How Substance Abuse Can Affect Your Life

Alcohol is quite a common substance of use for many people in the United States and worldwide. People have it when they are happy, sad, angry, excited, cheerful, depressed, stressed, and just about every other emotion. Some might even slip some alcohol in their morning and afternoon coffee.

Drugs, on the other hand, come in various types. Some types of drugs are legal and prescribed to the masses by qualified doctors. A person generally gets on these when they are prescribed. But these can sometimes be heavy and, with a long enough consumption duration, addictive.

Then there are types of illegal drugs that people find from somewhere and consume. These drugs fall under various categories. For each mood, there might be a particular illegal substance out there. With long enough consumption duration, these can become quite addictive as well.

When a person starts to get addicted to any substance, they might begin to depend on it to feel a certain type of way. This tendency can cause quite a lot of issues in the life of an addict. Let's get into more details below.

Alcohol

Alcohol is very easy to get because it's legal after the age of 21 in the United States. Because of this, people may use it for a range of events and whenever they like, as there are no regulations on it.

While alcohol does have some harmful effects with each sip, the problem becomes much worse when a person starts to regularly drink it. When someone always finds a reason to drink or tries to sneak a few sips every day as a joke, then they might be addicts. Also, the people who find themselves sitting at the bar or at home, throwing back a couple of beers or drinks everyday night, might need to take a look at themselves as well.

Here are some harmful effects of alcohol addiction:

● Heart

Consuming too much alcohol can lead to high blood pressure, strokes, and irregular heartbeats.

● Kidneys

Consuming too much alcohol over time can lead to acute kidney failure and chronic kidney disease.

● Liver

Its common knowledge that alcohol causes liver damage. But do you know how? Consuming too much of it over time can cause inflammation in the liver. That includes hepatitis, cirrhosis, and fibrosis.

● Immune System

Your immune system is what fights against illnesses and diseases to keep your body safe. But drinking alcohol can affect your immune system's abilities and make it vulnerable to diseases like pneumonia and tuberculosis.

● Mind

Alcohol can have long and short-term effects on your brain, and it can also disrupt your brain's communication pathways.

Brain damage is also very common through alcohol-induced seizures, alcohol-induced nutrition deficiencies, and liver disease. These can involve the ability to make proper decisions and have a strong memory.

● Behavior

Alcohol can cause changes in behavior. The most common changes in behavior might include confusion, slurred speech, and difficulty retaining information. Because of this, drinkers are known to get into quite a lot of trouble in the form of injuries, accidents, and violent behavior.

Drugs

When a person starts to take drugs, their bodies begin to lower the production of natural substances that they produce internally. Over time, the user's body starts to depend on the drugs as a source for that particular chemical. Then, either it doesn't produce any of its own chemicals or only makes a small amount.

That causes the user to not only take the harmful substance because they want to, but now it becomes a need. It's because of the dependency that many people have horrible withdrawal experiences.

Abusing drugs can lead to a lot of harm, and many of the damages to the user's body can often last for years, decades, or even their entire life.

Here are some harmful effects of drug addiction.

● Respiratory system

The lungs take in damage when you usually smoke, but sometimes they can also be affected when you snort in some drugs. These can causes diseases like chronic bronchitis, lung cancer, and emphysema. Also, long term abuse of opioids can result in depressed breathing.

● Cardiovascular system

If you are abusing stimulants such as cocaine, you will be affecting your heart quite a bit with every single hit. Over time, using stimulants can cause heart diseases and maybe even heart failure. If you're injecting drugs into your body like heroin, then your veins could collapse, and you can get an infection in your heart or blood vessels.

● Liver damage

When it comes to your liver, heroin and prescription opioids particularly can cause significant damage. The impact can become even more severe if you drink or abuse alcohol. In extreme situations, it can even cause fatal liver failure.

● Kidney damage

The list of drugs that cause kidney damage and kidney failure is quite massive. This is mainly caused when the body temperature increases, you are dehydrated, and with the breakdown of muscle tissues.

● Gastrointestinal damage

There are quite a number of substances that can cause damage to your stomach and the intestines as well. This generally leads to constipation, chronic pain, and acid reflux.

● Brain

When it comes to the brain, drugs can do quite a lot of damage. For starters, they can cause changes in your memory and learning. They do this to make your mind crave the drugs even more. There will be many cues in your environment that can act as a trigger.

The drugs can affect a particular type of neurotransmitter. As a result, your brain would change the way you think, impairing your cognitive functions.

Over time, the drug abuse can seriously affect many parts of your brain. Also, it can cause your brain cells to die out. Once they die, they don't ever get replaced.

● Death

When a person is using drugs heavily, there are significant high chances of them overdosing at some point in their addiction. If that situation ever arises, they will need instant medical assistance. However, they usually fail to get it because they are generally in an environment where everyone is on something, and nobody notices or they are all alone. That can generally be fatal, or that person gets a little taste of death.

How Can Addiction Negatively Impact Your Life?

Financials

When you start to take massive amounts of drugs and alcohol, you will be spending a tremendous amount of money every single day. To keep that addiction, you might start spending half, most, or even all of your salary just to feel that way again, especially for illegal drugs.

This can put a massive financial strain on your life. Many times, addicts start to resort to stealing and borrowing money without the intention of ever giving back to continue their habits.

Legal

Having an addiction to drugs or alcohol can lead to different crimes. You might be caught stealing from someone. You could get arrested on a DUI or DWI charge. You could accidentally kill someone while driving. You might get caught in possession of drugs.

The list basically goes on and on. Unless you put an end to your habits, you will need to have a good Los Angeles Criminal Lawyer to save you from the law.

Your Health

The type of substance that you abuse can do significant damage to your body, as you might've read above. It can affect your mind, body, and even your spirit. Over time, your physical health can and will deteriorate because of the addiction. Basically, every part of you can be hurt by the addiction.

Your Relationships and Family

Your family might have a lot of love for you now, but all of that can change when they see that you have a problem. They will undoubtedly force you to get better and try to help out in any way in the beginning. But if the dust doesn't settle soon, then you might get into deep trouble.

Many people get divorced, thrown out of their homes, lose the luxury of seeing their kids, and face worse fates. Many addicts even start stealing for their own homes.

Your Hobbies and Free Time

You might've liked going to sports games, travel, do exciting things, and enjoy your life with some hobbies, but all that can change when you are abusing drugs.

When a person starts to use drugs heavily, they continuously think about their poison. All that matters is how and when they are going to get their next hit. All of your hobbies are gone, and your free time might include getting drunk or be under the influence of a substance. This can cause a strain in many relationships in your life.

Your Studies or Work

When you aren't living a good and healthy life, you can seriously affect your studies or career.

You might start drinking on the job or taking drugs. Your academic or job performance might take a hit because of the damage the substances cause to your mind and body. Also, you probably won't even be able to concentrate, and your desire to do better might go away.