Consequences of Drug & Alcohol Abuse

Drug abuse leading to addiction, including alcohol abuse and addiction, is considered to be a brain disease, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The consequences of drug and alcohol addiction impact a person's physical, mental and emotional health, relationships, finances and legal status. Typically an individual afflicted with a drug or alcohol addiction suffers from more than one of these consequences.

Physical Consequences

• Nutrition-related ailments commonly occur when a person abuses drugs or alcohol. A person abusing mind-altering substances ends up so focused on finding the next fix that she simply does not maintain an adequate and appropriate diet. In a very short amount of time, the failure to maintain a balanced diet negatively impacts a person's body, including significant weight loss and an impact on organ functioning.

  A person's immune system ultimately can end up compromised through drug or alcohol abuse. An impaired immune system leaves an abuser susceptible to a variety of serious diseases or conditions.

  Organ function also ends up afflicted because of drug or alcohol abuse. For example, liver cirrhosis is a common condition impacting a person who abuses alcohol. Brain damage, including cellular death, is possible when an individual abuses mind-altering substances.

Mental and Emotional Consequences

• A variety of mental and emotional problems afflict individuals who abuse drugs or alcohol. Depression is a very common mental condition for substance abusers. The onset of depression typically causes a person to increase his drug or alcohol use through a process professionals call "self-medicating." The abuser attempts to lessen his depressive symptoms through the use of mind-altering substances. The increase in use of drugs or alcohol ultimately increases the severity of the depressive illness.

  Other mental and emotional consequences of drug or alcohol abuse include paranoia, hallucinations and loss of self-esteem.

Relationship Consequences

• When an individual abuses drugs or alcohol, the substance itself ultimately becomes the focus of that individual's life. Family, friends and professional colleagues end up on the back burner. An abuser's relationships become impaired through this process. Relationships further deteriorate because an abuser typically lies to people around him.

Financial Consequences

• As drug or alcohol abuse accelerates, the abuser typically ends up missing an increasing amount of work. Additionally, a significant percentage of the money the individual earns is spent on her drug of choice. A drug abuser can end up unemployed and unemployable. Assets become depleted. Ultimately, the financial problems only work to exacerbate an abuser's drug or alcohol use.

Legal Consequences

• One of the sayings oftentimes used in Alcoholics and Narcotics Anonymous is that an alcohol or drug abuser ends up in one of three places: a mental institution, jail or dead. More often than not a drug or alcohol abuser ends up with legal issues or problems. At a minimum, because of the financial drain substance abuse places on a person's life, lawsuits by creditors are likely legal consequences. At the other end of the spectrum, some people who abuse substances end up committing crimes to support their habits. Ultimately, some abusers end up charged with crimes, including drug possession, theft and even more serious charges.