I dealt with the subject of “Heroin and cocaine – effects on the psyche”, as the subject of drugs is a current problem and will continue to be in the future. I am very interested in this subject and was surprised myself how severe the effects can be. Many people underestimate the effects and consequences of drugs and think “If I want, I can stop anytime”, but they are wrong. However, most of them are not aware of this. They do not know what they are doing to their body by using drugs. what the effect of drugs on the psyche?
what the effect of drugs on the psyche?
It starts with legal drugs like nicotine or caffeine and ends with hard illegal drugs like heroin or cocaine. All of these types of drugs have a negative impact on our body and, above all, on the psyche. For many, it starts out as fun. It only means “try it out”, but in cases of hardship, it ends in death psyche. I have now learned a lot more terrifying and impressive things through this specialist work and have therefore decided on the illegal and hardest drugs, which would be heroin and cocaine. I would like to write about their effects on the human psyche, as they are enormous with these drugs and thus offer a good basis for my specialist work.
studies about drugs:
I studied the effects of heroin and cocaine very intensively. I have read numerous books about this and also talked to some drug addicts about it. The research on this topic was very informative and interesting. I hope I can reproduce this scientifically and carefully researched in my thesis. My goal was for me personally to learn a little more about drugs and their consequences, and to deal more with this topic and problem than I would otherwise have done privately.
1. Modes of action
Drugs negatively affect normal brain activity. They get into the consumer’s bloodstream in a wide variety of ways. On the one hand by smoking or injecting, on the other hand by sniffing or swallowing the drug. The substances in the drugs reach the brain through the blood-brain barrier and, for example, attach themselves to the receptors of the nerve cells in the brain and block them. Psychomotor disorders and memory disorders are consequences that drugs can trigger in the brain.
Drugs also have serious effects on the soul. “Changes in personality through to personality disintegration, development arrest, a motivational syndrome [and] increased suicidality” 1 can be consequences of drug use. Schizophrenia, paranoia, and depression are also diseases that can break out on a psychological level.
Mental addiction
Psychological addiction does not mean that the person is dependent on the drug. One does not become dependent on the drug itself, but on the feeling of what is aroused by consuming it. By consuming drugs of any kind, a certain feeling is released, which can be a feeling of happiness, satisfaction, or even pleasure.
2.feelings of drugs:
The addict needs this emerging feeling. He escapes into a kind of illusory world through drug use. In doing so, he suppresses everyday problems that he does not want to face or is reluctant to face; to whom he does not want to be delivered. Arguing with the partner, anger with the boss, or general problem situations in the social environment of the addict can be suppressed by these feelings during or after consumption for at least a short time.
overdose causes:
These feelings and states of consciousness make the consumer calmer, more balanced, and distracted. His everyday problems no longer seem to concern him. The dependence does not show up in the fact that a person takes up the drug more and more often, but that he constantly uses the resulting state of consciousness in order to avoid the upcoming conflicts and problems to be overcome. The desire for the mostly euphoric emotional outbursts is intoxication.
2.1 Addiction
The addiction that occurs through regular use of the drug is a pathological condition. The addict now craves this drug at all costs. But now he no longer tries, like the addict, to take the drug only because of its changes in feeling and consciousness; the addict takes his drug regularly in order to avoid the terrible and painful agony of withdrawal or to end it as quickly as possible. If the addict does not get a replenishment, the withdrawal phase begins with anxiety, sweats, and confusion. Sleep disorders and, in severe cases, even thoughts of suicide also occur.
