Cause and Effects of Drug Abuse

Drug addiction has its cause and effects. And the first cause of using drug is:

1 .Psychological Causes of Drug Addiction

While biological causes of drug addiction have been suggested, many people still believe psychological factors comprise the bulk of what causes drug addiction. Some of the psychological causes of drug addiction appear to stem from trauma, often when the drug addict is young. 

Sexual or physical abuse, neglect, or chaos in the home can all lead to psychological stress, which people attempt to "self-medicate" (decrease the stress's pain through drug use). This self-medication becomes a cause of drug addiction.

Other psychological causes of drug addiction include:

·         A mental illness such as depression                      

·         Inability to connect with others, lack of friends

·         Poor performance at work or school

·         Poor stress coping skills

2. Environmental Causes of Drug Addiction

A person's environment can be part of what causes drug addiction. Drug addiction is more common in environments where drug abuse is seen or where it's seen as permissible. Children who grow up in homes with drug addicts often become drug addicts themselves.

Because most drug use starts in adolescence. Those with inattentive, abusive or neglectful parents are more prone to drug abuse. One cause of drug addiction can be the combination of drug experimentation with the lack of parental oversight.

Other environmental factors that can be causes of drug abuse include:

·    Participation in a sport where performance-enhancing drugs are encouraged

·     A peer group that uses or promotes drug use

·      People of lower socioeconomic status are at greater risk of drug addiction.

·  Gender and ethnicity contribute to addiction of some drugs

3. Genetic Causes of Drug Addiction

Drug addiction tends to run in families, indicating genetics may have a role in causing drug addiction. In fact, in studies of twins it appears half of someone's risk of becoming addicted to drugs is genetic. Genetic causes of drug addiction appear to involve multiple gene sequences and science has not yet been able to pinpoint all the genes involved. However, it is known some genes, like those involved in brain receptors of nicotine, contribute to the cause of drug addiction.

Effects of Drug Abuse and Addiction

The effects of drug addiction also include the cost to the justice and health care systems. Violent behavior is most closely tied to alcohol use and alcohol abuse is responsible for the disability of 58.3 million people worldwide. It was estimated the effects of drug addiction cost the U.S. $245.7 billion in 1992. This number represents health care expenses, lost wages, prevention program costs and criminal justice system costs, among others.

Psychological Effects of Drug Addiction

The psychological effects of drug addiction come from the reason the user is addicted to drugs, as well as the changes that take place in the brain once a person becomes a drug addict. Initially, many people start using drugs to cope with stress or pain. An effect of drug addiction is creation of a cycle where anytime the user encounters stress or pain, they feel the need to use the drug. This is one of the psychological effects of drug addiction involved in "craving" of the drug. Craving is an effect of drug addiction whereby the addict is obsessed with obtaining and using the drug, to the exclusion of all else. One of the psychological effects of addiction involved in craving is the belief the addict cannot function or handle life without use of the drug.

Other psychological effects of drug addiction include:

·         Wild mood swings, depression, anxiety, paranoia, violence

·         Decrease in pleasure in everyday life

·         Complication of mental illness

·         Hallucinations

·         Confusion

·         Psychological tolerance to the drug's effects creating a desire to do ever-increasing amounts of the drug

·         Desire to engage in risky behavior

Physical Effects of Drug Addiction

Physical effects of drug addiction vary by drug but are typically seen in all systems of the body. Some of the primary physical effects of drug addiction take place in the brain. Drug addiction changes the way the brain functions and impacts how the body perceives pleasure. These effects of drug addiction are because the drug repeatedly floods the brain with the chemicals dopamine and serotonin during drug use. The brain adapts and comes to expect, and depend on, these drug-induces highs.

Physical effects of drug addiction are also seen in babies of drug abusers as well as in mortality statistics. One effect of drug addiction is: children born to drug-using mothers can be cognitively affected throughout life. Regarding mortality, one-in-four deaths are due to the effects of drug addiction. Other physical effects of drug addiction include:

·         Contraction of HIV, hepatitis and other illnesses

·         Heart rate irregularities, heart attack

·         Respiratory problems such as lung cancer, emphysema and breathing problems

·         Abdominal pain, vomiting, constipation, diarrhea

·         Kidney and liver damage

·         Seizures, stroke, brain damage

·         Changes in appetite, body temperature and sleeping pattern

Drugs are chemicals. Different drugs, because of their chemical structures, can affect the body in different ways. In fact, some drugs can even change a person's body and brain in ways that last long after the person has stopped taking drugs, maybe even permanently.

Depending on the drug, it can enter the human body in a number of ways, including injection, inhalation, and ingestion. The method of how it enters the body impacts on how the drug affects the person. For example: injection takes the drug directly into the blood stream, providing more immediate effects; while ingestion requires the drug to pass through the digestive system, delaying the effects.

Most abused drugs directly or indirectly target the brain's reward system by flooding the circuit with dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter present in regions of the brain that regulate movement, emotion, cognition, motivation, and feelings of pleasure. When drugs enter the brain, they can actually change how the brain performs its jobs. These changes are what lead to compulsive drug use, the hallmark of addiction.

Injuries

More deaths, illnesses and disabilities stem from substance abuse than from any other preventable health condition. Today, one in four deaths is attributable to illicit drug use. People who live with substance dependence have a higher risk of all bad outcomes including unintentional injuries, accidents, risk of domestic violence, medical problems, and death.

Health Problems

The impact of drug abuse and dependence can be far-reaching, affecting almost every organ in the human body. Drug use can:

·         Weaken the immune system, increasing susceptibility to infections.

·         Cause cardiovascular conditions ranging from abnormal heart rate to heart attacks. Injected drugs can also lead to collapsed veins and infections of the blood vessels and heart valves.

·         Cause nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.

·         Cause the liver to have to work harder, possibly causing significant damage or liver failure.

·         Cause seizures, stroke and widespread brain damage that can impact all aspects of daily life by causing problems with memory, attention and decision-making, including sustained mental confusion and permanent brain damage.

·         Produce global body changes such as breast development in men, dramatic fluctuations in appetite and increases in body temperature, which may impact a variety of health conditions.

 

Effects on the Brain

Although initial drug use may be voluntary, drugs have been shown to alter brain chemistry, which interferes with an individual's ability to make decisions and can lead to compulsive craving, seeking and use. This then becomes a substance dependency.

·         All drugs of abuse - nicotine, cocaine, marijuana, and others - effect the brains "reward" circuit, which is part of the limbic system.

·         Drugs hijack this "reward" system, causing unusually large amounts of dopamine to flood the system.

·         This flood of dopamine is what causes the "high" or euphoria associated with drug abuse.

 

Behavioral Problems

·         Paranoia                      

·         Aggressiveness

·         Hallucinations

·         Addiction

·         Impaired Judgment

·         Impulsiveness

·                                                                         Loss of Self-Control

 

Birth Defects

Nearly 4 percent of pregnant women in the Philippines use illicit drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, Ecstasy and other amphetamines, and heroin. These and other illicit drugs may pose various risks for pregnant women and their babies. Some of these drugs can cause a baby to be born too small or too soon, or to have withdrawal symptoms, birth defects or learning and behavioral problems. Additionally, illicit drugs may be prepared with impurities that may be harmful to a pregnancy.

Finally, pregnant women who use illicit drugs may engage in other unhealthy behaviors that place their pregnancy at risk, such as having extremely poor nutrition or developing sexually transmitted infections.