Drug Abuse: Psychological, Social-Cultural, & Biological Effects - Essay Sample

Introduction

Notably, every substance consumed has been proved to have its effects. Drugs are no different in this case, and they have their impacts and can be one of the leading causes of health problems. While each drug has its effect, all of them have a significant impact on the lives of people and need to be looked into to avert any possible rising problem in the future. However, let's focus on psychological, social-cultural, and biological impacts on drug abuse. They all have different effects on an individual, although they are quite similar and should be avoided as they can easily lead to an addiction.

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Besides, psychologists have conducted research and realized psychological factors are many, and they manifest themselves. Individuals start craving for the drug as they find it hard to stay without the drug. They have a big problem dealing with their problems, and this has a massive impact on how they live. They suffer from depression and very wild mood swings when they consume the drug. Some even show significant signs of anxiety or take part in violent activities, and others become very paranoid (Tracy, n.a). A decrease in contentment as they may quickly get bored by what is happening, such as learning or work as they are mostly high on the drug. Their mental health can become affected as the drug takes control of their brain activities, manipulating their thinking capabilities, and hence changing their reasoning in a considerable part.

Some face challenges in hallucination, and mostly this takes place if someone uses hard drugs such as narcotics and they affected them a lot mentally. People get confused and in instances such as when they are drunk with alcohol they tend to have a mind gap, and they may do something which they did not intend to do in case they sober (Tracy, n.a). It is quite crucial in the lives of the individuals, and it makes them perform their functions in a wrong way. It makes the user begin a tendency to do more drugs as they help the individuals better themselves, thus helping them perform their functions in a better way. They desire to do bad things and involve themselves in risky behaviors as they feel they have the confidence to do anything that they are not supposed to in any particular way.

In addition, biological factors also come into play. Key among them is the influence on a person when they are young. They start having problems in their growth and development, and it can seriously hinder their mental growth or even make them have a problem in forming their body parts. Babies born by mothers who abuse drugs have a big problem in their growth, and in most cases, they do not develop their brain well and are mostly very slow in learning. The mind is affected, and they start having memory loss and find it hard to concentrate on something or even in class. Impulses are also sent to the brain, and they create an urge to consume the drug making the individual an addict (Jacquelyn, 2017). Although genes also play a massive part in the level at which one is addicted as some people can be easily addicted while others take more time.

Moreover, social-cultural factors also play a part. Most people and especially adolescents start feeling independent and are most affected by the problem of becoming rebellious as they think they have become adults when they start abusing drugs. It brings about healthy relationships as a group of people can come together and start using drugs, and this is common in alcohol, which is viewed as a social drug. Some people use drugs as an escape from their problems as they claim they forget their problems, and thus, it helps them (O'Leary, 2018). However, they are one of the few positive influences. Drugs affect a person lifestyle by influencing how they think and also dress as some drugs are associated with specific people an excellent example of being marijuana, which is associated with the Rastafarian culture. It makes people copy others as they start doing things in a way that they see others doing, such as dressing when they consume the drug. It leads to insecurity in the society as when an addict fails to get money to buy the drugs they tend to get into bad practices such as stealing, and hence they do what is not required in the community. Most communities, however, take alcohol as a drug that brings them together, and they regard it highly.

Conclusion

All in all, it is essential to note that drugs are not so good, and in the event of addiction can have great problems. Stopping a habit is very hard and in most cases is followed by withdrawal symptoms which bring about many issues. Rehabilitation also requires a huge sum of money as it is conducted by professionals. The influence of the drugs can range according to how an individual uses the drugs or even their genes thus, and not all users are affected in the same way. Therefore, people, especially the young, should be discouraged from luring themselves into drugs as the negative factors are more than the positive factors, and it is also hard to quit these drugs.

Reference

Biological Factors that Influence Addiction. (2017, September 29). Retrieved from https://www.addictionhope.com/blog/biological-factors-influence-addiction/

Effects of Drug Addiction (physical and psychological). (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.healthyplace.com/addictions/drug-addiction/effects-of-drug-addiction-physical-and-psychological

O'Leary, D. (2018, December 02). 5 Socio-Cultural Factors that Cultivate Addiction. Retrieved from https://www.rehabs.com/blog/5-socio-cultural-factors-that-cultivate-addiction/