Addiction is quite a complicated disease. It means the inability to control your intake of certain drugs that may have harmful effects on your health. Needless to say, drug addiction causes physical and mental health issues.
Drug addiction is more than mere cravings for drugs. You’d have to deal with a mental battle that introduces a series of psychological sufferings as well.
Initially, it feels like you’re escaping reality and getting temporary relief. But gradually, it becomes torture.
With the statistics for drug addiction being staggering at the moment, it’s important to understand the scope of addiction. Millions of people struggle with this disorder across the world.
Hence, we’ll explore the visible effects of drug addiction. This article will also dive deeper to explore the emotional and cognitive impact on its victim.
The Cycle of Addiction and Its Psychological Toll
Substance abuse often begins innocuously. It may start as a stress response. Or an experiment to have the experience. Perhaps a prescription. The addiction creeps in on you, and it soon evolves into a relentless cycle of relief and need.
This vicious cycle starts the moment you start needing a substance to escape discomfort or pain. At first, the reality gets shrouded in the illusion the drug creates. A soothing sense of relief– temporary relief, a fleeting sense of well-being.
But as soon as the effect leaves, the discomfort resumes, becoming more intense than it was the last time.
This rebound effect creates more severe psychological distress. That’s right; the same distress you seek to avoid. At this point, you turn back to the source of that fleeting sense of well-being for another temporary fix.
And then the vicious cycle begins.
Addiction generally is a vicious cycle because each time you take drugs, you reinforce the behavior pattern that keeps you addicted. With time, your mental health deteriorates and becomes as significant as the physical dependency.
With each iteration of the cycle, your mental health deteriorates while you seek temporary relief that merely increases your distress and emotional suffering. It’s an unending loop that disguises distress and physical harm as satisfaction.
Significant Psychological Effects of Addiction
Abusing physiology or mood-altering substances could lead to several psychological harm:
1. Anxiety and Paranoia
Substance abuse increases the risk of anxiety and paranoia. Most drugs, whether stimulants or depressants, skyrocket the body’s flight-or-fight response. This leads to an immediate increase in anxiety. But it also causes long-term anxiety issues.
A user’s psychological response to drug abuse may mimic anxiety triggers. For instance, it could cause a heartbeat rate, heightened alertness, and heightened alertness. When the use becomes more consistent, these symptoms become more consistent.
2. Depression
Substance abuse affects people’s moods and how they view life. It also interacts with the brain’s function and structure. Thereby making a drug addict more prone to depression. The continuous use of substances to escape reality and the emotional pain that follows when it wears off is a fertile ground for depression.
Now, let’s get deeper into how this works. Drug abuse disrupts the regular order of the brain. Specifically how neurotransmitters affect mood regulation like dopamine.
Substance abuse disrupts the brain such that the victim starts losing interest in previously interesting activities and develops a feeling of hopelessness. However, people often react to drugs differently.
3. Cognitive Impairments
Long-term misuse of drugs could cause cognitive impairment. What does that even mean? Let’s explain. The victim may find themselves struggling with simple problem-solving or decision-making.
Brain imaging studies of people with addiction show that abuse alters brain function and structure. And this influence affects decision-making, learning, memory, and judgment.
4. Social Withdrawal and Isolation
A couple of months or years into an addiction, you may withdraw from social interaction. Gradually, you’ll detach from the activities you once loved. Often, this withdrawal is because of the time expended on acquiring and using substances. Or the shame that comes with being addicted to drugs.
In the long run, the social isolation escalates substance use. That’s because a lack of emotional connection or isolation drives the need for more drug use.
5. Emotional Dysregulation
Finally, substance abuse disrupts your regular emotions, making you a bit erratic. You’ll find it difficult to process or respond to emotions properly. The struggle to manage emotions often leads to more isolation from people.
And the fluctuation in emotional levels pushes you deeper into the addiction. In a bid to solve problems caused by the addiction, you find yourself turning to the same drugs.
