Methamphetamine Addiction

Methamphetamine is an extremely addictive drug that is not only a stimulant, but also a drug that will screw with the person’s central nervous system.

Meth is one of the illegal drugs that can be used for medical purposes. However, because meth is so addictive and has such a high possibility to be abused it has been labeled as a schedule II stimulant so it is only available as a prescription and even the doses are low and are not refillable.

There is a worse side to meth than what could happen when prescribed. Meth is a drug that is often abused in a number of different ways. This white powder can be snorted, injected, and taken orally with a drink like water or alcohol. Many people who start this habit forget about everything that doesn’t involve getting them more, and this causes a ton of future problems.

Firs of all, it effects the brain, and not for the best. When people take meth it causes the brain to release a chemical called dopamine. This chemical effect a person’s motivation, the feeling of pleasure and a person’s motor function.

When people take Methamphetamine for a long period of time, they make dramatic changes in how their brain works, and not for the better. It tends to impair speech abilities, other motor functions, and it messes up memory and emotions. Most of these changes in the brain are permanent after using meth for a long time, but years after a person has stopped taking meth the damage to the brain improve a little, though it will never be as good as it was beforehand.

There are of course effects beyond the brain that people suffer from when they use meth for a long time. First there is the extreme weight loss because during the use of meth, wakefulness, increased physical activity, and decreased appetite tends to make people lose an unhealthy amount of weight.

Then there are the sever dental problems, you will notice that addicts rarely have shinny white teeth,  and then there is the anxiety, insomnia, mood issues, and the all to common violent behavior. Some of the more chronic and longer time users have more severe effects. These include psychotic issues like paranoia, hallucinating, both visual and auditory, and delusions like feeling insects crawling under the skin, or biting or stinging the skin.

During the time that meth users are actually taking the drug, they undergo a number of things. They feel more awake, their physical activity increases, they have a decrease in appetite, their respiration increases, they tend to have a rapid heart rate and irregular heartbeat, their blood pressure increases, and they suffer from hyperthermia.

Methamphetamine is a white and odorless powder that tastes bitter and is extremely addictive. Even if it is nothing more than a one time low-dose prescription that a person is told to take for medical reasons, it is easy to get hooked and ruin your life. Once you are a meth addict, all you live for is the next high, nothing else matters.