What is the impact of substance abuse on your health? The most common and significant physical and mental health effects, which may occur due to substance abuse are depression, anxiety, palpitations, memory loss, blurred vision, and difficulty sleeping. These physical and mental health impacts can make it difficult for a person to maintain his or her normal lifestyle. To address these impacts, it is important to understand the nature of substance abuse and its consequences. Understanding the different kinds of substance abuse and their corresponding symptoms, as well as the different treatment options available, will help you in dealing with this problem.
A variety of substances are involved in substance abuse and are classified into four categories: alcohol, cocaine, crack cocaine, and methamphetamines. Each substance has certain characteristics that are unique to them and makes them unique to the way in which they are used. For instance, alcohol is highly addictive. When you abuse alcohol, it changes your brain chemistry so that you want to use it repeatedly. People who abuse alcohol may feel depressed or anxious all the time and do not have enough energy to perform their daily activities. Other effects of alcohol abuse include:
Cocaine affects the central nervous system and the nerves controlling taste, sight, and smell. It can cause changes in perception, increased heart rate, sweating, coordination problems, and can increase the risk of developing HIV or AIDS. Cocaine abusers experience euphoria, anxiety, paranoia, cramping and diarrhea, which are common symptoms of cocaine abuse. Crack-cocaine users experience severe hair loss, blisters on lips and in the mouth, dry mouth, intense cravings for the drug, irritability, rapid weight loss, and seizures.
Drug abuse and addiction results when people use drugs without proper instruction or supervision. These drugs can cause serious damage to the physical body and result in serious medical complications if they are not getting rid of immediately. Drug abuse is the most common form of addiction that leads to sickness and crime today. When drug abuse is taken to an extreme, people can end up in jail for life-long sentences.
Sexually related disorders are common among those who abuse drugs or alcohol. Impotence, erectile dysfunction, herpes, gonorrhea, Chlamydia, and HIV/AIDS are just a few. Drug addiction can greatly reduce one's self-esteem and make him/her unable to love, trust, and respect people. Many sex offenders are people who had been abusing drugs or alcohol. Impairment of memory, thinking ability, and judgment is common among sex offenders.
People suffering from substance abuse should seek help right away. The longer it takes to get treatment, the more serious the problem becomes. With professional help, you can reclaim your life and the health that comes with it. Getting help right now will mean a better future for you and everyone around you.