A lot of people may think ask the question of whether drug addiction is a mental illness. This article will explore the possibility of addiction as a mental illness
Physicians and experts consider drug addiction as a mental illness. They support the notion that addiction causes several negative effects in the brain. These include:
- Depression triggers drug addiction.
- It changes the brains basic and fundamental functions.
- It alters the user’s priorities in life.
Drugs can also hinders the brain communication system. This is particularly true in how neurons interact with each other, such as:
- Send
- Receive
- Process information
Stimulant drugs contains properties like a natural neurotransmitter. Because of their chemical structure, they can affect neurons. It makes the person believe things to be real even if they are not. Since they only mimic the brain’s natural neurotransmitter, it can lead to abnormal transmission of messages.
Also, other types of drugs can trigger neurons to release large amount of neurotransmitter. These can prevent the brain from reusing the normal brain chemicals naturally. Any disruption in the brains’s activity can cause interfere with the usual communication channels.
Drugs deteriorate the human brain progressively. It makes the person dependent on it. For this reason, experts also classified drugs as a mental illness.
Like any other types of mental illness, the substance contained in drugs affects people via:
- Ethnic
- Cultural
- Socioeconomic background
The development of addiction is due to:
- Genetics
- Environment
- Childhood experiences
- Peers
- Trauma
Drug addiction is exhibits the growth of one’s dependence on a psychoactive substance, in this case, drugs. It is further defined as the neglect of:
- Important social
- Educational
- Familiar
- Employment activities
Drug addicts often invest excessive amounts of time and energy into obtaining and using their drug of choice. They continue to consume their drug of choice regardless of the following:
- Various health hazards it produce
- Dangerous situations that involves the illegal substance
- Legal and financial issues
- Other life-threatening diseases
Obsessive compulsive disorder is one of the major characteristics of people who are dependent on drugs. In such case, it is impossible to break the bonds of the said obsession.
People who undergo rehabilitation would often cry or feel that they should create a ritual associated with obtaining and using drugs.
Antisocial personality disorder is another condition that associated with drug abuse. Drug users often seek more ways of either harming themselves or harming others. Furthermore, they would display the following characteristics:
- Not having any consideration for their body
- Does not care of the negative consequences of their drug of choice do to them.
- They are not aware of the effects of their drug use on other people
- They show negligence of their social responsibilities.
Drug use sometimes show these characteristics. Users often display such behaviors that experts would consider that addiction is a form of mental illness. They classified drug addiction because if the mind functions properly, users should display such awareness.
A family with a member who is an addict often suffer stress. They would invest:
- Money
- Emotional support
- Time
They will try to cover-up, and hide problems, create excuses, allow other to abuse them. Users often times would allow other people used them for the sake of getting their drug or booze. Also, users feel disappointed, neglected, abused, and anxious.
While the members of the family go through such extent, the addict themselves are completely unaware of what is going on. At times, they would even accuse family or close friends of lying to them and stealing. They will then start to refuse the help being offered to them and start to become violent towards their family members. When it comes to this point of addiction, health experts would then be characterized with the lack of empathy and creating severe delusions.
Psychologists and psychiatrists would often believe that addiction and mental illness are intertwined and statistics show that there are high rates of co-occurring disorders. There are some suggestions that an addiction occurs first and is the cause of other mental illnesses. However, many critics believe that self-medication is often the cause of an addiction.
Depression and anxiety are illnesses that becomes a cause of addiction because these people start to take in drugs without the help of a professional. Additionally, SEO For Detox Centers and others believe that depression is caused by using drugs. Some substances such as MDMA severely impact the levels of serotonin in the brain which is known to be the chemical that makes people feel happy and positive. Chronic and repeated use of depressants leads to further depression because addicts don’t see or are not aware that depressants further cause depression.