Drugs (legal and illegal): a passport for a permanent "rest"

Who knows why they do this? Some say that to rich adherents it helps to cope with stress, failure, reduce depression or relieve stress. For the poor, this can be a means to escape from reality and enter the world of pleasures and fantasies, to which otherwise they do not have access. Whatever the reason, millions of people use, or depend, or become attached to drugs that change mood and consciousness. It's legal if your doctor writes them out; It's criminal when you take them yourself. But know, there is not much difference, and the end result, at least medical, is often the same.

If you take any of these remedies, the first sensation can be wonderful, but the second time is already less. If you continue, you need more and more to get the desired effect. The inevitable consequence is dependence, low sensitivity and drug addiction. As the doses increase and the intervals decrease, the desire becomes stronger. And you can never be sure that you will get the right drug. If this medicine is prescription, the doctor may not write out as much as you want, because the control organizations are watching him. On the other hand, if you received your money from an illegal merchant, you may not have the money to pay it in the future. And when, for any reason, the offer does not go on level with the demand of your body, the symptoms of abstinence become intolerable.

When it's legal

People spend more money on "happiness pills" than on birth control pills and cold remedies. That's the size of the market! Although the prototype is valium, pharmaceutical companies are constantly bombarding doctors, advertising "newer", "safer", "less binding", "more effective" and "less toxic" mood-altering drugs. Many psychiatrists do not even listen to the patient with his problems - you need too much time to solve them. "Just swallow this pill three times a day before eating, and you will feel better."

Of course, these drugs can be very useful to patients with really mental disorders - manic depression, phobia, schizophrenia. It's bad that they are appointed too often, instead of giving advice to people with their everyday problems.

Here are some of the consequences that are observed in those who regularly use so-called tranquilizers or "psychotropic" drugs or depend on them.

Heart rhythm disturbances . Many antidepressants can give additional cardiac contractions and palpitations. They make you uncomfortable, although they usually do not pose a danger. But they can become so, if you already have a problem with the heart rhythm or you suffer from some kind of heart disease.

Influence on blood pressure - up or down. If you take a remedy for hypertension by adding a tranquilizer, you will lower your rates, which will lead to dizziness. On the other hand, the drugs of the group, called monoamine oxidase inhibitors, which usually lower blood pressure, can sharply raise it if you are drinking red wine, eating chocolate, or enjoying aged cheese. This combination can lead to a stroke and even death.

Intolerance to alcohol . There have been cases when people fell into a coma because of taking too much valium and alcohol. Do not think that Valium is the only medicine that can lead to this result.

Impotence . Tranquilizers can "relax" you so much that you lose your sexual desire and abilities.

In addition to these specific unpleasant effects, "psychotropics" can also cause ordinary drug reactions , allergies, fever and harmful interactions with other medicines .

When it's illegal

When you puff a cigarette with marijuana, snort cocaine or inject drugs into your veins, in addition to the potential consequences of the drug itself, you open the legal box of Pandora.

Everything that was said about prescription drugs is obviously just as applicable to illegal drugs. Regarding this last group, however, we can say that there is an additional danger: you never know exactly what you are getting. Despite all the dangers of prolonged use of prescription tranquilizers, at least you can count on the purity of the product, buying it at the pharmacy; But when you buy on the street, you do not know how much foreign matter and which one you are going to inhale, swallow or inject into your veins.

Here, then, are some of the problems, not counting the addiction and withdrawal syndrome that arise in people who are widely using the so-called "resting medications". This is not a complete list, only the most obvious of what happens to drug addicts.

"Fit" (amphetamines) . At one time, these drugs were the main weapon of a psychiatrist against depression. They were also most often prescribed to reduce appetite. Nowadays, not many doctors recommend them for lifting the mood, and their use as "dietary" pills is prohibited. So they switched to street selling, where they are called "lifters".

The reasons why you should refrain from them are the following:

• Possible addiction.
• They increase blood pressure.
• They accelerate heart contractions.
• They can cause heart rhythm disturbances.
• "Fit" is especially dangerous when administered intravenously.
• Accidental overdose can lead to death.

Marijuana . "Grass", or whatever you call it, can

Change your behavior and lead to a memory imbalance and other brain functions. It does not addictive, but can cause :

• Atrial fibrillation (rapid irregular heartbeats that have serious consequences).
• Decreased ability to conceive a child in men.
• Reduction of sexual potency of men with long use.
• Exacerbation of respiratory diseases. If you suffer from chronic bronchitis, the irritating effect of deeply inhaled smoke can worsen your symptoms.

