At this point in your life, you’ve probably heard countless of heartbreaking stories of how talented, smart, highly-skilled and good-looking people wasted their lives on drug addiction. The once young, healthy, and lovely-looking persons that they were, gradually turned to strangers in their own bodies. With months and years passing by that they waste their lives on drug use, the undesirable changes started showing up—their bloodshot eyes, dilated pupils, sudden weight gain or weight loss, pale skin, and puffy face. They are not the same people that they once were. Now, they look constantly sleep-deprived and haggard.
But more than the impact it does to a person’s outer physical appearance, the damage, and trouble it could bring about to every aspect of his life could be so detrimental that recovery is an extremely challenging task to do. Drugs can alter the physical, psychological, and mental health of a person to the point so bad that the effects are already irreversible. Or worse still—premature death. Learn more here.
While this problem is not new around the globe, it is more rampant in some particular cities. That would also translate to rampant crimes in those cities, since drug abuse can impair a person’s proper state of mind, causing a person to do things against the law. But more than just the alarming serious law violations that drug addicts commit, a sad reality exists. Many people turning to drugs have never expected that they will come to a point in life that they’d actually fall into this trap. But the next day they woke up, they have been addicted already. So, what’s the root cause of drug abuse in some individuals?
The Sad Reasons Why Some Turn to Drug Abuse
Of course, we’re not trying to justify drug abuse when we wish to understand what its root cause is for every individual. We never want to tolerate any wrongdoing. However, we should also acknowledge the fact that there are success stories of former drug abusers who gradually turned their life around by breaking free from drugs.
And as much as possible, that’s what we want to happen. Many individuals and organizations have jumpstarted initiatives for this goal. For example, Project Unbroken helps people get out of addiction. The first step in helping drug abusers to overcome addiction is to find out where it all started. There are various different reasons. But, let’s talk about the most common ones.
Peer Pressure
You may be surprised by learning how some people became addicted to drugs. There are many of them who were once class achievers, sweet and loving sons and daughters to their parents, happy and responsible individuals and some are even very conservative. So, what went wrong?
Well, some teenagers and even adults have chosen the wrong kind of friends. They felt the need to belong to a group they regard as a “cool” bunch of people. But hey, it’s never cool when someone tries to influence you to violate the high moral principles that you live by. It’s never cool when someone you call “friend” would let you do things that would harm you. Tell you what, no real friend would ever do that. Pardon the preachy tone, but that’s the truth we’re talking about.
Peer pressure can be so strong that it can pull you like a magnet. This is especially true to individuals who lack a strong personal identity. They fail to recognize their strengths and weaknesses. They lack self-confidence. They may not be strong enough to uphold the high moral principles they believe in. Another reason they may succumb to peer pressure is that they simply want to put an end to bullying. No one wants to get bullied after all.
At first, you may insist on just watching your peers do their pot session and binge drinking. But of course, they wouldn’t stop pressuring you to join them until you finally give in. So, if you have peers like that, don’t be afraid to say ‘No!’ with conviction right from the start. Take courage to end the relationship with those friends if they can’t influence you in the right direction. If you are a parent, it’s about time you help your kids find good friends and let them understand the benefits of doing so.
Lack of Emotional Support
Because of extreme problems, some individuals felt that they are hopeless. They felt that no one understands their situation or there’s no one who’s ever interested to listen to them. And so, they turn to drugs or alcohol to temporarily forget their problems. But can that remove their problems for real? Not at all. In fact, it just adds more trouble.
For families facing stressful situations, open and effective communication is one of the keys to provide emotional support to each other. Adolescents in particular have a special need for this. If a teenager’s family fails to provide the kind of support he needs, he may turn to his peers for that. And going back to that subject above, they may be in danger of finding themselves in the wrong bunch of friends.
Curiosity and Risk-Taking Behavior
We know too well that idiom “Curiosity killed the cat”. In some cases, it is indeed true. Some drug abusers simply started wanting to try everything this world has to offer, be that good or bad. They might be curious how it feels like to try drugs and other vices.
Perhaps, they believe in the principle “Experience is the best teacher.” While you can learn lessons in some experiences, you don’t have to learn something the hard way. You don’t have to experience the detrimental effects of drugs before you learn that it’s never a good idea to try even once. There are countless stories of people who ruined their lives by taking drugs. So, you know for sure what may happen to you. Trying out drugs out of curiosity or your risk-taking behavior is something you’ll only regret later.
Knowing the root cause why some may turn to drugs is the first step in helping people break free from it. By understanding these various causes, we may be able to help someone avoid trying drugs. Learned something from here? Share it to someone you care about. It’s not too late for them. You may have just saved a precious life.
