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Consequences of Drug Addiction
The consequences of drug addiction are critical to know, especially if you are wondering if you or a loved one are addicted to prescription medications. People who are addicted to these drugs often have a hard time even realizing that have a problem with addiction.
The first steps toward recovery are for the addict to realize that he or she is addicted, be willing to own responsibility for that addiction, and take the first steps toward healing. So what are some of the end results of a drug addiction?
Increased Sensitivity to Pain
Continue to abuse prescription pain pills and painful episodes that are both physical and mental will increase in intensity, while at the same time your ability to handle these painful experiences will actually decrease.That's because your brain will no longer be transmitting the endorphins necessary to ease pain naturally. According to Joshua Lyon in his book, Pill Head: The Secret Life of a Painkiller Addict , whenever a normal human experiences stress such as from physical exercise, epinephrine is released. This transmits signals of pain or discomfort to the brain. The brain responds by releasing endorphins that work like morphine to ease that pain. But opioid drugs trick the body by attaching to the endorphin receptors and flooding the body. With that artificial surplus of endorphins, you get relief from pain, plus euphoria to boot. But your brain also starts producing less endorphins each time you abuse the drugs. When you finally do try to get off the drugs, the experience can be excruciating, both physically and mentally.
No Joy in Life
The French call it joie de vivre - pleasure in the ordinary things in life, such as taking a walk in the park, eating good food, and time spent talking with friends. But if all your free time is spent hunting for pills and then getting high, you are likely addicted, and the only thing in life that now has meaning for you are your pills.
Isolation
One of the consequences of drug addiction is that pills take precedence over everything, including your relationships with loved ones and friends.
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