The Role of Guilt and Shame in Addiction
Guilt or shame and addiction are two ends of a coin. They are deeply intertwined and difficult to separate. Guil and shame are, funnily enough, triggers as well as consequences. To make it even worse, these feelings make the recovery path even more challenging.
Come with us while we explain.
The guilt often comes as a result of the activities you have engaged in due to the influence of an addiction. Or while trying to acquire the drugs. The higher your moral standing, the higher your guilt.
For instance, if you lie, steal, or hurt your loved ones during this process, you find yourself wallowing in guilt. To escape this guilt or negative selt-perception, you probably need more substance— and the cycle continues.
Society’s stigma around addiction escalates the shame an addict feels. How? The feeling of shame is more than you feeling bad about your actions. It’s more like feeling worthless about yourself or what you have become.
External judgment only further corroborates your feelings and negative self-image. Unfortunately, it only intensifies your need to rely on drugs.
Guilt and shame are both solid barriers against recovery. The thought of sobriety becomes dreadful because it comes with emotional distress drenched in shame and guilt. You constantly seek that “high” that makes you less ashamed.
Unfortunately, the societal stigma that comes with addiction makes it even more difficult to call for help. Your thoughts would revolve around saving yourself from embarrassment.
One of the first steps to sobriety is breaking free from that shame and guilt. You are one step toward sobriety when you decide it’s time to stop and reach out for help.
Psychological Effects on Families and Relationships
Drug addiction affects you, but it affects your family even more:
Emotional Strain and Conflict
We often think of the emotional and psychological effects of drug addiction on the user. But what about the family and friends? Drug addiction attracts a certain type of lifestyle and behavior. The behavior, characterized by erratic mood swings, worries family and friends. It causes anxiety and sometimes depression.
Eventually, it strains the relationship they have with the addict or sometimes damages it completely.
Social Withdrawal and Isolation
The stigmatization of addiction extends to the family of the addict. In fact, social isolation and withdrawal affect friends and family, too.
Some distance themselves from their social network out of fear of stigmatization or fear. This means the families and friends also experience some symptoms that come with drug addiction. Isolation, however, leaves the family without the external support needed to handle the challenges of being related to an addict.
Impact on Children
Even worse is the effect of addiction on the addict’s kids. It could be pretty severe as they may neglect their kids when drug use becomes their priority.
Unfortunately, addicted parents are more likely to cause their kids emotional and psychological issues. This could arise from taking on caretaker roles to nurture younger siblings or the addicted parent.
Treatment and Recovery
What does the recovery or treatment process entail?
Integrated Treatment Approaches
To effectively treat an addiction, the treatment plan must cater to the psychological and physical aspects of the disorder. That means adopting integrated plans.
Such treatments involved therapy for mental health issues and addiction treatment for physical withdrawal symptoms. An integrated program focuses on the addict as a person, not the addiction alone.
Therapeutic Modalities
As we said, therapy is a vital part of treating addiction. Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) influences individuals to identify and change every negative thought pattern and behavior driven by substance abuse. One could also engage in family therapy as it rebuilds relationships with loved ones.
Support Systems
The feeling of isolation could cause a relapse during recovery. Hence, support groups like Narcotics Anonymous (NA) or Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) help people in the pursuit of sobriety.
Getting encouragement from others with similar challenges aids recovery. It creates a sense of belonging and accountability that renews the desire to be sober.
Family and friends are also great support systems that anyone would appreciate. The more support an addict gets, the better.
Final Verdict
The truth is addiction leaves damage in its wake. Not just for the user but for family and friends as well.
We understand how complex the cycle of addiction is and how difficult it is to break free. But we suggest seeking professional help. That’s the best bet.
However, you must decide to stop. That decision will hold you back throughout the recovery journey, even when it gets tough.
By understanding everything an addiction entails, it’s easier to tackle it head-on. Remember, the feeling you get from drugs is temporary, and you get more dependent on each use.
