Amphetamine is a highly effective drug as part of a treatment regimen for ADHD and other disorders. However, many people abuse the drug for the way that it causes euphoria, alertness, and weight loss. Abusing amphetamine can have many effects on your life.
Amphetamine Addiction
Amphetamine addiction is one of the worst and most intense effects caused by amphetamine abuse. People who abuse amphetamine can become dependent on it, and will come to “crave the drug,” causing “their psychological dependence [to make] them panic if access is denied, even temporarily” (ADF). Addiction to amphetamine can also cause more problems in your life, such as:
- Being arrested
- Getting into debt
- Having problems with significant others, friends, or family members
- Getting fired from work
- Having your grades suffer
- Craving amphetamine
- Becoming tolerant to the drug and needing more each time
- Feeling as if you cannot enjoy yourself without amphetamine
- Experiencing withdrawal symptoms from amphetamine
Addiction is a brain disease that will take over your whole life. The difference between addiction and abuse is simple: they are both bad for you, but with addiction, you aren’t able to stop on your own, even if you want to. If you stop abusing amphetamine before this occurs, it will be better for you over time. You can always seek treatment, but the earlier you do so, the easier it will be.
Health Effects of Amphetamine Abuse
Many people experience extreme health problems caused by long-term amphetamine abuse. According to the NHSTA, amphetamine abuse may cause:
Abusing amphetamines can cause paranoia, tremors, anxiety and other symptoms.
- Tremors
- Anxiety
- Paranoia
- Cardiovascular problems
- Memory problems
- Insomnia
- Stroke
- Heart failure
Amphetamine causes many health problems, both mental and physical, and these effects do not quickly or easily go away. Issues with memory will sometimes continue on for a year or more after someone stops abusing amphetamine.
Amphetamine Overdose
Amphetamine overdose may be deadly and it is an effect often caused by amphetamine abuse. If someone takes too much amphetamine, an overdose is possible and can result in:
- Coma
- Seizures
- Vomiting
- Fever
- Shaking
- Diarrhea
- Weakness
- Confusion
- Panic
- Aggression
- Hallucinations
If you know someone who displays these symptoms, they should be brought to the hospital immediately so that they may be treated.
Toxic Psychosis
According to CESAR, “The chronic abuse of amphetamine and methamphetamine is characterized by violent and erratic behavior, as well as a psychosis similar to schizophrenia, that can involve paranoia, picking at the skin, and auditory/visual hallucinations.” Those who experience this effect of amphetamine abuse often die or become severely hurt by putting themselves in danger without realizing it.
The CHCE states that “psychosis is induced more commonly by amphetamine than by cocaine” and that “delusional patients require close clinical monitoring” if they are brought in during this time. It is much worse for patients to go through amphetamine withdrawal and treatment if they have already reached the toxic psychosis stage.
The effects of amphetamine abuse are various and, over time, they can spread throughout your entire life. Especially when a person becomes addicted to amphetamine, the abuse of the drug begins to effect all aspects of their life and formal rehab often becomes a necessary treatment. Consider the effects of amphetamine abuse before taking the drug in a way that was not prescribed.