Life is full of potential addictions, particularly when it comes to substances. Here are six of the most addictive drugs on the market. We’ll also explore what happens during withdrawal from these substances and what resources are in place to help you beat addiction for good.
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1. Alcohol
Alcohol is among the most popular psychoactive addictive products. It’s easy to attain, legal, and socially acceptable. It lowers inhibitions, makes people more sociable, and lifts their mood.
Unfortunately, the NCADD (National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence) warns that 87% of the population will drink alcohol in their lifetime, and a staggering 17 million adults have an alcohol use disorder. Alcohol misuse can cause a host of health problems, including heart disease, peripheral neuropathy, and even death.
People under the influence of alcohol experience impaired judgment and can even change personalities, becoming “mellow” or, on the other extreme, turning violent. It is a huge factor in domestic violence, child abuse, and recklessness.
Alcohol alters the function of the central nervous system, and adjusting to life without alcohol means allowing the body to shift back to normal function. This detox process can be uncomfortable and even life-threatening. Depending on the severity of the addiction, the withdrawal symptoms can start within 12 hours of the last drink and get very intense. In the case of delirium tremens (DTs), a severe form of alcohol withdrawal, a patient may experience hallucinations, confusion, delirium, and seizures. Other side effects include elevated heart rate, elevated blood pressure, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, anxiety, and depression.
For those considering alcohol detox centers, there are medications a doctor can use to mitigate symptoms while you detox. They can regulate your blood pressure, help with nausea, lower anxiety levels, lower inflammation, decrease cravings, help you stay hydrated, and replace essential vitamins and minerals that can become depleted with excessive alcohol use.
2. Opioids
Whether you use heroin or prescription opioids like hydrocodone or oxycodone, this family of substances causes a mellow high, stimulates pleasure receptors, reduces pain, and numbs emotions. While some people start out with illicit drugs, many others never consider themselves at risk for addiction because the pain medication is prescribed to them after a legitimate illness or injury. The body adjusts to opioid use over time, and the body requires more and more of the drug to get the same effect, which is how people start abusing the drugs. Withdrawals can start as early as 12 hours after the last dose.
Withdrawal symptoms include nausea, vomiting, tremors, sweating, muscle aches, difficulty regulating temperature, increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, rapid breathing, headaches, depression, irritability, anxiety, and confusion.
Medical detox is advisable as few people make it past withdrawal without relapse outside of a drug treatment center. The withdrawal symptoms are too intense, possibly life-threatening, and can cause the person trying to quit to panic. Medical detox, on the other hand, can help mitigate all of the symptoms mentioned above while they wean you off the drug rather than having you go cold turkey. It’s a much safer and much more comfortable process.
3. Meth
Doctors originally designed Methamphetamine to help people increase their energy, but the results were unexpectedly strong and had too many side effects to put into production, except as an additive in certain medications. This man-made stimulant causes an intense release of dopamine (pleasure chemicals), increases energy, and increases weight loss, which accounts for its popularity. It also raises your heart rate and blood pressure and causes aggression and psychosis. People on meth often turn violent, act recklessly, and will go to extraordinary lengths to stay high. Over time, it causes brain damage, affecting your ability to recall or learn new information.
Withdrawal causes extreme weariness, depression, mood swings, anxiety, and agitation. You may be dangerous to yourself or others while detoxing. Drug rehab will provide a safe place to detox and mitigate the physical and psychological symptoms of withdrawal.
4. Cocaine
Cocaine is also a man-made drug and causes a dopamine release, giving users a rush of euphoria, heightened alertness, and excitement. It also causes paranoia and agitation. The drug is short-lived, and people often take multiple doses to keep the high going.
Withdrawal symptoms include severe depression, inability to feel pleasure, heavy fatigue, restlessness, anxiety, nightmares, intense cravings, increased appetite, excessive sleep, and suicidal thoughts.
A medical facility will keep you from harming yourself until symptoms abate, as well as mitigate other withdrawal side effects.
5. Benzodiazepines
Benzos are a family of sedatives that create a similar effect to alcohol. As a commonly prescribed drug, they are easy to access and are sometimes paired with alcohol for a heightened effect, though this can cause users to OD and die. Benzos lower anxiety, temper the fight or flight response, lower heart rate, slow breathing, and lower blood pressure.
Withdrawal symptoms stem from the brain returning to normal function. After fear, anxiety, and fight or flight responses have been suppressed for a while, they can become overactive when you quit taking the drugs. Symptoms include insomnia, anxiety, hallucinations, hypersensitivity, sweating, confusion, muscle pain, nausea, vomiting, depression, and possibly even seizures.
It’s important to medically detox. Physicians will wean you off of benzodiazepines using longer-acting drugs from the same family while managing other symptoms to prevent life-threatening complications.
6. Nicotine
An estimated 55 million people smoke or use other nicotine products in the US. While not immediately fatal, nicotine is a leading and unnecessary cause of death, which is why it’s included on this list. Nicotine products temporarily cause elevated moods, which can last a few hours before users need to smoke, chew, or vape to get their next hit. Many daily activities become triggers, like driving, taking a break at work, mealtimes, etc.
This drug is easy to get hooked on because it’s everywhere. Withdrawal symptoms include increased appetite, insomnia, cravings, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and depression.
For those looking to quit, there are prescription and over-the-counter drugs, patches, and gums to help with the cravings. Quitting usually requires a substitute behavior as well, like chewing on a toothpick rather than having a cigarette in your mouth or going for a walk on your break rather than hanging out in the same space while other people smoke.
Last Thoughts
Drug and alcohol addiction is incredibly hard to break without medical intervention. Side effects of the detoxification process range from irritability and insomnia to heart attacks, strokes, or death. Beyond that, it’s very easy to relapse without the support of therapies that address what is driving the addiction in the first place.
Fortunately, there are treatment centers to help you through the detox process and offer rehab therapies. These centers can continue to support you with alumni programs. There are countless success stories of people who have turned their lives around with the help of a good drug treatment center, and so can you.
Whatever your addiction, if you’re ready to stop, search “drug treatment facility near me” or call our Utah drug treatment center for men or our Idaho drug rehab for women. You don’t have to tackle addiction alone.