What Does It Cost to Be a Drug Addict?

One of the most expensive ways of life on the globe is drug addiction. Many strongly addicted drug users discover that they are spending more than a hundred dollars per day on the drugs that they require.

However, it is not only the financial component of drug addiction that can be costly. Drug abusers also pay for their habits with their friends, families, homes, and, in extreme cases, their lives.

The psychological and emotional impact of a substance misuse addiction can be tough to cope with. Unfortunately, the stress and anguish associated with these exorbitant fees frequently push drug users back into addiction. This article will go over some of the various costs associated with being a drug addict.

Drug Abuse vs. Addiction

Before we get into the staggering expenses of drug addiction, it’s crucial to distinguish between drug users and drug addicts. Not everyone who uses drugs can be classed as an addict, and in truth, some drug users do not develop an addiction problem.

Use of Recreational Drugs

Recreational drug usage, which is on the rise around the world, refers to drug use that is neither habitual or addictive. Some recreational drug users use drugs once a week, while others use once a year.

Recreational drug usage does not cause as many issues as drug addiction, yet it is just as deadly. The reason for this is that even if people just use drugs once, they face the danger of establishing an addiction.

The cost of recreational drug usage will, of course, be much lower than the expense of full-blown drug addiction.

Addiction to Drugs

When a person becomes psychologically or physically addicted to a drug, this is referred to as drug addiction. These two concepts can have quite different meanings.

Addiction to Psychological Substances

Psychological addiction can emerge even in people who do not take drugs every day. It can be hard to discern this sort of psychological addiction and recreational drug use because the two circumstances can seem quite similar.

The primary distinction between recreational drug use and psychological addiction with infrequent use is that psychologically addicted individuals believe they require the drug to operate. Someone who only goes out to socialise once or twice a month but feels they need alcohol to enjoy their socialising is termed psychologically addicted to alcohol.

Other, more addictive medications, such as methamphetamine, can swiftly induce severe psychological dependence. Even a single use of a potent medication like this can cause a user to feel unsatisfied with their normal psychological state. This causes an intense urge to continue using the medication.

Physical Dependence

Physical dependency is another game entirely and tends to be the most costly of all forms of addiction. In terms of emotional, financial, and bodily expenses, physical dependency is the most demanding because physically addicted individuals require drugs to feel physically and mentally well.

Opioids, for example, cannot be stopped without causing severe withdrawal symptoms in the user. When a person is not substantially addicted, withdrawal symptoms such as a runny nose and a cough can be reasonably controllable, but they can also be much more serious and persistent, such as frequent vomiting, trembling, sweating, and cramps.

The Costs of Addiction

Addiction, in whatever form it manifests itself, is expensive. Addiction costs a person not only money, but also their emotional and physical wellbeing. A drug addict may come to lose many things that are significant to them during their addiction.

Addiction’s Economic Cost

One of the most visible concerns linked with drug addiction is the financial cost of addiction, which is responsible for various additional losses that drug users tend to endure. Some of the losses related with the financial expenses linked with addiction support can include:

• The loss of a residence or apartment
• The inability to afford nourishing food
• Being unable to afford new clothes

The financial cost of addiction is a major reason why the stereotype drug user exists: untidy, dressed shabbily, and living on the street. While this is an extreme example, it is a reality for many people.

However, not everyone is forced to leave their homes. Many people, classified as high functioning drug users, may keep their jobs and residences while abusing drugs. Unfortunately, instead of spending their extra money on hobbies, evenings out, or other nice activities, they spend the majority of their money on drugs.

Many people who wind up living on the streets are physically addicted to narcotics such as opioids. These drugs have a stronger draw since users will become severely ill if they do not obtain their regular fix. This disease is typically nasty enough that users would rather spend their rent money, food money, and clothing money on drugs to avoid getting sick.

Addiction’s Emotional Cost

One of the most difficult aspects of addiction is the huge emotional toll it takes on the addict and those close to them. This is due to a number of factors.

Many drug users are quite emotional. They could be in a good mood one day then hostile or aggressive the next.
Some drug users become completely apathetic, unable to connect emotionally.
Stimulant substances, such as methamphetamines, can cause people to become overly emotional. They may express or say things to others that they do not actually believe.

Recognizing, understanding, and acknowledging our emotions is really important. They do not simply go away if we do not recognise them and learn how to cope with them. They are instead ‘bottled up,’ and will eventually come to the surface and burst.

Even under the best of circumstances, this is a dangerous habit to develop. Unfortunately, drug abusers frequently experience far more emotions than the ordinary person. They may suffer humiliation, rage, despair, and loss as a result of their addictions. Many of them find themselves in violent, hazardous, or shocking circumstances with no way to cope other than to use more drugs.

This means that drug users will incur enormous emotional debt during the course of their addiction. In some circumstances, years of counselling are required to assist the individual in dealing with these issues.

Furthermore, drug addiction might stifle an individual’s emotional development. They may emerge from their addiction with a level of emotional maturity that does not equal that of their peers, who have been able to work through their emotional concerns in a healthful manner.

Addiction’s Psychological Cost

All addictions can cause psychological harm. Addictions to sex, food, and pleasure can all produce psychological difficulties in a person, but drug addictions can be more severe.

The reason why all addictions might cause issues is because of the way that our brain responds to pleasure. When we have a pleasurable experience, a portion of our brain called the mesolimbic reward pathway fills with dopamine.

Many people become addicted to this surge of dopamine. Unfortunately, constantly flooding our brains with dopamine through pleasurable activities leads to a process called as downregulation. In this way, our brain gets less sensitive to dopamine, necessitating bigger doses to achieve the same level of pleasure.

Because drugs directly interact with our brain’s neurotransmitter systems, problems with drug addiction become considerably more severe. These are the systems that regulate all of our mental & physical functioning, including our moods, our sleep routine, our appetites, and so on.

Drugs can downregulate these systems directly, causing a variety of difficulties in the long run. While these systems eventually upregulate, the process can take months or years.

Addiction’s Physical Cost

Many medicines are known to cause major bodily concerns. When taken excessively, they can cause irreversible damage to the body and brain.

Furthermore, certain of the drug addict’s lifestyle practises can exacerbate these issues:

• Inadequate hygiene
• Nutrition and diet deficiencies
• Sleeping patterns that are unhealthy
• All of these factors, combined with the neurotoxic nature of some drugs, have the potential to inflict substantial harm to a drug user.
• Organ issues and failures may occur.
• Cardiovascular issues may occur.
• Increased disease risk, lower immunity
• Permanent impairment to brain function
• Loss of mobility
• Accelerated ageing
  These are just a handful of the things that can happen if someone is addicted to drugs for an extended period of time.

In conclusion, drug addiction is a very costly lifestyle, not only financially, but also in terms of an individual’s physical and emotional well-being.

If you or a loved one is suffering from an addiction, realising the tremendous cost of this lifestyle choice may urge you to seek treatment. Call Recovery Connection today at +91-9167943134 to talk with an addiction professional.