Drugs+and+Depression

Drugs and Depression

Drugs such as ecstasy, cocaine, acid and heroin are known as mind altering drugs. Typically people take these drugs to increase their moods but they can have adverse effects. Consuming drugs such as these can leave a person feeling alone and hopeless, after the happiness wears off. It is at this moment when danger is at its highest because the brain and body feel like they are crashing without the hope of getting back up. Ecstasy affects the levels of serotonin in the brain; serotonin is the key hormone in mood and emotion regulation. Increasing the levels of serotonin by taking ecstasy can prevent the natural production of it later. A lack of serotonin in the brain can lead to feelings of depression and ultimately severe depression. Cocaine use can cause changes in the brain that could make it harder for a person to feel a sense of pleasure. L.s.d or more commonly called acid can take you on the ride of your life or the worst trip you’ve ever taken. A person reaction to acid can not be determined or controlled. If there is any doubt in the user's mind about taking LSD, there's a real danger that this anxiety will be magnified on a trip. So will that one night of fun be worth living the rest of your life in a bottomless pit of sorrow.

[|www.netdoctor.co.uk/.../depression/drugsanddepression_000487.htm] [] []

According to a recent national survey, two million teens aged 12 to 17 (8%) felt depressed at some point in the course of a year. [|15] At the same time, just over nineteen percent of teens used illicit drugs during that same year. [|16] Is there a connection? Here’s what recent studies say about teens, depression, and use of illicit drugs and alcohol: § More teens who used illicit drugs experienced depression in 2008 than teens who did not use drugs. Among 12- to 17-year-olds who experienced depression in 2008, approximately 37 percent had used [|illicit drugs]  that same year. In comparison, teens who did not experience depression in 2008 where much less likely to have used illicit drugs (17 percent). This pattern was similar for most specific types of illicit drug use, including the use of [|marijuana] , [|cocaine] , [|hallucinogens] , the nonmedical use of prescription-type psychotherapeutics, and [|alcohol]  and [|cigarettes] . [|17] § <span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Research shows that inhalant use is associated with symptoms of depression. Between 2004 and 2006, an estimated 218,000 teens aged 12-17 used <span style="color: #236349; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">[|inhalants] <span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> and also experienced depression in the past year. The connection between depression and inhalant use is clear, however, it is not clear whether inhalant abuse //causes// depression or that depressed teens are //more likely// to use inhalants. Approximately 28 percent of 12- to 17-year–olds who used inhalants and had depression that same year, started using inhalants before they first experienced depression; approximately 43 percent experienced depression before inhalant use; and 28.5 percent started using inhalants and experienced depression at about the same time. [|18] <span style="color: #00806d; font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings; msobidifontfamily: Wingdings; msofareastfontfamily: Wingdings; msolist: Ignore;">§ <span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Teens aged 12 to 17 who abuse prescription drugs (including opiates, stimulants, tranquilizers, and sedatives) are more likely to have experienced depression. [|19] <span style="color: #00806d; font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings; msobidifontfamily: Wingdings; msofareastfontfamily: Wingdings; msolist: Ignore;">§ <span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Hangovers from drinking and sudden withdrawal from alcohol typically produce a general state of unhappiness, with elements of anxiety and depression mixed with physical discomfort. [|20] <span style="color: #00806d; font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings; msobidifontfamily: Wingdings; msofareastfontfamily: Wingdings; msolist: Ignore;">§ <span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Teens who start using marijuana before age 15 are more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression in early adulthood. [|21] <span style="color: #00806d; font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings; msobidifontfamily: Wingdings; msofareastfontfamily: Wingdings; msolist: Ignore;">§ <span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In 2008, teens who experienced depression over the past year were more likely to report heavy use of alcohol than those who did not experience depression (3.4 vs. 1.8 percent). [|22] <span style="color: #00806d; font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings; msobidifontfamily: Wingdings; msofareastfontfamily: Wingdings; msolist: Ignore;">§ <span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">A study that used data from nearly 19,000 teens showed that girls who experimented with alcohol were more than twice as likely to have symptoms of depression as girls who abstained completely. Girls who used intravenous drugs were almost 18 times as likely to have symptoms of depression as girls who abstained. Boys who drank alcohol and were binge drinkers were two and a half times as likely to experience depression as boys who abstained. [|23]
 * Drugs & Depression **

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