Health effects of teenager substance abuse: drugs

By: C.Paixão

​A young person's biological and psychological changes occur during adolescence. In addition to the physical changes that accompany this period, a teenager's brain is also developing new methods of working and growing. 

Teen drug use typically coexists with other mental health issues. A teen who has a drug misuse problem, for example, is more likely to also have depression, anxiety, and learning or behavioral disorders. Drugs can sometimes make diagnosing these other issues more challenging as they may cover up possible symptoms that could be related to these other disorders. Adolescents may begin taking drugs to cope with such disorders. Nevertheless, frequent drug misuse may worsen those conditions.

The teenage years are extremely important for the healthy development of the brain. Due to this, it is critical to maintain a healthy lifestyle during the teenage years in order to have a good cognitive function as an adult. Drug addiction can have a short-term influence on the brain's capacity to function, as well as a long-term impact on appropriate growth and development.

Substance misuse has an impact on a teen's brain development in many ways, such as interfering with neurotransmitters and causing damage to brain circuits. Also, reducing one's opportunity to experience pleasure. Moreover, developing memory problems, such as memory loss or hallucinations, where you think something has happened but it didn’t. It may also result in missed chances during a period when learning capacity is at its peak, as the young mind has a greater capacity to absorb information. Substance abuse from a young age may also influence the brain’s neural pathway in creating the expectation of an unhealthy lifestyle, which may feed one’s addiction even more and create a habit where your body requires the substance. Finally, as the brain is still developing, perceptual abilities may be restricted as a result of substance abuse from a young age.