The term drug addiction refers to any unavoidable use of a substance. A substance can be alcohol, drugs from a prescription, inhalants, or any other hard drugs like cocaine, heroin etc. There is need to gather information as to why an individual is attracted to consume such substances. With this information on hand it is therefore easy to prevent or stop such people from continuing with the intake.
Some of the cause why one becomes an addict is experimenting or if one is curious and wants to know more about that drug. The feeling of being high which is brought by the intake of drug is one reason why one would want to take the drug in order to experience that euphoria. This may be gradual and one may think that he only need to take the drug in a certain circumstance. However it has been proved that this gradual experiment can lead to actual addiction without one noticing.
Drugs from a prescription can also make someone an addict. This is because of the need for one to take that drug in order either to ease pain or control situation. One may tend to take an overdose in order to relief himself of pain. Others may take it more often than the required duration or time. Others tend to take the drug even after the condition which was intended to be used for the drug clears up.
Athletes are also known to use certain drugs in order to improve and increase their performances. The use of steroids can have an effect on the muscles and make them bigger and others like amphetamines are known to assist in reducing pain or make it numb and this can lead to an athlete performing his duties when he is injured.
One might turn into drugs in order to forget about a certain bad situation that has ever affected her or him in life. This may be as a result of, sexual abuse, poor performance in school, denial by the family or a loved one, problems resulting from work place and many more. The consumption of the drugs helps in erasing the situation temporarily.
A person who is close to drugs or is associated to drug addicts can also become susceptible to drug addiction. Also a family where one person is addicted to drugs can be of negative impact as he can also influence others to copy his behaviors. A good example is a father who smokes or takes alcohol at home, can be a bad influence to the children
Peer pressure is another factor that contributes to one becoming a drug addict. It has been assumed that peer pressure is only in teenagers, but the real situation is that adults do also fall into peer pressure in order to fit in their new social class, in a new location where one resides and also a new place of work. Young girls of teenage are also known to be addicts to drugs that are meant to make them look slimmer and attractive. Also the need to gain freedom in order for one to do what he wants without being questionable can lead to drug addiction.
The issue of accessibility is another factor that contributes to drug addiction. Nowadays drugs can be found anywhere ranging from schools, places of work and even in the neighborhoods. The cheap prices offered to drugs make it another factor for one to be able to afford continuous purchasing of the drug. There is also the introduction of new drugs in the market which gives one the urge to try something new. All this factors gradually can lead to drug addiction. Other people do take drug in order to hide mental troubles. A person who is depressed can take drugs many times in order to feel happy. Hiding the situation gradually contributes to addiction.
Consumption of drugs can lead to physical effects than those one is expecting. A person who is addicted to cocaine may feel excited the moment he has started on it but this is followed by a crash. This situation where one feels anxious, fatigued, depressed and feels the need to consume more3 cocaine in order to remove these symptoms of the crash. Those that are addicted to alcohol and marijuana do cause accidents on roads and this is one of the major causes of accidents in roads. Those taking marijuana and the users of hallucinogenic drugs tend to experience flashbacks and if one tries abrupt withdrawal from taking the drugs suffers from withdrawal symptoms.
Withdrawal symptoms may cause vomiting, cramping of body muscles, experiencing convulsions and delirium in case of heroin addiction. Addiction also leads to the dugs becoming immune and therefore a lager dose is required to cause effect. The use of inject able drugs causes deadly diseases like AIDS and Hepatitis are the drug users tend to share the needles. Sexual urge also increases and prostitution among the drug addicts is high and this leads to transmission of Aids and other sexually transmitted diseases.
Those addicted to hard drugs like cocaine, heroin and morphine, are susceptible to overdose as intake of this drugs is not easy to control. There are more reported death cases which result from drug taking especially in the United States of America. Also there is connection between drug addiction and bad behaviors like burglary and prostitution as the need to raise capital to purchase the drugs increases. Therefore those associated with drugs tend to be more violent.
As the effects of the drug takes control of the mind, one is over occupied with its intake. Therefore there is deterioration in performance of ones duties either in the family or place of work. This can lead to dismissal from the place of work and divorce from the spouse. Expectant mothers who are in drugs pose a greater risk to the unborn child and the child may be born being underweight, those addicted to cocaine can addict the unborn child and soon after birth the child may experience withdrawal. Fetal alcohol syndrome is another deadly effect that affects children whose mothers are addicted to alcohol during the pregnancy period.
This can be in the work place as the time the addicts loose is costly to compensate. Those in drugs can be of harm to others and can cause hazardous accidents in the place of work more likely than those not in drugs. Most accidents are caused by alcoholic people and this might affect other road users and any other person in the same vehicle with the addict. They can also be a nuisance to neighbors due to eruption in violence, being a threat to theft, and being of bad influence especially to young children as they are easy targets.