People use drugs for different reasons. While some use it to relieve stress, others are becoming dependent on drugs that they can no longer function without it. But no matter what the reason is, one thing is certain: drugs can have long-term effects on the body, which can ruin lives.
If you have been using drugs for whatever purpose, let this article shed some light on its life-threatening effects.
A lot of people want to overcome addiction, but only a few have been successful. If you’re one of the latter, you might experience drug withdrawal, which can eventually force you to go back to using drugs. Use the information below to fuel your desire to finally let go of drugs.
1. Taking Drugs Can Cause Depression
A lot of people don’t have an outlet to vent out their frustrations in life. Because of this, they would opt to use drugs to relieve themselves from stress or problems. However, thinking that drugs can alleviate depression is one of the most common misconceptions people have today.
Drug abuse is actually associated with depression. Using drugs can increase the depressive symptoms in your brain, making your depression even worse. Drugs can also trigger mood disturbances that can complicate your road towards recovery.
2. Taking Drugs Can Cause Paranoia
In its simplest sense, paranoia is having an irrational feeling that people are “out to get you.” If untreated, paranoia can lead to serious illnesses and diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, Parkinson’s disease, and even stroke.
If you don’t want to experience any of these, stop using drugs. Drug abuse can actually amplify the sensations brought about by paranoia, which can eventually affect your relationships and career.
3. Taking Drugs Can Affect Your Liver
Your liver plays an important role in your body. This is the organ responsible for filtering harmful toxins and chemicals, allowing all other organs to function properly. However, if you have been using drugs for a long period, your liver might not give you the same functions anymore.
Drug abuse can lead to increased body temperature, dehydration, and muscle breakdown. Over time, these can cause liver damage or failure.
4. Taking Drugs Can Affect Your Heart
You can’t survive a day without blood and oxygen in your body. These components are essential for all of the organs and systems in your body to work properly—and this is what your heart is capable of doing. Your heart is like your own CPU; it pumps blood and oxygen throughout your body.
To better take care of your heart, never use drugs as this can lead to increased heart rate and blood pressure. In worse cases, drug abuse can lead to a heart attack, collapsed veins, and bacterial infections in your bloodstream.
5. Taking Drugs Can Affect Your Lungs
You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to know how vital your lungs are. Without your lungs, you won’t be able to breathe. But are you aware that your lungs can greatly suffer once you use drugs? Do you know that even a small dosage of drugs can slow your breathing?
Inhaling drugs regularly can directly damage your lungs and can cause serious complications in the long run.
6. Taking Drugs Can Impair Your Cognitive Function
There are a lot of things to learn in this life. Even if you already have a doctorate degree, you will still need to learn different things. All of this knowledge can improve the quality of your life.
But you won’t be able to experience the same once you choose to use drugs. Drug abuse can influence how your brain compensates for the changes around you, making it difficult for you to learn and think. Drug abuse makes it challenging for you to grasp important knowledge, which can hinder your growth as a person.
7. Taking Drugs Affects Your Behavior
Your behavior makes you different from other people. How you react in certain situations makes you who you are, and can drastically affect the opportunities you’ll have in life. Your behavior can also be affected once you start using drugs.
Drug abuse can lead to several behavioral problems, namely:
- Aggressiveness
- Impulsiveness
- Loss of self-control
Consider The Consequences
Because of several factors such as peer pressure or environment, you can easily be tempted to use drugs. This is especially true if you’re surrounded by people who have been using drugs for decades.
If you truly value your life, you should avoid abusing drugs as this can put your health and life on the line.
