Psychoactive substances have been used since the beginning of time in the history of human beings.. Already in prehistoric times people drank alcohol or took hallucinogenic mushrooms, and there is evidence that substances such as opium, tobacco or cocaine were taken in the ancient world.
Obviously the consumption of some of these substances evolved, and today there are already synthetic substances generated in more or less clandestine laboratories. We are not saying that taking drugs is something new, but it is essential to talk about their negative impact on our bodies. In this article we will see the negative consequences that drug use has on human beings.
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The 12 negative health consequences of taking drugs
Drugs are substances that alter our mind to a greater or lesser degree and generally transiently. Most people end up taking them experimenting to experience their stimulating, relaxing, hallucinogenic or pleasurable effects, but they have serious side effects.
In this article we are going to look at the worst consequences of drug use that can occur.. While people may use drugs for recreational purposes, they should never forget the very dangerous damage they can cause. The health of our body, our social sphere and our own individual functioning could be seriously damaged.
1. Addiction
There are drugs that generate a high addiction in a few doses and others in which it is not so, but drugs by definition are addictive substances.
The degree of addiction among people to a substance is variable and so is the awareness of it.. Some people are very hooked and what they would most like in the world is not to have the need to consume the substance in question, while others feel that they are just experimenting.
In this sense, unpredictability due to individual differences can also play a role, but taking the risk can come at a very high price; thousands of people have ruined their lives because of it.
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2. They don’t fix problems, they make them worse.
People who use drugs may have different reasons for doing so. One of the most widely shared, whether more or less consciously, is that drugs help a person to escape mentally.
Drugs cause a person’s mental state to be altered and he or she ends up having a different perception of reality.. Generally, part of the functions of the prefrontal cortex of the brain are inhibited, which makes the person become more carefree and can enjoy the moment more.
But this pleasure is fleeting and deceptive. The privilege of disconnecting comes at a price, which is the return to reality once the drug wears off. It can be especially hard if under the effect of drugs we have neglected or worsened things, beyond the fact that we may feel bad.
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3. Altered mood
Feeling psychologically unwell after taking drugs is common.The emotional balance of a person can be severely altered in both the short and long term, leading to an unstable mood, as opposed to the well-being we felt while under the effect of them. Both in the short and long term the emotional balance of a person can be seriously altered, leading to an unstable mood. Irritability and aggressiveness can alternate with relaxation in an unexpected way for those who do not know their consumption habits.
4. Neurological sequelae
Psychoactive substances cause effects that alter the perception of reality because they provoke chemical imbalances in the brain.. Different neurotransmitters see their functioning mechanisms altered, and this can have neurological sequelae both in the short and long term. There are losses of cognitive abilities that are reversible, while others are irreversible.
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5. Behavioral disorders
The negative effects at the cognitive level may be such that the person may develop psychological problems related to behavioral disorders.. There are different manifestations and indeed classifications, with antisocial behavior disorder, oppositional defiant disorder and impulse control disorder being the most representative. The common denominator is that the person is unable to behave in a non-impulsive manner.
6. Family and social problems
When a person develops addictions or neurological or psychological disorders, his or her way of relating to others is severely or very severely affected.. At the family level it is almost impossible for problems not to appear, since it is those closest to the person who suffer the problems that the drug brings with it.
At the social level, problems may initially go unnoticed, although they always end up coming out. What can happen is that a social circle of the consuming person is precisely motivating the taking of the psychoactive substance. The relationship with friends from other non-consuming groups is damaged in these cases.
7. Isolation
The person who begins to develop a habitual drug use sees how their habits are negatively conditioned.. Everything begins to revolve little by little around the availability or not of consuming the substance in certain contexts. In severe cases, family members and certain friends or places are no longer visited, and the person is able to neglect himself physically, and may even neglect hygiene. The drug is what most people think about.
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8. Development of mental illnesses
In addition to behavioral disorders, substance abusers may develop more serious illnesses such as schizophrenia.. Certain cognitive functioning with special personalities, as in the case of people with paranoid tendencies, may develop related disorders. Another example is Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, a disease caused by alcoholism.
9. Immunosuppression
The drugs put the body in a situation of uncontrolled. The signals of hunger, tiredness, etc. are absolutely altered, and usually postponed to when they should appear.
This makes the body of the person who takes drugs more on edge. In this way, they are more prone to catching colds and suffering from infections of all kinds on a more regular basis than the general population.
On the other hand, there is a much higher rate of transmission of severe diseases such as AIDS or hepatitis in cases where syringes are used as in the case of heroin.
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10. Premature aging
Another side effect of pushing the body to the limit is that it ages more quickly.. Many drugs such as tobacco contain substances that generate free radicals, molecules that alter the cellular structure of our tissues.
The skin and hair can look older if we consume substances, in addition to the facial features can be much more pronounced.
As sleep disturbances also appear, the person who takes drugs is generally more deprived of it. If the amount and quantity of sleep is affected, so is our body’s ability to regenerate.
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11. Problems in pregnancy
Pregnant women should avoid at all costs the consumption of drugs.. Substances such as tobacco or alcohol have a very serious and irreversible effect on the fetus. It has not been possible to establish a minimum safe amount, so that a glass of wine can be harmful. Other hard substances can cause withdrawal syndrome in the newborn, giving a very bad start to the adventure that is life.
12. Overdose
Substances such as alcohol can cause death by ethyl coma, alcoholic coma by an ethyl coma, even though it is considered a soft drug and is legal. While there are substances such as marijuana with which it is almost impossible to die from an overdose, with other illegal drugs it can look really bad.
The fact that they are not regulated can give us a dirty trick that can cost us our lives. By not knowing the concentration of the dose you are taking, you may be taking three times as much as you should.
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