Methamphetamine Addiction and Abuse
Siobhan Morse, Executive Director of The National Institute for Holistic Addiction Studies discusses methamphetamine addiction and abuse.
What is methamphetamine?
Methamphetamine is a very addictive stimulant that is closely related to amphetamine. It is long lasting and toxic to the central nervous system.
It is a white, odorless, bitter tasting powder taken orally or by snorting or injecting, or a rock crystal that is heated and smoked.
Methamphetamine Addiction and Abuse
What are the effects of methamphetamine?
Methamphetamine increases wakefulness and physical activity. It produces rapid and irregular heart rate and increase blood pressure and body temperature.
Long-term use can lead to mood disturbances, violent behavior, anxiety, confusion, insomnia, and severe dental problems.
Medical research has shown that the long-term use of methamphetamine can cause damage to the brain similar to that seen with Alzheimer’s disease, in stroke victims, and with epilepsy.
All users, but particularly those who inject the drug, risk infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis.
Because of the rapid onset of the drug’s effects, lethal overdose can be sudden and unexpected.
Signs of overdose include profuse sweating, rapid breathing, increased and irregular heart rate and dilated pupils.
Overdose can result in kidney failure, cardiovascular collapse, and sudden death.
What is methamphetamine abuse?
Methamphetamine is highly addictive and users can become dependent very quickly.
The drug produces an intense and pleasurable feeling rapidly upon use making it highly addictive.
Repeated methamphetamine use can lead to addiction, a chronic relapsing disease characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use which is accompanied by chemical and molecular changes in the brain.
Some of these changes persist long after methamphetamine use is stopped.
Signs of methamphetamine abuse and addiction
A methamphetamine addict will seek and use more and more methamphetamine regardless of the consequences in order to get the pleasurable feeling it provides.
Over time, this feeling begins to represent normal to the user which results in the need for more and more.
Some of the symptoms of methamphetamine abuse and addiction include: extreme weight loss, severe dental problems, also called “meth mouth,” anxiety, confusion, insomnia, mood disturbances and violent behavior.
Chronic methamphetamine users can also display a number of psychotic features including: paranoia, visual and auditory hallucinations, and delusions.
Withdrawal symptoms of methamphetamine
As many as two-thirds of methamphetamine users can experience some form of psychoses during withdrawal which can begin within the first few months of use. They could become consumed by paranoia and fear, believing they are in constant danger and that people are out to get them.
This delusional state of mind is very similar to that of paranoid schizophrenia. The methamphetamine user in withdrawal may also alternate from wanting to sleep all of the time to not being able to sleep. Methamphetamine withdrawal symptoms can last for several months.
Methamphetamine Addiction and Abuse
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