Drug awareness campaigns have become significantly important these days especially for the young generation. It is crucial that people should be made aware of how much alcohol and drugs can ruin their lives. Even if their alcohol intake is not excessive, drinking it on a daily basis will cause serious health issues later on in their lives. Liver damage, stomach diseases, hallucinations, lung infections, heart issues, defects during pregnancy, fatigue, infertility, and cancer are just a few of those health issues caused by alcohol. Drugs are even more harmful than alcohol and using them for a long period of time can cause hepatitis, mental issues, HIV or AIDS and cancer, etc. Sometimes people use drugs because they think that drugs will make them happy, but that is not the case. Some drugs cause the release of dopamine and the person is tricked into thinking that he is truly happy but in reality, it is just a trick of the mind. Parents should make sure that they let their children know that these substances are severely harmful and the children should stay away from them at all costs.
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How does alcohol or drug addiction happen?
Source: theconversation.com
Using drugs or drinking alcohol just once does not make a person addicted, rather addiction happens when these things are used excessively over a long period of time, or in other words, they are abused. As they are being used continuously, the person’s body becomes dependent on the drugs and if they are not used for a while, he starts feeling sick and gets an incessant urge to consume them again. Their dependency makes them even more damaging. Moreover, addiction does not only happen to alcohol or illicit drugs, rather a person can become addicted to prescription drugs like pain killers as well. This happens when pain killers are taken for a long time and the patient’s body eventually develops tolerance to it and when the pain is not relieved even after taking the medicine, the patient starts to increase the dosage from time to time and becomes addicted.
How does addiction affect our lives negatively?
Source: wellnessretreatrecovery.com
In addition to the health risks, addiction puts a strain on people’s relationships as well. It becomes difficult for an addict to function normally in society. Numerous cases have happened in which drunk drivers ended up causing severe accidents due to the influence of alcohol where innocent people ended up losing their lives. Some other times, addicts unintentionally hurt their families and children in which case, the child protection services take their children away and they lose custody as well unless they recover from addiction and get their lives together. These are the reasons why alcohol and drug addiction is considered to be a chronic illness.
Why do people get addicted to drugs and alcohol?
Source: legislativegazette.com
Various kinds of issues in a person’s life can give birth to addiction. Mental disorders like anxiety, insomnia, and depression, sense of isolation, being ignored, lack of self-esteem and confidence, emotional weakness are some of the reasons why people turn to drugs. Moreover, the intense pressure of family to do well in studies or the pressure at the workplace can become a reason for addiction as well. Furthermore, unemployment also causes extreme stress in people because they are unable to earn enough money and support their families and that again, increases stress after which they may turn to drugs and alcohol as a means of escape. It is highly dangerous to use drugs in front of children because early exposure to drugs might become the reason for those children to become addicts later on in their lives.
How to recover from addiction?
Source: uk-rehab.com
The best way to recover from addiction is to get admitted to a good rehabilitation facility. The reason is that these facilities have such doctors and staff that are trained professionally to handle such patients, therefore, they are suitable to help the addict in any condition. They are dedicated to help and comfort each patient to the best of their abilities. The addicts are also going through a difficult time in their lives which is why they are treated with respect and are provided with unconditional care and support. The support of their loved ones can also work wonders during their recovery. The compassionate doctors, nurses, and accomplished psychologists, all work together to help the patients turn into their best selves. Look at this site https://www.theprocessrecoverycenter.com/.
What these people do not understand is that the escape that drugs and alcohol provide are just temporary but the negative effects that they leave behind and fairly long term. Therefore, it is not an escape in the true sense of the word. The key aspect in the recovery process of any patient is that the root cause of the illness should be targeted. The reason for this is that unless the root cause is eliminated, it is impossible to heal the patient completely, therefore the patients are helped to solve their problems due to which the addiction arose and they are taught the best ways to channel their negative emotions through a suitable medium. People use various mediums like sports such as boxing, badminton, football, hockey, or other hobbies like gardening, reading books, painting or writing, etc. Writing down one’s thoughts also helps to organize them and let out some of the worries that one might feel. After completing the treatment program for recovery from addiction, it is compulsory to attend the after-care programs provided by rehab facilities. Some people also join support groups where there are other people like them, who had similar issues and recovered from their illness. These people share their experiences and words of wisdom which may end up helping many other people. These programs and support groups are for the patient’s benefit because even after full recovery, he can relapse any time if something very drastic happens in his life and he fails to cope with the situation especially if there is no one else to help and support him.
