When you see people on drugs and alcohol in the media, you may see someone relaxed and having the time of their life. Maybe you have family members and friends who do drugs that tell you that drugs are no big deal. Drugs can have both short-term and long-term effects that can ruin your life forever if you do not get into treatment quickly.

Drug addiction is a brain disease. It can interfere with the neurotransmitters or chemical messengers in your brain. There is an overflow of dopamine in your brain which can affect your emotions, movement, and how you experience please. Your body will become so accustomed to drugs that when you try to quit, your body produces uncomfortable physical symptoms that make you feel the only way the withdrawal period will stop is if you continue taking more drugs. Your behavior, judgment, learning, and memory will be affected.

The Journal of the American Medical Association says that 37% of alcoholics and 33% of drug users have at least one mental illness. Drugs can produce mental health symptoms like how those who abuse marijuana can increase their risk of psychosis and painkillers can cause you to get depression. Some people do drugs as a way of decreasing their mental health symptoms as they see it can help them be carefree and relaxed. What they may not know is that it will make them worse, making them have to take more and more to decrease those symptoms. Drugs can make antidepressants, anti-anxiety pills, and mood stabilizers less effective. Drugs are no way to treat your mental health and tackling your issues head on will make you realize there are healthier ways to deal with your mental health like exercise, therapy, yoga, eating right, sleeping well, etc.

Drugs can affect your responsibilities where your number one priority is to use drugs or find ways to acquire drugs. Marijuana can affect paying attention, memory, and learning which can decrease your school performance. This can also affect how you do at work. If you show up too high to be able to concentrate on your task or you are too hungover to work, you can get fired and companies will not want to hire you. If you have a record of being under the influence while at work, companies will not take you seriously and find you unfit to handle big tasks like if it involves construction or human lives.

Drugs can change your behavior in how you view your loved ones. You can be going to them only whenever you need more money for drugs. This can cause them to stay away from you as they become someone they do not recognize. It can make your friends look at you as selfish and manipulative as you may have lied or steal to get their money for drugs or broke commitments with them to get high. Drugs can make you say things without thinking and cause emotional and physical abuse towards them. Drugs can affect you financially in that every cent you make is spent at bars or with a drug dealer. This can cause a rift between you and your family if you cannot provide for them and you can do risky things like steal from your own children to support your drug use.

This can also change your role as a parent as your kids are always supposed to come first in your life but drugs can change that. It can cause you to be neglectful towards them like getting passed out that you are not watching them or leaving them alone in the house for hours while you go to the bar. Your kids will no longer respect you as a parent and feel that they have to take care of you to ensure nothing bad happens to you. Drugs can affect your criminal record as well as you can get a DUI, robberies, or getting into violent fights, causing damage to yourself and others.

Drugs can also do physically damage to you as well. Amphetamines can increase your heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure. There can also be blurred vision, headaches, shaking, sweating, and long-terms effects like hallucinations and paranoia. Cocaine can raise your heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, and body temperature. Marijuana can change your mood swings like one minute feeling happy to feeling tired and depressed the next. Drugs can also cause you to develop long-term effects as well like heart and lung disease, cancer, HIV/AIDs, and hepatitis. If you are too under the influence to pay attention, this can cause you to have unprotected sex with can lead to an STD or an unplanned pregnancy.

The first time you try drugs can always be avoidable. By keeping in mind all of the dangerous side effects of drugs, you will not give into peer pressure or be curious enough to experiment. It is important to think about everything you will be giving up if you develop a drug habit like losing your friends and family, losing your job, doing bad in school, getting involved in illegal activities, and permanent health issues. Drugs can take over your body and your mind in ways you never expected. Each consequence is never minor and if you develop an addiction, getting into treatment will show that you recognize you have a problem and are willing to get help for it.

Located in Tacoma, Washington, Bayview Center’s mission is to offer clinically-driven programs and services to treat a number of substance abuse disorders along with anxiety and depression using cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy, trauma therapy, yoga therapy, and more for a successful recovery. For more information, please call us 888 570 7154 at as we are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.