Cocaine . Have you ever been assured that, no matter how adverse the consequences of cocaine use, is it not addictive? Forget about it. Along with heroin, it is one of the most powerful medications for it. In the form of a powder it is inhaled into the nose; In a liquid form is administered intravenously at the risk of a fatal overdose or AIDS.

Cocaine causes a wide range of serious cardiac and neurological disorders . If an ambulance brings a patient unconscious, doctors usually first think of such common conditions as insulin shock (too little sugar enters the brain), a diabetic coma (the consequence of too high a sugar content in the blood), a heart attack, a stroke, a poisoning, Then form a disease of the brain. But in our days of mass consumption of cocaine - especially its purified form, crack - there are more and more urgent neurological cases, coma and paralysis due to the use of cocaine.

Cocaine also irritates the heart muscles , causing their indiscriminate contractions. Some patients in a specialized medical center suddenly started atrial fibrillation , which is very unpleasant and potentially dangerous. Much more frightening, there was an incident occurred with a previously healthy 40-year-old woman. She took cocaine with her friends when suddenly, at the height of "fun", she felt a terrible squeezing in her chest. She became so ill that she had to be rushed to the hospital, where the doctors diagnosed an acute heart attack .

Why did this occur in women before menopause and without risk factors for coronary artery disease? She had normal blood pressure, there was no diabetes, the family was healthy and, as it turned out, her cholesterol level was normal. What do you think showed the angiogram of her coronary vessels? The venous arteries were "clean", completely free of plugging arterio-sclerotic plaques. But cocaine caused their sharp and prolonged spasm, and the arteries narrowed so much that the flow of blood to the heart muscle was blocked (the consequence is as serious as if the vessels themselves were sick).

Crack . This form of cocaine is now the greatest threat to the population, because:

• One dose of it is much cheaper in comparison with the dose of other drugs;
• This is probably the drug that gives the most addictive of all sold on the street;
• "Satisfaction" is strong, but very short, so that withdrawal syndrome, "collapse", happens often, if it is not lifted by an ever increasing dose of the drug;
• He can lead to a stroke, a heart attack, a lung failure and sudden death.

Symptoms associated with smoking crack are the consequence of either its immediate toxic effect, or lack of a drug. That's why crack is deadly : cocaine is a white powder made from an active substance in combination with other substances and impurities. When this powder is inhaled through the nose, it takes several minutes for it to be absorbed from the nasal mucosa into the blood and then hit the brain. In the production of crack, additives and impurities are removed, leaving pure, highly concentrated cocaine in a crystalline form. When it is inhaled (usually through a glass tube), the smoke reaches the lungs instantly. There its devastating impact is the strongest. But then, from the lungs, cocaine also almost immediately enters the bloodstream and after a few seconds strikes the brain. Therefore, the "rise" from crack is much faster than cocaine. He is also much shorter in duration and leaves a drug addict with a renewed strong desire. The result will be a re-introduction, often the same night. It's no wonder that they get used to Crack so quickly and quickly .

Heroin , which is derived from opium poppy, is very addictive . Today, its application is even more risky. Since heroin "comes with a needle", i.e. It is injected intravenously, often by common and infected needles, many drug addicts become infected with AIDS . Less dramatic, but still very serious, is the risk of endocarditis, a serious and sometimes fatal infection of the heart valves, which again occurs due to the introduction of infected needles into the vein. Hepatitis B , the worst type of hepatitis, also often threatens drug addicts injecting heroin intravenously.

To heroin it is strongly accustomed because of the mechanism of its action on the brain. As you know, the body forms its own opiates, usually in response to physical stress, sexual intercourse, water (quite curiously) and other pleasant stimuli. Thanks to our own opiates, we feel so good. When you take heroin any time interval (the interval is different for different individuals), the brain stops producing its own opiates. In the end what to bother if so much goes through the needle? So now, no matter how pleasant stimulus you get under normal conditions, it will not cause anything from you, because the brain no longer responds to it with its own opiate substances. And the only thing that will make you happy is a new dose of heroin.

The consequences of getting used to any of the so-called "resting drugs" are very serious and include behavioral changes, personality traits, respiratory and cardiac disorders, severe neurological diseases and death. Are they worth it all? Judge for yourself.

You may not be able to change many of the major factors that determine your susceptibility to a particular disease, such as your age, gender or race, but you can, and should, do everything to avoid or defeat any of your habits (use Tobacco, alcohol and drugs), which poses a serious threat to your health and to your life.