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Social & Psychological Effects of Drug Abuse

Drug abuse is the use of any controlled substance, whether legal or illegal, in a manner that is deemed to be harmful to the user. People who abuse drugs usually do so for the effects those drugs have on their body, and they may develop a preoccupation with that feeling and the drug that causes it. Drug abuse can also lead to people becoming social outcasts, or it can drive them to interact with groups of people that the users would otherwise avoid were it not for their drug habits.

  1. Addiction

    • One of the major physical and psychological effects of drug abuse is addiction. Physical addiction is when the body has grown so used to the presence of a certain drug in its system that when that drug isn't present the body begins to react in painful, unpleasant ways. Psychological addiction, which is sometimes called a person's "habit," is when a person still desires the drug for purely psychological reasons. The user might find the drug comforting, or might believe that he needs it for some reason. Psychological dependence involves a preoccupation with the drug's effects, and it usually results in lifestyle changes built around having and using that drug.

    Morals

    • According to challenges-programs.com, there is a common misconception among the general public that drug users are morally deficient, prone to criminality or otherwise weak willed. The view of drug users, much like the view of alcoholics, is that they are just not strong enough to change their behavior and stop taking drugs. The problem is a great deal more complicated than this simple, black and white view, but if this view persists, it can lead to a drug user being judged and labeled as a social pariah. This can in turn drive a drug abuser into the types of company that society labeled them a part of: criminals and morally bankrupt individuals who will have a negative impact on any recovery attempts the drug abuser might make.

    Teen Drug Use

    • The emotional, psychological and social effects of drug use are even more prevalent in teens who use drugs, according to teendrugabuse.us. Teens are more emotionally, socially and psychologically fragile than older people, and drugs can impact their changing body chemistries more. Additionally, teens may use drugs as an emotional crutch, switching feelings of depression or loneliness for the numbness of a drug high. The more often they do this, the more the teens (or even older people, for that matter) may go to drugs to help them deal with negative emotions they don't feel they can face.

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