7 Ways Addiction Affects The Mental Health

Addicts don’t realize the detrimental effects of substance abuse on the body as well as mind. Physical symptoms like headaches and confusion are easy to deal with. But, the mental effects can be quite daunting. Long-term addictions deteriorate the ability of your brain to generate and process signals. It also affects the other functions of your body that the brain guards and controls. Mental health problems occur due to the regular consumption of drugs. These include depression, anxiety, and hallucinations. These symptoms might turn into severe ones and impair the daily life of the addicts.

Keep reading to know how addiction affects your productivity and deteriorates mental health. 

1. Generalized Anxiety Disorder:

Long term addiction interferes with your brain’s ability to process signals. This also affects the neuronal stimulation and pathways that control the vital organs. You might suffer from never-ending anxiety and thoughts due to substance abuse. Some symptoms like sleeplessness, agitation, disturbing thoughts, and fear hamper your daily life. Substance induced-anxiety results due to the consumption of alcohol, opioids, hallucinogens, and stimulants. It stimulates your limbic system and creates a constant feeling of worry. 

As the functions of the emotion center, i.e., Amygdala deteriorate, so does the mood aspects. You end up with regular worries, impaired cognitive abilities, and mental restlessness. You must go for either inpatient or outpatient rehab to control anxiety disorders. With proper counseling and rehabs like Rehab101.org, addicts show great recovery results. Make sure to use the CBD products for alleviating anxiety disorders.

2. Persistent Depressive Disorder:

American Psychiatric Association states that depression and substance abuse and inter-related. People with substance abuse disorder might develop severe depression and vice versa. Around 300 million people worldwide suffer from persistent depression. This deteriorates their daily life upto a great extent. Substances like alcohol and drugs depress your nervous system and necessary pathways. This causes symptoms like loss of interest in daily life, hopelessness, and a feeling of worry. Sometimes the disease transforms into a severe one. You might also turn suicidal and feel the constant desire to end your life. Drugs affect your emotion center Amygdala and depress the feeling of gratification. It also hampers the nervous signals and might affect the other systems of the body. Hence, you might experience loss of appetite, dizziness, vertigo, and anorexia. 

3. Stimulant-Induced Psychosis:

Psychosis is a broad term in psychiatry that includes Hallucinations and Delusions. Hallucinations are the sensory perceptions that cause abnormal visual, auditory, and tactile stimuli. At the same time, delusions are the firm abnormal beliefs that patients hold. Substance abuse might lead to stimulant-induced psychosis in the long-term. Some psychedelic substances like cocaine, cannabis, and Lysergic Acid Deaminase hamper sensory perceptions. Such mental health abnormalities affect the daily life of the patients. You might also lose interest in the future goals and aspirations. Along with the addict, even the family and friends go through a daunting time handling the person. Hence, therapy sessions for both addicts as well as relatives, are essential.

4. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder:

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a life-threatening disorder that occurs due to substance abuse. This disorder occurs after disturbing life incidents like sexual abuse or military attack. Such instances hamper a person’s subconscious mind. The addict relives the trauma and experiences flashbacks daily. Not only does this interfere with cognition, but also leads to mental symptoms. These include insomnia, a feeling of numbness, loss of interest, and regular nightmares. Substance abuse and addiction add to persistent stress and stops the recovery process. For all the addicts who suffer from PTSD, the recovery process is quite daunting. But, with the right medical support, you will sail through. 

5. Paranoia:

Substance-induced paranoia is a term prevalent in the addiction world. Addicts are likely to turn paranoid and experience maniacal symptoms—some symptoms like a constant feeling of persecution torture many addicts daily. You might go through the paranoia, especially during the withdrawal phase. Some drugs like Methamphetamine, Lysergic Acid Deaminase (LSD), and cocaine enhances psychosis. The person ends up questioning everything with the fear of betrayal or conspiracy. But, such feelings are far from reality and occur only due to substance abuse effects. When the symptoms of paranoia strike in, make sure to complete the rehab program. 

6. Mood-Related Disorders

Regular usage of drugs might alter your mood and lead to a psychiatric anomaly in the long run. A substance-Induced mood disorder modifies your behavior, mood, and feelings. This occurs after regular substance abuse and consumption of drugs. Some drugs like cocaine, LSD, Alcohol, and nicotine alter your mood. It also causes severe changes in emotions. This is because the drugs interfere with your brain, the Emotion Center Amygdala. Hence, there's a decrease in the number of neurotransmitters called serotonin. As a result, you feel constant grief and regular mood changes without any reason. With the decrease in neurotransmitter levels, your ability to think and feel deteriorates. That way, you end up with mood-related disorders like bipolar disorder.

7. Insomnia & Dementia:

Addiction affects your sleep cycle and memory-related aspects as well. Regular consumption of harmful drugs like LSD, Cocaine, Alcohol, and Nicotine alters sleep. It also reduces the quality, as well as consistent sleep. It is because the chemical affects the production of hormones like Melatonin. The pineal gland secretes these hormones that regulate the sleep-wakeup cycle.

Along with this, you might experience difficulty remembering things. Substance abuse kills the memory cells in your brains and decreases the retention. Most of the information consolidation occurs during the night time when you sleep. With disturbed sleep, memory retention also decreases. Make sure to stay away from drug consumption to achieve good-quality sleep.

Bottom Line:

Addictive behaviors are disturbing, both for the addict as well as the family members. Also, the addictive substance alters the physical as well as mental symptoms on the body. The physical symptoms are easy to deal with for some people.  But, mental symptoms might affect the quality of life. Make sure to consult a reliable rehab or psychiatrist for your addiction. This helps in controlling mental health changes. 

Admitting you are addicted to alcohol is the crucial first step you must take before you get clean. Before you enroll in an alcohol rehabilitation program in Arizona make sure you are ready to get clean. Do it for yourself, not for your GF, family, or friends.