Recovering from long term drug addiction and alcoholism

Although the severity of each of the drugs listed above can vary depending on the amount of time that a person has been using them, as well as the type of narcotic itself – in most cases, there will be several side effects that will start to make themselves known. These are best identified by splitting them into two categories; mental and physical.

Mental Issues that Can Arise

Whenever a drug is consumed, ingested, inhaled, or injected – the chemical properties will begin to take their toll on the mental processes within a person’s mind. With cannabis this can result in damage to the tissue within the brain, as well as the depletion of brain cells. With harder drugs, such as cocaine and heroin, their use can lead to deteriorating of parts of the brain, which can increase the chances of long term mental disorders developing – including anxiety, depression, Alzheimer’s and dementia.

Physical Issues that Can Lead to Long Term Problems

As severe as the mental concerns can be; there’s no denying that the physical consequences of extreme addiction can be much more extreme. When smoking drugs like cannabis, the least that a person can expect is for their lungs to suffer in a more substantial way than regular smoking can do. It’s not just the lungs that can suffer however, in fact the kidneys can deteriorate, as can the liver, heart and brain. With excessive and consistent use, all drugs will take their toll on the internal organs, resulting in eventual shut down in 90% of addicts. There are physical symptoms too, including damage to the hair, skin and nails, as well as internal pain within joints and ligaments.