“What is drug abuse?” The term “drug” according to the American Heritage Dictionary: Fourth Edition is either “a medicine used in treating a disease” or “a narcotic or hallucinogen.” The term “abuse” has many definitions but the most relevant is “to use wrongly or improperly.” Therefore the definition for the term “drug abuse” might be “the wrong or improper use of medicines used in treating disease or the wrong or improper use of narcotics or hallucinogens.”
To follow that up the next question to ask is, “What is addiction?” According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, addiction is defined as “a chronic, relapsing brain disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences.”
Today, addiction is considered to be a disease of the brain. This is because drugs change the brain, its structure, and how it works. These effects can be long lasting and can lead to behaviors that are harmful to the addict or to others.
Some commonly held myths about addiction include:
- Addiction is a voluntary behavior
- Addiction is a character flaw
- Addiction is a moral failing
- Addiction means a person has a lack of willpower
These early myths shaped how we as a society had dealt with drug abuse in the past and to some extent how we respond to addiction today. Much of that response was (and sometimes still is) based on a punitive approach rather than that of treatment.
Some scientists study the effects of drugs on the brain and on people's behavior. Discoveries about the brain have been made that revolutionize our understanding of drugs and addiction. These discoveries enable us as a society to respond more effectively to the problem of addiction. Despite these advances, many people still do not understand how people become addicted or how drugs affect the brain.
People take drugs for a variety of reasons:
- To feel good
- To feel better
- To do better
- To fit in
- To escape
- To relax
- Boredom
- Rebellion
- Curiosity and Experimentation
- Because the media makes it seem attractive
Depending on the substance being abused, many people report common feelings like happiness, confidence, serenity, or even euphoria when on the drug. Often times there is an accompanying feeling that what they are feeling isn't real and that the sensations are going to disappear at any time. The point is that the feelings that drugs produce are not real and are only temporary. After “coming down” from a high, drug users often feel powerful downsides like depression, anxiety, nausea, guilt, embarrassment, loneliness, and the desire to do more drugs.
At first people feel the positive effects of their use and believe they can control their usage but drugs will often times take over people's lives. How? Not only might someone become addicted but also they might make decisions that could permanently damage their lives such as when a drunk gets behind the wheel of a car and crashes. Over time the pleasurable effects of the drugs become less pleasurable and users will often have to take more of the drug to get the same or “original” effect, or worse, will need the drugs effects to feel “normal.” A drug user might then continue to use well after having had negative consequences to their using.
Individual types of drugs are very different from one another, but they all mess with your nervous system's basic functions and your muscular functions as well. Their brains, nerves, and muscles become all messed up and that is why people report the sensations that they do. Many drugs make it difficult to sleep or cause major weight gain or weight loss. In the longer term using drugs again and again for an extended period of time can cause medical problems ranging from lung cancer, to liver problems, to brain damage.
Every drug is different but “long-term” effects are just as the name implies. The effects will stick with an addict for a long time or for the rest of his or her life. Besides the physical negatives, drugs can cause other more subtle brain issues like depression. Then there are the negative social issues such as telling lies, stealing money, and becoming violent. Their highest ambition above all else becomes getting their next fix and things like setting high goals or following through with past goals take a way-back seat in life.
Sometimes people don't get addicted to drugs. They still may continue to use drugs for the reasons they started using them in the first place: fitting in, escape, boredom, etc. For others, once they start taking drugs they become addicted. Whether mentally or physically, they want more, need more, and will do anything to get what they need. Trying to get drugs becomes the most important activity of the day, taking up much of their time, resources, and energy as well as having dire physical, mental, social, and spiritual issues.
