Drug Abus: The Harmful Effects Of Substance Abuse

For many years experts have been educating students and their families on a wide variety of drugs, their harmful effects, and how to avoid them. Still today, millions of people from all over are using drugs and alcohol, completely disregarding everything they know about the consequences. When a person starts using or abusing drugs, their character and their demeanor changes quite a bit. This person also becomes pretty unreliable at home, at school, at work, and wherever else they are involved in the community. Substance abuse is especially hard on the families of the abusers, and these people experience many different feelings and emotions. The family unit is put at risk because of the stress that addiction puts on relationships, and often …show more content…
When a family member or friend is addicted to drugs and or alcohol, they can no longer be depended upon them to do what they said they would do. The person that was once reliable and responsible turns into an irresponsible, forgetful, and unpredictable person. Occasionally, they may even need someone to care for and supervise them again like a child, no matter what their age. This can be very devastating, both in the home and the work place. It can cost the person their job, cutting out a source of income from their family unit (Center …show more content…
The constant unknowing of what is going to set the person off and make them explode can really take a toll on a person. Simple, everyday conversations that were once enjoyable are now tense, and small favors that used to be no big deal are now huge burdens. Every day is unpredictable, and at any moment the substance abuser can be subject to a huge blow up. These outbursts can be caused by caused by the “need” to be drunk or high, and are almost uncontrollable. “Depending on the substance … you may begin to notice marked hyperactivity or extreme happiness followed by a “crash” where the mood becomes just the opposite” (Symptoms). The family often does not want these behaviors to be known throughout the