Meth Addiction
Unfortunately, more and more Americans are being drawn into the dangerous trap of meth addiction. According to the 2003 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, approximately 12.3 million Americans ages 12 and over have tried meth. A 2005 survey conducted by the National Association of Counties (NACO) found that 58 percent of the sheriffs and child welfare officials surveyed say methamphetamine addiction is the biggest drug problem in their counties. Meth is an epidemic. If you or someone you love is battling meth addiction, it is incredibly important that you help them/yourself seek meth treatment to save a life.
Meth addiction has a powerful mental and physical quality that causes addicts to place more and more trust in using the drug. As time passes, all areas of life from personal hygiene, to family and responsibility take a back seat to using crystal meth. Physical addiction comes first with addicts trying to get the initial rush that they experienced when they first started using. This becomes impossible though because of crystal meth's effects on the brain and its ability to extinguish the brains production of chemical compounds that produce feelings of pleasure. As addicts continue to use meth, it changes the chemistry and function of the brain and dulls normal chemical production within it.
Psychological addiction to meth is even more powerful as the addict tries to reproduce the feelings of pleasure and happiness that the brain no longer provides. A vicious cycle begins to set in as the need for meth becomes more and more perceived by the user to maintain a pseudo normal existence. Since happiness is no longer able to be achieved by natural occurrences in life, situations that don't allow the addict to use become frustrating and therefore avoided. This vicious cycle continues to drive the addict away from normal life and down into a never ending spiral of meth addiction.
Meth is a difficult addiction indeed. Meth has a way of taking over your mind and your body. Meth addiction leaves its victims with no other goal in life other than to use more Meth. This fixation on getting more of the drug results in the addict stealing from family members, robbing friends, neglecting their job, abusing their spouse, and even wandering off for days or weeks at a time on a 'binge'. The result of this unexplainable behavior is the addict abandons their friends and family, leading to emotional pain for everyone. The person the user was before meth addiction is no longer there. Left in his or her place is a jittery, paranoid and sickly person who desperately needs help.
Meth addiction leads to devastating medical, psychological, and social consequences. Adverse health effects include memory loss, aggression, psychotic behavior, heart damage, malnutrition, and severe dental problems. Meth addiction also contributes to increased transmission of infectious diseases, such as hepatitis and HIV/AIDS, and can infuse whole communities with new waves of crime, unemployment, child neglect or abuse, and other social ills.
The good news is that meth is beatable. If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it, you can become it. If you or a loved one needs help for meth addiction, please get meth treatment help immediately.