2.2 Final stage of psychological dependence
After years of drug use, after years of addiction and addiction, and after years of chronic stress, both body and soul are totally destroyed. The affected person can no longer live without the drug. Withdrawal at this stage would be life-threatening. The person is completely isolated from their former social environment, they only live for the drugs. Because of this, there are some drug addicts who have to live on the streets because they run out of money to pay for rent and other expenses. They spend all of their wealth on getting their addictive substances. If they do not get their ‘substance’ immediately, tremors, severe depression, and panic attacks occur. Crime and prostitution are an easy source of money at this stage and in many cases the only way out.
crimes of drugs:
Crime and prostitution as procurement measures are particularly high in the case of heroin. The addict pays hundreds of DM daily to get his “material”. Due to the constantly increasing dose increase, the addict must also be able to pay constantly increasing prices. This cannot be achieved with a normal working day. The black market is the best source of money for this. In order to get the drug you need, you either sell your own body or accept the crime. The drug addicts then stop at nothing, because their entire life is only fixated on the procurement and consumption of the drug.
HIV virus:
Unfortunately, this is why the deadly HIV virus is particularly widespread among consumers, also known as “fixers”, who inject their remedy. They put everything they have in “material” together and share it among their “fixer friends”. The same syringe goes from one person to another. It quickly gets dirty, but no attention is paid to it. The addicts only have their next “shot” in mind and don’t care about a clean syringe.
3. Heroin
3.1 Origin
Heroin is the most widely used illicit drug on the world market. It is the most dangerous for the addict and the most valuable for the dealer. Heroin is grown in countries like Afghanistan, Iran, South America, Burma, or Thailand and consists of morphine. It is one of the pure opiates from which heroin and morphine base can be obtained through a chemical reaction.
3.2 Ingestion
Heroin can be smoked, sniffed, or injected. Spraying is preferred, as this allows the product to have a stronger effect. Heroin is mostly injected into the arm vein, but it is often injected under the fingernails to hide traces. Since the production of heroin is very high, it is estimated at around 1,200 tons annually, this drug also kills thousands of people every year, who died from the so-called “golden shot”. “Massively addicted” fixers “need such an amount of heroin that up to seven non-addicts would be killed instantly by the same dose.” 3.
overdose of drugs:
This overdose immediately leads to respiratory paralysis and ultimately cardiac arrest. Many heroin addicts have no way of knowing how “pure” their substance is, as it is often stretched in the market with the help of baking powder in order to make a lot of money for little substance. According to estimates, the main areas of heroin consumption are, besides the producing countries, the USA and Europe.
3.3 Forms of Heroin
There are also four different types of heroin. On the one hand, the ‘normal’ heroin. It is a pure variety of opium and is actually called diacetylmorphine. It is a chemical compound of morphine and acetic acid. In the scene, it is also often called “H” or “Heroin No. 1”. It is a white or brownish powdery substance. “Heroin No. 2” is a mixture of morphine and heroin. It is a diacetylmorphine base and looks beige to beige brown. “Heroin No. 3” is also often referred to as “Hong Kong Rocks”, “Brown Stuff” or “Brown sugar” and it consists of crystalline heroin with an active ingredient content of 30 to 60 percent. It’s a salt form, hydrochloride.
colors of drugs:
The color of this form is again different, it is gray to brownish. The last form of heroin is “Heroin No. 4”. It’s heroin hydrochloride white and very soluble in water. It is also called “Turkish honey” and is a particularly concentrated form of heroin from Turkey. The active ingredient content of this form is up to 90 percent. In the 1920s there was still a type of heroin pill called “Magic Horse” or “Wild Tiger”.
3.4 Effect
Heroin belongs to the group of opiates. Opiates have a euphoric and analgesic effect. However, heroin creates the greatest euphoria.
Heroin suppresses sensations such as pain, fear, and worry. They have not disappeared, but are covered by heroin and pushed out of consciousness. If the effect slowly subsides, these sensations come back. Many addicts try to forget their problems and worries with the help of their drugs. When they are back on the trip, they feel an enormous feeling of happiness, also known as a “flash”. But after a short time, this feeling diminishes again. A drug addict needs about 300 DM per day for his drugs. He injects it several times a day. In order to alleviate or avoid the very painful agony of withdrawal, the addict injects a new dose at the slightest sign of pain to immerse himself in a feeling of nirvana again.
