Effects of Substance Use on Human Body

December 12, 2018

The risky substances lead a person into a situation where he is compelled to use them. There are various substances including alcohol or drugs that are used by the addicts. Despite knowing the negative results of these substances, a person continues using them. Most of the times, people do not realize that an addiction develops easily. It happens when the substance goes down into the body and enters the brain. As a result, it changes the natural behaviour of the brain on a temporary basis. The person depends on the substance as the body demands more amount of drug. Moreover, it disturbs the social, personal and professional life of the person.

5 Popular Addictive Substances

Due to continuous use of substances, risks a person gets addicted. There are various risks associated with the use of substances that disturbs the life of an individual. Following are the substances that are commonly available and in demand by the people.

Nicotine

It is a highly addictive substance that is found in tobacco products. This is one of the most common addictions available in America. It is noticed that almost more than two-thirds of Americans are dependent on it. According to a report, most of them smoke cigarettes or chew tobacco at some point of time in their lives.^[1]

Barbiturates (“downers”)

Most of the times, such substances are used by the people for treating anxiety and inducing sleep. Barbiturates are popularly known by different names including nembies, gorillas, pink ladies blue bullets, and bars. If consumed in a low dose regularly, it can lead the person to euphoria. Whereas, if the higher dose is consumed, it can result in suppressed breathing.

Cocaine

According to an estimate, 14 to 20 million people across the world use cocaine. Due to this, the drug industry has become a billion dollar industry. After consuming cocaine, it gets reacted with the dopamine. This leads to an abnormal activation of the brain. It is also noticed that 21 percent of addicts who consume cocaine soon become addicted to it. Due to this, they need it throughout their life.^[²^]

Alcohol

this is one of the most common addictive substance. Most of the people are addicted to wine or beer. These substances have negative consequences on the mind and body of the person. According to the recent studies, it is noticed that due to the alcohol, the level of dopamine in the brain system increases. This increase is noted to be almost 360 percent. Due to the regular use of substances, the death rate has crossed 3 million in a year.^[³^]

Heroin

Among all the substances, heroin is the considered as the most dangerous substance for health. It has the number one position as it is the highest addictive substance of all. It is observed that the heroin is ranked 2.5 out of 3, which is the maximum score. This substance has an alarming rate of addiction. Also, it is seen that one out of four individuals who consume heroin become addicted to it. This drug is particularly considered as the most dangerous because the dose that leads to death is five times more than the dosage needed to get high.^[4]

Symptoms to Recognize Effects of Substance

Depending on the use of a substance, the symptoms of addiction differ. These can be identified on the basis of usual warning signs. Read the following to know the symptoms of addiction:

- An overwhelming desire for drugs
- indifferences at workplace, school or home
- Changes in physical appearance
- Secretive behavior

Risk Factors

After using risky substances, there are various risks associated with it. Some of them are described below:

Physical Dependency

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, there are possibilities for getting physically dependent on drugs. Due to the regular use of substances, there are noticed some physical changes in the person. Following are the changes required after the person becomes addicted to the drugs:

Anger
Moodiness
Frustration
Insomnia
Depression
Trembling
Seizures
Constipation

There are certain drugs like barbiturates, benzodiazepine, opiates, and alcohol that persuade physical dependence. Once the dependence takes place, it cannot be easily discontinued. It is only possible with the help of medical assistance, else the addict would face more problem. It is noticed that after the addict’s body needs substances, the person gets ill in absence of the substance in his body. In such a condition, the person physically depends on the substance.

Psychological Dependency

Psychological dependence is when the mind produces the signals of craving. A psychological dependence is noticed when the use of substances change the mood. Also, for creating the feelings like self-confidence, happiness, or to make feel better. For experiencing high feelings, an addict is forced to continue the use of substances. In such a situation, a person is considered as psychologically dependent on substances. As a result, a person feels irritated and depressed. Some of the factors that contribute to addiction are:

Use of illegal substances by friends and family members
Genetic predisposition to addiction
Poor coping skills
Peer pressure
Inability to self-soothe or self-regulate mood
Brain deficiencies such as fewer natural opiates
Lack of love, warmth, praise, and acceptance in the family
Poverty, poor living conditions, or isolation
Failure in professional and social life
Medical use of prescription drugs for legitimate needs^[⁵^]

There are some common symptoms recognized among the addicts. Some of them are:

Loss of control: Addicts do not have control over their actions. They need to consume substance at regular intervals. For them, it is not easy to manage their life. It is possible that they decide to stop taking the substance but without medication, they would not be able to quit. As a result, they will start using it again. Many addicts take different substances in order to quit. By using a different time substance, they try to control the addiction.

Tolerance: Tolerance occurs the time when the individual requires a high dose of substance. For instance, during the early phase of addiction, a person demands only a restricted amount of alcohol to feel high. But when the dependency grows, an addict requires more drugs to experience the same state of euphoria. In a later stage, there comes reverse tolerance. This is a condition where the things take place in a reverse style. In this condition, a small amount of alcohol makes the person intoxicated.

Withdrawal: When the person stops taking the drug suddenly or decreases the dosage. The body gets ill and suffers in an adverse manner. There are noticed some biochemical changes that occur due to the drug. When a person withdraws from drugs, there can be physical symptoms noticed. These include hallucinating, trembling, feeling physical pain shaking, throwing up, feeling angry, or irritated. It is suggested that the addicts must join the rehab center for a reliable treatment.

Impairment: After using the substance for a continuous period, the judgment power of an individual becomes damaged. They start making random choices without thinking about the pros and cons of it. For instance, even after knowing that driving under the impact of alcohol is not safe, they do it. Additionally, they know that the use of substances cause negative results but still they consume it regularly.

Conclusion

In this article, we have discussed the substances that are risky for health. Due to the regular consumption of such substances, a person suffers physically as well as mentally. A physical and psychological dependency on substance affects the life of a person. It becomes difficult for him to concentrate on his work. In addition to this, he does not pay any attention to his family members. For such people, it becomes difficult to quit using the substance without any medication.

The article provides complete information about the effects of risky substances on the life of the person. Due to the effect of addiction, the person physically and psychologically depends on it. Most of the individuals even after realizing the effects of substances continue using them. Such substances affect the vital body parts of the human body. We hope that you have received complete information through this article about the risky use of substances. In case we missed out anything, it will be covered in the next article.