Heroin Addiction – A Mental Disease?

Heroin addicts fight a debilitating disease that negatively affects their mental and physical well-being. It is important to understand that this addiction is not a mental disease, but rather a physical issue. In this entry, we will outline some of the effects and symptoms associated with this deadly addiction.

Heroin

Surfacing in the 19^th century, Heroin was initially introduced as an opium-based pain reliever. Today, the drug is illegal due to the fact that it is extremely addictive when taken in pill form, smoked, or injected into the blood stream.

Effects

The direct effect of heroin is the shutting down of the nervous system. With continued use, the drug will eventually lead to respiratory issues and blood diseases. Many addicts also experience severe malnutrition, depression, and flu-like symptoms.

Withdrawal

An addict attempting to kick their heroin addiction must go through the withdrawal process. Due to the severity of the withdrawal symptoms, physicians suggest addicts seek out medically monitored detox to help ensure a safe, healthy and comfortable transition into sobriety. Without proper detox, addicts place themselves at risk for extreme depression, anxiety, body aches, nausea, paranoia, and insomnia. 

Depression

While many often label heroin addiction a mental disease, it is only able to coexist with other disorders. Studies find it widely uncommon for addicts to show signs of anxiety of depression following or prior to recovery…unless of coarse the conditions existed prior.

Need Help?

If you or someone you know are looking to combat an addiction to heroin, our Above It All treatment specialists are available to help. Give us a call today, and let us help you get on track towards the happy, healthy and productive lifestyle you deserve. 

Free Reign to Make Any Decision

In life, we are pretty much given free rein in most areas of everyday living.  Free rein is defined as the unrestricted liberty of action or decision.  Most of us have free rein to make any decision or to take a course of action every day.  Some of these decisions or actions will have detrimental consequences and others will not.  Some will have short term effects and others will have long term, and perhaps even fatal, consequences.

Heroin abuse is one of those actions that can have long term, detrimental consequences and can even spread to affect our families, friends and others.  Heroin is an illegal highly addictive drug and its use can lead to some devastating realities down the road.  Heroin is the most abused and fastest acting opiate currently in use.  Usually sold as a white or brown powder that is “cut” with another substance such as powdered milk or sugar but occasionally with strychnine or other poisons to make it stretch further.

Short term effects  of heroin include the a surge of pleasurable sensation, also known as a rush,  and an accompanying warm flushing of the skin, dry mouth and a heavy feeling in the arms and legs and may include some vomiting and severe itching.  After the initial effects, users may experience drowsiness for several hours, clouded mental function, slowed cardiac function and severely slowed breathing, sometimes even to the point of death.

Long term effects of heroin use include a sever addiction that becomes a chronic, relapsing disease, acquiring infectious diseases such as hiv/aids and hepatitis B and C, collapsed veins heart problems and arthritis.  Long term effects can also include jail time for most users at some point.

If you have started down the path of heroin abuse, you may want to use your free rein to seek help early and possible avoid some of the conditions brought on by extended heroin use.