It is no wonder that addiction of any kind takes a big toll on a person’s health. Thanks to the massive improvement in scientific research, if proper treatment for this disease wouldn’t have surfaced, every year, millions of people would pass away. The shocking thing is that more than 8.5 million people from the US alone suffer from drug and alcohol abuse. More than 31 million people have drug use orders globally. The number of drug addicts and alcohol addicts continues to rise with anxiety and depression growing alongside.
What is substance abuse?
In simple words, substance abuse is when you start taking illegal drugs. Putting it the other way around, substance abuse is the frequent use of a drug or alcohol, which is very dangerous for health. However, there is a minor difference between substance abuse and addiction. In substance abuse, there are higher chances of an individual getting out of the issue easily or being able to quit drugs or alcohol on time. Whereas in addiction, it becomes very difficult for the victim to call it quits. Moreover, it can directly lead to a person’s death.
What are the commonly abused drugs?
Some drugs are legal, whereas some are illegal. The problem is that these drugs can affect the mental state of the brain and take a big toll on a person’s health if the problem worsens. They can get a person high or might cause a dizzy effect in the body. People who are frequent users of drugs and alcohol explain that it provides relieves from stress.
1. Alcohol
Alcohol has a different effect on every individual. If a person drinks too much alcohol, the chances of an accident while driving are very high. People who drink too much often lose consciousness and do things that they aren’t supposed to be doing. That’s not all; heavy drinking can also cause massive damage to the liver and give rise to several health problems. There is a limit on the use of alcohol, if a man drinks more than 14 drinks in a week, that’s too much for the body to take. For women, drinking can heavily affect their body during pregnancy and though wise.
2. Drugs
Antidepressants are good during the depression, but regular intake is dangerous. Millions of people die as a result of a drug overdose every year. For some, drugs provide them relief from stress and anxiety disorders. The truth is that everything taken more than the moderate amount is anyways going to cause trouble to the body. If anyone wants to know about addiction definition, the best thing is to ask an addict or a person who has recovered, for those two people can tell what it means to go through that stage.
3. Marijuana
Though marijuana has been legalized in many states, yet it has been under intense media scrutiny for a long time. Marijuana is extracted from the cannabis plant, which has been around for thousands of years. The plant is famous for its healing capabilities and for providing relief from stress. People who are stressed out and have anxiety disorders smoke marijuana in the form of weed. However, the biggest criticism is that overconsumption leads to addiction.
It is no wonder that substance abuse claims many lives every year. However, treatment is available through which this problem can be solved. Medical practitioners from all over the globe provide drug rehabilitation to such patients so that they can recover from that.