In this blog we will read about the “Side effects of drug addiction”
Addiction to anything has never been friendly to mental health or health. When it comes to drugs, it is clearly mentioned that they are little substances that low down the health and morals of a person. Unfortunately, today drug addiction is getting very common among the people especially our youth who are falling victim to the same.
Before we elaborate the side effects of a drug addiction, let’s have an overlook on the definition of drug addiction.
Table of Contents
What is drug addiction?
Drug addiction is a negative habit of a person that affects the mind and encourages it to consume excessive amounts which later becomes fatal if left untreated.
There is a very minor threshold to regulate the difference between a drug addiction and drug abuse. Let’s discuss in a social manner.
Drug addiction is actually the initial part of the drug abuse on the scale.
At first, a person takes the drug and as soon as the mind feels pleasure, that person starts increasing the dose of the drug. It becomes an addiction gradually and this behavior is called drug abuse.
So, to an extent, drug addiction is a behavior whereas drug abuse is a stimuli response or process.
Surprising factor regarding drug addiction is that it is normalizing among the people so intensely even it is having negative consequences for it.
According to a report, drug overdoses are supposed to be the leading cause of death for people under the age of 50 in America.
Drug abuse or drug overdose happens by two types-
Accidental overdoses
Sometimes people accidentally take more quantities of drugs or medications than the prescription. Here, people have no negative intention of harming themselves or taking pleasure with the drugs. This is totally random and accidental.
Intentional overdoses
An intentional drug addiction is done knowingly. The reason behind an intentional drug overdose is the willingness to suicide or taking pleasure by the hangover.
An intentional drug overdose is continuous or constant whereas an accidental drug overdose is rare. Accidental overdose is actually a tragedy if it occurs. Younger generation is seen to be involved in drug addiction more than the aged people.
There are some certain causes that lead to a drug addiction. Let’s have a look at them.
What causes drug addiction?
Genetic factor
It may surprise you but yes, genetic factors may be responsible for drug addiction. We have certain patterns of response in our body to react against anything including the immune system and digestion.
If our parents or forefathers have a specific tendency to react against a particular drug, we also have the same predisposition to this reaction.
Likewise if our parents or forefathers ever had a history of drug addiction or drug abuse, the chances to be a drug addict get higher for us in the series of response patterns. So, up to some extent, genetic factors or family history may be a cause for drug addiction.
Peer pressure
Peer pressure is something that plays a vital role in the construction of a person’s behaviour and nature.
When it comes to drug addiction, what Sigmund Freud, a great psychologist, elaborates about child development is very relevant.
Psychosexual development takes five stages to complete in a person. When a child is at its latent stage or third stage, it starts to shift its attention towards the norms. Here a child learns the rules and moral development takes place in the child.
The moral development depends on the environmental factors including the surrounding of the things and people. At this latent stage, a child gets introduced with peer pressure.
This peer pressure might take a child towards the negative habits if parents or guardians do not monitor or guide the child properly. Research says that injurious habits like smoking, drinking or even drug addiction may occur in this age due to peer pressure.
Facilitation takes a child to do what other peers are saying or demonstrating. The child may feel guilt if it gets bullied by the other children for not consuming drugs. Due to this pressure of guilt, a child may fall sick in drug addiction.
Parenting
It is a point to remember that parenting plays a vital role in building the behaviour and personality of a child. If parents are unable to pay the required time to their children, the risk factor of becoming a drug addict gets high.
Researchers suggest that a big proportion of mental illness in children is due to the lack of good parenting.
For example, children with autism are actually the result of a situation where parents are unable to dedicate an ample amount of time because they are working.
Bad parenting is more severe than we think. It will make you surprised that children with sexual disorder (basically homosexuality) are actually the result of bad parenting, according to the early beliefs of diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM).
Later homosexuality was removed from the second addition of DSM because it was considered normal after the study of behaviour and other competitive aspects.
Anyways, normality depends on the situation yet it is obvious that parenting is something which is really important. If we do not monitor the activities of our children, we simply encourage them to indulge in bad habits including drug addiction. Freedom is important for the development of a child but we should try to limitate the boundaries so that our child may not feel a lack of affection from us.
Feeling of loneliness
Drug addiction is also done to catch the attention of our loved one. Yes, studies suggest that a child may start consuming drugs so that the parents or the other loved ones may pay him attention that he is not normal.
This is very much related to the previous factors. If a child is unable to receive the attention of its parents or family members, it tries to do such activities that may make others notice it.
Apart from this, a lonely child tries to get love and attention from outside people. Sometimes this may become a risk factor for the child as it might get the demonstrations to consume drugs or alcohol for mental pleasure.
These are some causes for drug addiction. There may be some other causes linked to drug addiction like the race of so-called modern lifestyle, showoff etc.
What’s trending regarding a drug addiction?
Recently a famous star kid of Bollywood named Aryan Khan was arrested for taking drugs. There was so much controversy regarding the support or criticism of the celebrity kid but the point is that who is responsible for this behaviour in the child?
Can we not say that it is because of parenting or a matter of being a rich person that means he wants to show off?
There was a big proportion of people in the society who had certain points of their opinion in this matter.
According to them, it is because of parenting. People are compelled to support this opinion that the star kid was given extreme freedom and he was not put on the limitations.
Well, let’s forget about the limitations and parenting but it is true that drug consumption is not good at all. If a person takes drug substances, he not only harms his health but also he ruins the moral conduct of his behaviour.
Parents should be worried about their children so that drug addiction may not take place in them. This is especially for the celebrities who have given extra freedom to their children. They are the ideals of the society and hence they must be more attentive to what they are doing.
Star kids are regarded as the next superstars of the era and hence they must be very responsible so that people may inspire themselves in a positive manner. Fans of Aryan Khan are very much disappointed and they are praying for the bail of this celebrity kid. Let’s see what happens in this case but the point is that always pay attention to what the child is doing.
How can we identify a drug addiction?
There are some certain symptoms through which we can identify a drug addiction in case one is having drug substances. Let us discuss here-
- Red, bloodstream eyes that look tired
- Loss of appetite or no appetite at all
- Physically look tired and weak
- Strong cravings for drugs
- Always thinking about drugs
- Loss of concentration capability.
- Doing risky or illegal activities even being conscious about the negative results (as unprotected sex or rash driving)
- Can’t control taking drug substances
- Problem of weight loss
- Feeling of isolation
What can we do to stop a drug addiction?
Note some points through which we can give a contribution in stopping a drug addiction.
- Give proper attention to the child. Take care of the needs of a child whether they are mental needs or social needs.
- Do not let the child feel isolated. Make sure you monitor your child properly.
- Take a view of what the child is doing and whose company he’s sitting in.
- Let the child feel free to ask you questions. Make him feel attached to you.
- Listen to your child properly. If he needs any suggestion, do provide him with that.
- Do not bully your child at home for anything. Sometimes parents compare their child with other children that make them inferior.
- Educate your child about the bad things and their consequences.
- If your child is in the company of other such people who are not good, make your child away from them at first.
Conclusion
Drug addiction is a bad habit and we must educate our children about the same. Make sure there is a school session from your side on drug addiction and other negative habits.
We have worked on the awareness campaign in this article regarding side effects of drug addiction. We hope that this is going to assist you. Do let us know if you have any query regarding the same in the comment section below.
