a lot of people abuse certain drugs and develop dependence. They can have sudden panic attacks and are quite ashamed to talk about it with anyone. And with no one to confide their feelings in, they take support from alcohol or drugs.
- Genetics plays a definite role in some people developing substance abuse without any other concomitant reason. The research is underway for finding the particular affected gene that leads to this condition.
- Various mental health conditions such as depression and post traumatic stress disorder have a strong association with substance use disorder.
- Stress mixed with an unsatisfactory and chaotic life is a dangerous combination for substance use.
There are varied causes for developing substance abuse. No matter the cause, substance abuse disorder is a maddening (quite literally) disease.
One suffering from the effects of drug abuse should check themself in a Rehabilitation Centre in Patna, with Dr. Vivek Pratap Singh.
The effects of drug abuse on mental health can sometimes have fatal outcomes. Substances with their chemicals in our blood change the brain’s chemistry and the individuals develop symptoms like psychosis.
A lot of people having substance abuse have informed that they experience hallucinations – seeing something that is not real.
Drug abuse affects judgment, memory, and decision making of an individual. Physically alcohol and drug abuse effects can be
- Heart disease
- Risk of developing hepatitis, HCV OR HBV
- Drugs like cocaine and heroin affect your ability to smell, and even cause nose bleeds
- Weight loss
- Gastric troubles such as constipation and cramps
- Cataracts
- Pneumonia
- Multiple organ failure
With these, a person can have symptoms relating to their mental health
- Red eyes
- Decreased concentration and focus
- Paranoia
People abusing drugs lor a long time are at increased risk of getting seizures and heart attacks. Once you develop dependence, quitting the drug takes a lot of mental energy and it can drain you from within.
People develop delusions as a feature of the underlying condition like schizophrenia.
Hallucinogenic drugs worsen the mental issues with one going through frightening flashbacks at undefined intervals. Nightmares are common with substance abuse.
At times, their mental chemistry gets so damaged they start developing suicidal thoughts and ideations are common with people suffering from this condition. Sometimes, some even follow through these thoughts with actions.
You can also read about Tips on >>>>> Aftercare and Relapse Prevention
What are the effects of drug abuse on the community?
Drug abuse affects a community when the drug users increase and get clustered in one locality; or when there are not enough resources and solutions available for dealing with this issue.
The drug availability in a particular community has a lot of decisions over the amount of substance abuse. If the drug is easily available, without any regulations or legal consequences, the drug abuse increases rapidly.
The drug abusers cause a lot of nuisance in a community due to their intoxicated or withdrawal state. Sometimes, when they are in need of drugs and they can’t access it, they tend to go through serious mood changes and irritability.
At times, their aggressiveness takes over and they resort to illegal means such as theft, or shootouts trapping innocent people in their madness.
The community pride is affected due to increasing numbers of substance users. Their local sources can spread a lot of information including the issues of rising drug and alcohol abusers.
Preventing this growth is a vital issue in the community as of now. The awareness about substance abuse through programmes and youth groups can go a long way in spreading this beneficial message.
Solutions for Substance Abusers
The drug users can minimize or gradually quit their addiction. To some of their ears, this might sound quite complicated and complex but it is possible. For example,
- There are rehab facilities all over the world with medical trainers and professionals dealing with substance abusers on a daily basis.
They know how to handle the withdrawal symptoms and what might the patient need for their individualized care.
Every person has a different substance abuse story, and treating them accordingly is the key to recovery. From detoxification and preventing relapse symptoms, the rehab has all the facilities tailoring one’s needs.
- Medications are used to control and ease the withdrawal transition. They help when one is suffering from severe withdrawal symptoms like nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps, or bodyache.
The patient can even go through hallucinations and detachment from reality, or seizures.
To keep the situation in control medication like naloxone, buprenorphine, or naltrexone depending on the substance abused are prescribed.
- Cognitive behavioral therapy has shown a lot of effectiveness in the recovery of a patient. A lot of times, individuals hide and suppress their feelings and that leads to this condition.
Once they talk about their hopelessness, despair, feelings of guilt it helps them overcome their emotions and accept they can survive without using any substance.
Seeking a therapist will help with one’s Effect of Substance Abuse on Mental Health and their general life issues. Once they clear the clutter in their heart, it is easy for them to navigate through life.
Effect of Substance Abuse on Mental Health can invoke a great deal of emotions in an individual and their family. It’s a condition that does not only affect the person itself, but even the family and close friends.
The family is left to pick up the pieces and deal with the aggressive behavior demonstrated by the individual. It has to deal with the changed person and their feelings and it affects their mental health as well.
If a person is a substance abuser, their family should seek therapy too. This way, the family will be better equipped to deal with the person and their feelings.
A family has to be empathetic towards them in such situations, and a lot of people can’t deal with this.
Substance use disorder is a condition that can wreck your mental health.
If you or you know someone close to you is suffering with Effect of Substance Abuse on Mental Health, do not delay in going to a physician or a psychiatrist. If there’s a need, enroll in a rehab or de addiction facility. It’s never too late to take charge of life!
No Comments