Who Is Affected By Addiction?
Addiction is a shared experience. Although the actual disorder may only affect the person who uses internally, the repercussions of substance abuse extend to nearly everyone present in their life. While they may not be able to see it, the family and friends of drug users are almost just as affected by their addiction.
How Addiction Affects Your Personal Life
Addiction mostly wreaks havoc on the individual suffering from the substance use disorder. You may be aware that what you are doing to your body is dangerous, but the way the disorder acts within the brain may create an internal environment where you cannot refuse drugs or alcohol.
You may not feel normal without a substance in your system. Your behavior can become hostile, you may lack care for your appearance and personal hygiene and may develop a general disregard for the world around you. This disregard can greatly affect your relationships with loved ones and your social life.
Oftentimes the family unit is at the center of a drug addiction. Whether it be due to the environment you grew up in, the parental figures you had in your life or the resources available in your home or hometown, one’s childhood is sometimes partially to blame for the development of a substance use disorder.
For this reason among others, it becomes especially difficult for a parent or sibling to watch their loved one succumb to addiction. Their behavior as a result of their disorder, whether it be denial, anger, hostility, annoyance or depression, can seriously affect their relationships with family members as well as close friends.
Being a spectator of addiction and a loved one of an addict, it is difficult coping with the idea that maybe you could have done something to help them. In reality, substance use disorder is not curable and therefore anything you think you can do to cure it is useless. Rather stop blaming yourself for their disorder and realize that in order to help them, you need to be in the best mental shape possible.
Living or spending time with someone who is obviously struggling can be extremely taxing mentally and physically, so take care of yourself as well. Additionally, family and friends of a drug user are often the ones to finally show their loved one that they need help. By showing them how their addiction has affected you and how much seeking care would mean for saving your relationship, they may be compelled to seek treatment.
How Addiction Affects the Health of Others
While family and friends may be the first line of individuals affected by one’s substance use disorder, addiction can have many external effects that may be less obvious with the onset of the substance abuse.
Addiction has unique repercussions for females — it can negatively affect pregnancy. A pregnant woman who suffers from substance abuse while with child can inadvertently cause their unborn baby to become addicted as well.
When the child is born, it will go into a form of withdrawal known as neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) that can result in troubles with basic tasks such as eating or sleeping. At its worst, NAS can cause seizures that may lead to death. Drug exposure in the womb can also lead to developmental issues for the child later on such as learning disabilities and problems with behavior and attention.
Substance abuse can also bring about biological problems in those who are not directly related to the individual. Secondhand smoke affects those who do not necessarily come into close contact with addicts. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, secondhand smoke exposes bystanders to hundreds of harmful chemicals just by being near a smoker and can increase the risk of heart disease in that individual, especially if they live with a smoker. Although much of this is known to be caused by cigarettes, studies are being conducted to observe the effects of secondhand marijuana smoke as well.
A smaller subset of external biological effects is a result of injecting drugs. Sharing injection needles can lead to a spread of diseases such as HIV, hepatitis C and can cause endocarditis and cellulitis. Additionally, intoxication from any drug can impair judgement in scenarios where sexual intercourse is involved, decreasing the likelihood that a condom is used which can cause the spread of STDs.
Aside from biological risks of addiction, the behavior of an addict while intoxicated can endanger the lives of others as well. Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol results in thousands of motor accidents per year, endangering not only the individual using but also anyone in a surrounding vehicle. Some experience surges of violent emotions while under the influence as well and may be more prone to start a fight or incite physical harm on someone around them.
Addiction does not only affect the individual with a substance use disorder. It affects their family, their friends and it can sometimes affect people they may not even know. Before succumbing to cravings, peer pressure or any emotions that may incite drug or alcohol use, think about those around you.
Sources:
https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugs-brains-behavior-science-addiction/addiction-health