With the vast amounts of information and resources available to people in the modern day, it’s hard to imagine that people try and use drugs without knowing that they might get addicted to them. One way or another, they get past that notion and end up taking that first line or using that first needle. So how do they do it, or better yet, why?
It feels good: While the stories of addiction and the way it destroys lives and families can be enough to keep some people completely clean and wary of drugs, there are those who see the unique experiences that drugs can provide. From intense hallucinations to euphoric pleasure, drugs give people unique experiences that make people happy.
It is for this reason that drugs like cocaine and ecstasy are associated with partying and hyperactive behavior. These drugs overload the pleasure receptors in the brain to provide a temporary feeling of intense euphoria. But it never lasts.
As a person continues to use, their brain begins to adjust to the elevated level of serotonin or dopamine, the chemicals in your brain that cause you to feel happy. This causes a person to need more of the drug in order to feel the same effect and many people die attempting to recreate the feeling they had when they tried the drug for the first time.
It provides relief: Simply put, life can be hard. There are many trails and tribulations that people go through in life, and sometimes people don’t feel like they can deal with them. Divorces, deaths of family members, eviction, being laid off; these can be life rattling events that people feel that they can’t overcome.
So, what do they do to escape that reality and to feel the peace and happiness they thought was lost to them? They turn to drugs to give them an escape from the thoughts of dealing with a reality that they don’t want to face.
This also connects drugs to another, a more legal substance that gives people a temporary burst of happiness: alcohol. Results from the 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health showed that 1 in every 8 people who suffered from a substance-abuse problem also had issues with alcohol abuse.
The Prescription Crisis: The opioid epidemic is a well-known and often coined term to describe the opioid addictions ravaging the nation. Opioids, for the most part, are painkillers, which means that doctors are prescribing them to treat pain and other ailments. While these medicines can the only thing that helps treat them, people can become too reliant on these drugs, and suddenly your addicted.
According to the CDC, more people died of prescription opioid overdoses than heroin overdoses in 2016. Considering that they are perfectly legal, and doctors are literally giving people the stuff, that’s a scary trend.
Of course, these aren’t the only reasons that people delve into intense drugs despite the warnings given to them. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, there are many other factors that go into drug addiction including ethnicity, mental disorders, social status, and even genetic predispositions..
Despite the concerted efforts by the government to curb the problem, drug addiction is still flourishing in the nation. Unfortunately, it’s easy to see why.
If you know someone who is considering treatment for drug dependency in Southern California, call Asana Recovery today. Asana Recovery has the ability to assist you through the difficult and long road to recovery. We are available to assist you with medically supervised detox programs. We also have residential treatment programs that are available. Call us at 949-438-4504 today to speak with one of our admissions counselors right away. We are available around the clock.
