Mthandazo Ndlovu
ADDICTION is lethal and if you are addicted to any drug, alcohol and substances of abuse, it is important to get yourself help or the person showing dependency and addiction.
This week l would like to invite our readers to consider an interesting and concerning truism in addiction science. We can all agree that any kind of drug use is dangerous. Any sort of alcohol misuse is dangerous. These are the facts but there is this interesting, unique, and crucial data we do not always give enough recognition.
The fact is the more an addict uses drugs, and the longer they hold on to their habit the more they are likely to die from it. The truth that we usually ignore is that people who use drugs, alcohol and substances become more at risk of death the longer they use drugs. That is why one has to get help quickly once they find that they are having a problem or those around them find that they are having a problem on drug, alcohol and substances abuse.
Have you ever asked yourself why is it that we do not meet old addicts that have been using drugs all their lives? Addicts either get help or they die. That is the way it is. You may well come across a senior citizen who has fallen on hard times with a drug habit or a drinking problem, but this they would have adopted as an elderly individual. You almost never meet older people with drug problems that they have had all their lives.
An addict’s habit starts off seeming pretty harmless to them. But the more they use, the more those instances of drug use and heavy drinking pile up, the more damage is then done to their body, their mind and their soul.
Livers become compromised, kidneys start to fail. Hearts falter. Lungs struggle for breath. Brains lose brain cells and neural capacity. Nervous systems short-circuit and falter. Co-ordination starts to go. Hygiene becomes an afterthought.
Teeth, skin, eyes, lips, hair begin to deteriorate. From inside out and from outside in, the habit that seemed exciting or interesting starts to kill them. The more they use it or the longer they use it the odds are they will die from their habit.
The truth is every time a person, injects heroine, drinks heavy, snorts cocaine, smokes cigarette or even inhales crystal meth they take off some entire minutes from their life span, and this creates irreversible permanent damage to the human body.
– Mthandazo Ndlovu is an accredited drug prevention and rehabilitation specialist, addictions counsellor, adolescent counsellor, professional counsellor. For help or more information call or WhatsApp +263772399734 or email [email protected] and join the Rechabites in creating a drug free healthy and productive society
