A drug is any chemical substance that alters the physical or psychological behaviours of an individual. A drug is mostly for medical purposes, to cure or alleviate an illness, but are often abused through excessively usage. Thus, the repeated use of drugs in ways harmful to health, social and work life has both long-term and short-term effects.
Therefore, drug addiction is where an individual chronically seeks to consume a drug despite its glaring negative consequences. Also, the effects of drug addiction are dependent on the type of drug, underlying health conditions and the duration of use. Therefore, the five effects of drug addiction include;
- Anxiety: the continued use of a drug in an illegal or harmful manner leads to anxiety. The individual experiences constant uneasiness and nervousness in absence of the drug. Drug addiction also leaves a person feeling increasingly anxious and restless in the absence of the drug.
- Depression: drug addiction also leads to depression, where due to excessive use of a chemical substance an individual falls into a state of sadness. The drug affects the mind that a person begins to feel regularly unhappy, which slowly leads to depression. Such that their happiness is dependent on the continuous use of the drug.
- Poor academic or work performance: the work-life of a drug addict begins to deteriorate and student’s grades suffer. Their grades begin to regress due to lose of interest and inability to concentrate in class. Drug addiction is therefore damning to work performance and student grades.
- Appetite change: drug addiction alters the eating habit of addicts. They either begin to eat excessively or go days without food. Drug addiction leads to an unhealthy eating habit.
- Disease or illness: it also leads to illness such as cardiovascular disease, kidney damage, respiratory problems, etc.