So, it’s the day after. From the vague memories of last night, you recall mesmorizing lights and still sense the rhythm of the beat pulsing through your body. Is it your heart or the music? Oh well, doesn’t matter. All that matters is that you're okay, right? I mean, you’re conscious, can still see out of both eyes, your hearing is good, and there's no gashes or traces of dried blood anywhere. Cool, you made it, and can’t wait for next weekend so you can do it all over again. I mean, you lived through it, and whatever doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger, right? That’s where you’re terribly wrong.
For starters, your health problems will slowly increase. Most of these problems go unnoticed, since they happen slowly. You assume since you didn’t overdose on pills from the night before, you made it scott free, and can do it again without any consequences. You never suspect that you will suffer from long-term brain damage, memory loss, permanent damage to neurons, and overall decrease in cognitive abilities and performance. Not only that, but you have increased your risk of cardiac problems, which are mostly, but not limited to, higher blood pressure. This increase in blood pressure will not only take its toll on your heart, but can also be a culprit to kidney failure as well. Even external features can be affected, such as baldness and acne. These can cause more stress, which in turn, can trap you into a recurring cycle that also contributes to baldness and acne – funny how that works.
Not even your sexual life is safe! Oh no, impotence is a common long-term side effect. So even if you do stop popping pills, now you get to pop viagra. On a more serious note, since your thinking is impaired after popping several pills, there is an increase in sexual activity. I know what you’re thinking, but this isn’t necessarily a good thing. You just opened up another door to several other potential hazards. You’re not thinking clearly, so you’re going to refrain from using protection, right? Well, it’s called protection for a reason! Without that latex barrier, STDs and pregnancies are now very possible, and both (especially the latter) are definitely long term. The odds of unwanted pregnancies, as well as AIDS/HIV, are elevated when you’re messed up on pills. Now you can potentially affect other people’s lives if you continue to engage in unprotected sex with them, unaware that you have HIV. I’m sure I don’t need to elaborate any more on the life-changing phenomena of having a baby with someone you most likely had a one-night stand with. If you choose to have an abortion, now you get to live with this on your conscience for the remainder of your life, which has led to depression before. Date rape, or even rape in general, is also more profound from those who take pills to escape reality. Actress Mackenzie Phillips, former “One Day at a Time” star, admitted to waking up from a blackout and finding herself having sex with her own father, who was also on drugs. For the woman, especially Mackenzie, this can lead to life-long emotional trauma, and yet another unwanted pregnancy. For the guy, if he’s caught, you’re looking at jailtime. See how easy it is for one mistake to lead to another?
This last point I’m going to make should be common sense, but unfortunately is often overlooked and something not realized until brought to attention. These pills are a gateway drug! This means that you’re much more likely to start abusing other drugs, many of which are illegal. You start off small and work your way up. In the U.S., drug abuse is the root cause for 25% of the total deaths. That’s one in every four Americans! In a year, over half of one million Americans have spent time in the ER for drug abuse treatmant, which equates to 1400 patients daily. Nearly all over-the-counter pills, as well as many perscription pills, are very easy to obtain. So if you have the will, the way is nearly inevitable. Really, I don’t think I need to elaborate too much on what can stem from getting hooked on illicit drugs…basically anything bad. I really can’t think of anything good coming from illicit drugs.
Now, if you’re already taking way over your limit of therapeutic doses of pills, you can still stop, and the sooner the better! When you take these drugs on a regular basis, your brain will grow accustomed to the new chemicals (take dopamine, for example), so now the brain is going to expect these levels, and will decrease its output of dopamine to compensate for the extra levels. This will make an overdose almost impossible to avoid in the future. Your brain will keep decreasing the levels, and to get the same high, you will be required to take more and more of this drug. If your brain becomes dependent on the drug to provide the remaining chemicals that it’s not producing, surely you can understand that when you stop providing this substance, your body will not have adequate levels of these chemicals, which attribute to the major withdrawal symptoms that you can experience. It will take more than willpower to break from the addiction at this point. You’ll need to seek help, and there are literally thousands of organizations that are more than willing to do so. It’s never too late!
Sources:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
http://ncadi.samhsa.gov/govpubs/phd852i/ The Partnership for a Drug-Free America
http://download.ncadi.samhsa.gov/ken/pdf/PHD1113/PHD1113.pdfDrug Addiction Support, 2009
http://www.drug-addiction-support.org/Drug-Addiction-Statistics.htmlKIRO-TV, Inc., 2009
http://www.kirotv.com/entertainment/21081050/detail.htmlPsychotropics Cornucopia, Inc., 2009
http://www.drugabusehelp.com/statistics/
