How Addiction Affects the Brain Addiction Solutions-
Harmful patterns of behavior do not
always only hurt the person who is engaging in the behavior. Addictions can be
very harmful not only for the person who is dealing with them, but also for the
person's family and close friends. Here we will look at some of the affects
that addictions can have on families.
how
addiction affects me
One of the qualities of addiction is
that the person who is engaging in them is usually in some sort of denial about
having a problem. This may be especially true in the early stages as the person
wants to deny that they have an addiction and wants to believe that they have
full control of what they are doing.
Nobody likes to feel trapped. A common
punishment around the world is to imprison people for doing wrongful deeds and
that lack of freedom in and of itself is undesirable. For the person with an
addiction, it is almost like carrying around their own personal jail cell. They
do not have a choice in their behavior anymore but also cannot get out without
help. The denial can happen because nobody wants to believe that they have
imprisoned themselves by engaging in a harmful activity. addiction
side effects
The denial of the addiction can affect
the family because it inhibits honest communication. Everyone needs
communication to feel sane because we constantly engage with the world around
us. If someone is not being honest, we may not know exactly what they are not
being honest about and this can greatly strain relationships. As the trust
starts to disappear, the family connections may begin a slow process of
deterioration.
Millions of people fight daily against
the side effects of addictive substances. Substances ranging from alcohol and
nicotine to illicit drugs and prescription drugs are consumed daily by
individuals for their altering effects. Once taken by the disease of addiction,
an individual will fight daily for their independence from the substance.
Waking daily with a twinge of need for that high they'd known for so long
before leads to use daily. However, there is hope. Help is available to combat
the disease of addiction. addiction
consequences
These addictive substances plaguing
millions of lives have many things in common. One commonality between these
substances is that they all have side effects. The most severe side effect is
death. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one person
dies every 19 minutes due to a prescription drug overdose and that number is
rising rapidly. Without interdiction, that number will continue to rise every
day.
With an ever increasing mortality
rate, the number of needless deaths will continue to rise from overdose. Deaths
are not the only side effect. There are several other side effects from these
medications. One short-term side effect is a depressed respiratory system. This
causes shortness of breath in individuals or in some
cases, an inability to breathe at all. This is common of overdose deaths among
opioid or prescription drug addicts. Another side effect leading to possible
death is arrhythmias, or irregular heartbeats.
addiction
problems
Arrhythmias are classified depending
on the status of the heart rate as either Bradycardia, which is a slowing of
the heart rate or Tachycardia, which is an increase in heart rate. Generally,
with prescription or opioid overdoses individuals encounter Bradycardia, as
most of the medications will slow the heart rate causing a lack of blood and
oxygen to get to other internal organs. Without treatment, this can lead to
death. Additionally, the abuse of some medications may lead to Tachycardia. The
increase of the heart rate beyond safe levels can prevent the heart from
filling with blood during diastole or the relaxation phase of the heart beat
causing the heart to pump less blood to other internal organs. In either case
the primary organ affected is the brain. Humans are unable to sustain life
without enough blood going to the brain. In most cases the individual will
experience dizziness, confusion, loss of consciousness, permanent brain damage,
and in extreme cases death. Addictive substances physically change the brain
over time. When an addiction occurs, changes in the brain cause users to
prioritize drug use over all else.addiction side effects. why
addiction is bad
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