Different substances and behaviours have different effects on a person’s health. Serious complications can cause health concerns or social situations to result in the end of a life. Addiction is a complicated disease involving an inability to stop taking a substance or carrying out a particularly damaging behaviour. It can lead to a range of adverse psychological, physiological, and personal effects.
It is very often not one type of complication that disrupts the daily life of a person with addiction. These factors often feed each other and work in tandem to create health risks.
- The complications of addiction often depend on the type of substance or behaviour. Sex addiction, for example, greatly increases the risk of sexual behaviours that could lead to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
- Injecting drugs using non-sterilized needles can lead to the transmission of hepatitis C, HIV, and other harmful infections.
- Snorting cocaine through the nose can damage nasal cartilage, and taking opiates can lead to opiate-induced constipation, a chronic and potentially fatal form of constipation if a person does not receive treatment.
- Regular tobacco use can cause a range of cancers and smoking methamphetamine might fuel a severe form of dental decay known as “meth mouth”.
- Injury: This can occur during the administration of a drug, depending on the method. For example, injecting heroin with a needle can lead to skin and muscle damage at the point of injection, and many people take drugs by smoking, causing lung damage and respiratory illnesses.
- Injury can also occur while intoxicated. Often, drug use impairs co-ordination and balance and can lead to falls and injuries. Driving while under the influence of alcohol and other drugs is criminal in South Africa and most countries.
- Some substances induce violent reactions in people and increase the likelihood of risky or confrontational behaviours.
- Overdose: Taking too much of one substance or mixing substances together can result in an overdose. While this can also occur with medications and pharmaceuticals, it is more likely to occur in a person who takes a substance to alter their mood or for recreational purposes.
- An overdose can result in coma and death. On average, 115 people in the United States die every day by overdosing on opioid painkillers.
- Cardiovascular health: Many substances lead to spikes in blood pressure and heart rate, placing strain on the heart and blood vessels and increasing the risk of stroke, heart attack, and death.
- Loss of hygiene and routine: Addiction can become an all-encompassing feature in a person’s life, and reward systems in the brain can rewire to prioritize the substance or behaviour at the root of the addiction over nutrition, resolving stressful situations, and hygiene.
- In some cases, addiction can lead to homelessness, greatly reducing protection and resources and increasing exposure to the elements.
- Fetal damage: If a woman takes substances while pregnant, this can lead to congenital anomalies or even death in the fetus.