How Is Meth Abused?
Methamphetamine is a highly potent, highly addictive stimulant that has devastated the United States for decades. Meth accounts for a significant amount of arrests, emergency room visits, and crime in the United States, and the issue has only grown worse in recent years, with more people manufacturing and consuming the toxic drug. Methamphetamine abuse ravages the body, the mind, and the spirit.
Is Meth Abused?
Yes, meth is abused, any time someone uses the drug for its euphoric effect. Throughout the course of a meth binge, which often last for several days, users tend to forego sleeping, eating, hydrating, and social responsibilities like school, work, and friendships. Over time, meth consumes the mind and becomes all the addict can think about.
How Is Meth Abused?
In the medical world, methamphetamine is administered orally to treat ADHD and certain sleep disorders. Recreationally, too, meth is swallowed, but there are other common routes of administration. These make for a much stronger, more dangerous high. Smoking is the most common. It delivers a long high that kicks off with an intensely euphoric “rush.” This rush is prompts addicts to smoke more meth even before their previous dosage has worn off. This cycle is known as “crash and binge.”
What Are the Side Effects of Meth Abuse?
Even in tiny doses, meth increases wakefulness and energy and decreases appetite. In addition to a variety of cardiovascular problems—rapid heart rate, irregular heartbeat, increased blood pressure, etc—meth use leads to weight physical deterioration as a result of fatigue, malnutrition, and dehydration.As users develop a tolerance to meth, they need more and more to get the high they desire. Chronic use and binges can—and frequently do—lead to heart attacks, strokes, hyperthermia, accidents, and death.
What Are the Signs of Meth Abuse?
- anxiety
- confusion
- insomnia
- mood disturbances
- violent behavior
Meth abuse can also cause a number of psychotic features: paranoia, visual hallucinations, delusions. This is largely due to sleep deprivation, the damage of which can be long-lasting. Symptoms of psychosis can persist for months or even years abstaining from meth, and high stress can trigger a re-emergence of psychosis even after the symptoms appear to have subsided.
If you suspect–or know–that someone you love is abusing methamphetamine, you’ve taken the correct course of action by coming here and researching the addiction. The next stop is to get them help. Call The Last Resort today: 512.575.4071.