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  • Essay / Drug Abuse: Examining the Consequences

    Many people are familiar with the term drug abuse. Either they have family members or friends who use drugs, or they use drugs themselves. This is a major problem worldwide with users being the main victims. Drugs leave addicts with psychological effects, even after being cleansed. They ruin the lives of many people and may never fully recover. Not only does it affect them, but it also affects their loved ones. Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get an Original EssayMany understand and learn from a young age the consequences of drugs being bad, but why do some start anyway? For most people, the decision to take drugs is voluntary. It differs from person to person, but in general, they take drugs to feel good, to feel better, to do better, out of curiosity and social pressure. A friend's involvement in drug use is a very strong indicator of why and how an individual begins using drugs. However, there are many other causes as to why he starts using drugs and there is not always an exact factor related to drug use. No one knows exactly how many times a person can use a drug without changing their brain and becoming addicted, because everyone is different. It also depends on the severity of the medications. Addictions come in many forms and are a person's desperate desire to do whatever they need to do to satisfy their specific need. When faced with a challenge without this, they tend to suffer from severe symptoms such as depression, withdrawal, and disruption. Many people don't understand why or how some people become addicted while others do not. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (2018), the more risk factors an individual has, the more likely they are to become drug addicts (p. 2). For example, the genes an individual is born with, the sex, the environment they grew up in, and the critical developmental stages in that person's life (NIH, 2018, p. 2-3). Most people don't wake up thinking about how they are going to ruin their lives, but rather wake up feeling unexcited, depressed, stressed, angry, and in need of something to relieve their emotional pain. The United States has a large number of people suffering from addiction, "people in need of treatment, representing a combined total of 7.1 million people" (Woodward, 1996, p. 1). There are many consequences of drug abuse, some of which could have lifelong consequences. impacts and lead to emotional pain. They put everything they have at risk, such as their job, relationships with family and close friends, to satisfy their selfish addictions first. It gets to the point where there is no more forgiveness for them. This not only carries these kinds of consequences, but also legal consequences. Being caught with drugs can land an individual incarcerated for decades. The most common prosecutions for drug addicts are heavy fines, a long period of time in prison, probation, a record that makes it difficult to find a job, a revoked driver's license, extensive community service, and restrictions on living in certain places (Ggalliani, 2018). All of this could very well cause financial problems when an individualwould fall into serious debt, lose all relationships with their partner, have their house confiscated by the bank and their vehicle impounded. If the addict is fired from their job or arrested because of their drug use, financial problems only pile up. All of this could lead to homelessness, but will not prevent an individual from using. There is a great guarantee that the individual will always find the way to drugs. Usually break the law by stealing and lying to those who care about them. All of this adds up to serious emotional pain, such as depression, suicidal thoughts, and anxiety. An individual may experience all of these effects long term, even after being cleansed. Being sober doesn't take away a criminal record, financial problems, or family problems. This only gets an individual to stop using it so as not to harm themselves even more. Yes, these emotional problems could be treated, but these types of emotional situations are known to recur several times, as one study shows, it comes back at regular intervals, and each time it could be worse (Breuer, 1995). Drugs also have serious effects on the physical body. This causes serious damage to an individual's health that can last for years or even forever. Drugs have the power to damage almost every organ and system in the body. Some of the harmful damages affect the cardiovascular system, respiratory system, kidneys, liver and gastrointestinal organs (Alta Mira, 2019). All of this damage to the body can cause serious bodily pain, and “chronic physical pain is debilitating and can cause disability, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder” (Parry, 2008, p. 1). Physical bodily pain can most certainly cause emotional pain, triggering psychological effects. Even after being cleansed, you may still suffer from this damage and also weaken your immune system. Having a weak immune system is not at all attractive, having a high risk of getting sick all the time would interrupt an individual's daily schedule. This could cause extreme frustration, anxiety, and anger (Johnston, 1995). Drugs also frequently cause overdoses, in which the body begins to give up and the person must be resuscitated. It is extremely harmful, the body cannot handle the dose and most do not care to survive either. It can also alter an individual's physical appearance. Making skin crusty and breaking out from acne, changing hair texture, ruining teeth, and overall making someone look older. (JTT, 2019). These may include changes in appearance that could last forever, causing stress and making people feel like they are no longer themselves. They may no longer recognize themselves and will feel like they have a completely different identity. Drugs are so difficult to overcome because they cause the release of a neurotransmitter called dopamine in large amounts, triggering an extreme feeling of pleasure or euphoria. In other words, drugs overstimulate the part of the brain that naturally produces pleasure and rewards a person for doing something positive, like socializing or hugging a loved one (Alta Mira. 2019, p. 4) . Over time, this can cause permanent changes in the brain, and the person will no longer be able to feel pleasure because the brain produces less dopamine. The effects can last a very long time, with symptoms including memory loss, dead brain cells that will never regenerate, and impaired thinking. Addiction is a.