How does drug addiction affect self-growth?

Drug addiction holds the distinction for featuring in the list of the world’s most deadly epidemics. Not only does it takes a big toll on one's health but is equally responsible for deteriorating one's self-esteem. Imagine living with a person who is a drug addict. Will you be able to take the noise, humiliation and constant trouble making attitude? No? Then imagine the condition which the abused person might be going through.

By a survey conducted by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, more than 19.7 million Americans battled with drug abuse in 2017. Astonished to hear these figures? So am I.

What is drug addiction?

Simply put, drug abuse is a compulsive engagement with drugs for personal gratification. Just as there are no solid rock reasons for the use of these silent killers, the abusers continue to stay in a state of denial that they are addicts. It is important that once a person is diagnosed, proper treatment is received to shrug off the deadly issue. Methadone clinic can be consulted for the proper treatment of such patients.

What is self-growth?

Self-growth is a two-worded phrase which is very substantial. It reflects a person’s personal growth in terms of many factors of life. It depends on a person’s skills development, personal grooming, liking and disliking patterns, etc. All of these factors replenish themselves with time passing by.

Self-growth and drug addiction are directly related to one another. Where one factor allows the person to fly high in the air, the other factor cuts the wings so that a person cannot almost think of living.

How does drug addiction affect self-growth?

Lower Self Confidence

Do you want to succeed in life and fly high? What do you think you want for that to happen? Resources? No! You need to be confident to do that. Confidence is all that it takes to move on in life. People who are drug addicts tend to have lower confidence due to the mental damage that the illness has done. As a result, the process of their self-growth pauses in the middle. Staying motivated then becomes very difficult.

Loss of Empathy

Know the difference between right and wrong? What to love and what not to? Feelings are the most important emotions in us as humans. Our ability to react to a situation wisely is what differentiates us from human-created humanoids and animals. What if we lose those feelings? What if even we forget to cry at the death of a loved one? Terrible, isn’t it? A drug addict loses some important elements of life owing to his/her devastated mental state. Understanding the feelings of others and then gaining massive experience after years is what shapes our thought process. Imagine living with your loved one who can even kill you for money in the pursuit of buying drugs.

Lower Social Interaction

Your self-growth is also dependent on how wiser and gutsy you become with time passing by. Social interactions teach us some very important lessons in life. The attitude that you or I have towards life will very much tell us about where we stand in terms of social status when people react to our behaviors and conversations. Let me add an interesting point here; self-efficacy also gets born with our interactions with people. The more we interact with people around us, the better will we be able to become in terms of moving further in life. Drug addicts are unfortunately cut short on this aspect with most of them becoming introverts.

Deteriorating Physical Appearance

Drug abuse doesn’t just affect a person’s mental health but physical health equally. Have you ever wondered what happens to a person who is a drug addict? Well, what you imagined right now is just an acute part of the whole devastation that it causes. Physical appearance is very imperative in a person’s self-growth. Not only do people want to improve in life with regards to their career but in terms of their visual appeal too. Drugs cause baldness, acne breakouts, breast development in males and so much more. All of these factors make the person look unattractive and ugly. How will you encourage self-growth then?

Lastly!

As already said, drug addiction takes a bit toll on one's health and self-esteem. If the drug addict is to be brought back to the real colors of life, then the only hope is to consult medical treatment so that one can then be directed towards improving their life.