eNEWSLETTER
May 2009
Our Mission Statement:
"Providing a range of innovative professional services, empowering our clients to positively address issues affecting their lives."
Our office hours are from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday. After hours and Saturday appointments are available on request.
Recreational Drugs: Educating
Everyone at some stage in their life has heard about drugs such as speed, ice, marijuana, ecstasy and cocaine. We even may know someone who is a regular user or recovering addict. We all see the television advertisements which show the effects of drugs on families and individuals. This month it is our intention of educating on what effects each of these drugs has on an individual and their families, How you may be able to help someone you love beat their addiction and perhaps gain a clearer insight and understanding on how not only the drug user, but the families who may also need help and assistance.
Speed
Amphetamines are a group of drugs made from different chemicals; they are stimulant drugs which speed up the brain and nervous system. Most people call amphetamines ‘speed’. Other names include ‘crystal meth’, ‘base’ or ‘ice’.
These drugs can be fatal and death is the ultimate price for an addiction that is so easy to fall into. Many people don’t realise that depending on the ingredients within these drugs, people taking them may experience a form of psychosis, they often experience paranoia, extreme mood swings, some hear voices and others feel like something is crawling under your skin. The long term effects of this drug include; brain damage extending to memory loss, poor co ordination, an impaired ability to learn new information and confusion.
Ice
There has been a large amount of press coverage on the topic of Ice in the last 12 months as it usage by Australian has increased. You all know what it is and I’m sure some may know of someone who has taken it or perhaps you may have experimented but ICE stimulates the nervous system and has the same side effects of Speed, Ice however affects a person’s behaviour dramatically. It can cause;
- Restlessness and anxiety
- Aggression, hostility and violence
- Talkativeness and repeating simple acts or tasks
- Impaired judgments making the user impulsive and leading to chronic insomnia
- Abrupt shifts in thought and speech, which can make someone using ice difficult to comprehend
- Paranoia or panic attacks associated with hallucinations
- "Amphetamine psychosis", which users of very high doses may suffer, with symptoms resembling paranoid schizophrenia.
Marijuana
Other names include: Cannabis, pot, grass, weed, reefer, joint, Mary-Jane, Acapulco Gold, rope, mull, cone, spliff, dope, skunk, bhang, ganja, hash, chronic. The consequences of using marijuana can include but are not limited to:
- Mood swings
- Memory impairment
- Increased risk of cancer of the lung, mouth, throat and tongue
- Panic attacks
- Delusions
- Hallucinations
- Paranoid thinking and other mental health problems
Ecstasy
Consequences of using ecstasy can include:
- Chronic sleep problems
- Cracked teeth through grinding
- High blood pressure
- Dehydration
- Anxiety
- Nervousness
- Hallucinations
- Decreased emotional control
- Lethargy
- Severe depression
- Nerve cell damage
- Thermal meltdown
- Death from heart failure
Cocaine
Cocaine is a stimulant which, in its pure form, is a white crystalline powder called 'cocaine hydrochloride'.
- Anxiety
- Increased pulse rate
- Dilated pupils
- Paranoia
- Agitation
- Hallucinations
How they may be affecting your family?
So far all you’ve heard are the scary side effects, how about the effects on the drug user’s family.
Fear, anxiety, guilty, helplessness, severe depression and difficulty sleeping, these symptoms sounds like something a drug user may experience when in fact it is the families who are experiencing these emotions and problems.
Education and Treatment
Counselling is just as useful for a drug user as it is for the families of one, some people just need to talk about what they’re going through and to find out if there is something more they can be doing to help. The truth is that love and support are difficult to offer when people lose hope. It is a common occurrence after years of watching their loved one suffer and continue to use drugs many families get to the point where they don’t know if there is anything more they can do. If you find you’re at this point now or want to avoid this then counselling may be a way of gaining strategies to help deal with someone who uses drugs.
What can you do?
There are a number of options in dealing with a loved one who is a regular recreational drug user, this includes, rehabilitation, support groups and individual counselling. The road to recovery is long and difficult and we at Clayfield Counselling Services believe that everyone including the families needs an outlet and someone to talk to.
References
- http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/public-health/dpb/publications/pdf/factsheets/speed.pdf
- http://www.drugs.health.gov.au/internet/drugs/publishing.nsf/Content/get-the-facts-1
- http://www.theantidrug.com/drug_info/drug_info_ecstasy.asp
Until next time then...
“To love means loving the unlovable, to forgive means pardoning the unpardonable. Faith means believing the unbelievable and Hope means hoping when thing seems hopeless.” - G.K. Chesterton