External Factors Affecting Mental Health

Improved Essays
A persons mental health may vary through the course of their lifetime, and it can be influenced by external factors, the main one being the use of drugs. Drugs such as cannabis, alcohol, heroin and ecstasy have the ability to affect a person’s well-being because they are psychoactive drugs. These drugs interfere with the chemicals in the brain, this then affects the messages those chemicals are trying to send and as a result of the changes to the brain a person’s mood and behaviour will be altered.
Psychoactive drugs can cause any number of temporary mental health problems whilst they are being consumed and as they start to clear from the body, a person may suffer from a temporary unstable mental condition as a result of anxiety, mood swings, depression, and sleeping problems. Drug induced anxiety disorder is when a person will have periods of very severe anxiety; heart rate will increase, with trembling, sweats and a fear of losing control. They could also feel as if they are losing their personal identity and sense of reality. Similarly, psychoactive drugs can cause delusions and hallucinations; this is
…show more content…
For some people, the drugs trigger a mental health illness they didn't know they had, for others, the drugs change the way certain chemicals affect the functions of the brain. For example, ecstasy is an amphetamine that causes hallucinations. It works by making serotonin more available and gives the user a sense of euphoria when taken. Serotonin is the chemical naturally found in the brain which regulated your mood. Taking ecstasy causes the brain to release a much higher level of serotonin usual. Over a period of time, the natural amount of serotonin found in the brain may drop at such a level that the user may never have the same levels as they did before they started using drugs. High levels of serotonin means a sense of euphoria, therefore a lack of this chemical causes

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    A common result of a person feeling like they have to change something about their life is turning to drugs. This is because drugs can give the person a sensation of escape from reality, but it is really only a temporary feeling. The addiction of escape can drive someone to continuously abuse drugs in order to make them feel in control of the thing they originally wanted to change. Likewise, when someone has a mental illness the symptoms may drive them to self medicate in order to soothe their imperfections. Studies have shown that there is a connection between substance abuse and mental illness.…

    • 1217 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Health External Factors

    • 1078 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Internal and External Factors that impact Broward Health Organization Stephen Morgan HA510: Organizational Development for Health Care Kaplan University Raimi Abiodun, Instructor For this report I will be examining the Broward Health Organization. Broward Health is a nationally recognized health system in South Florida for more than 75 years. It is located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida which offers world class healthcare to all including residents/visitors in Broward County. They encompass more than 30 facilities which establish over 1,529 in the total system with over 7,600 employees.…

    • 1078 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    A lot of people who become physically and mentally dependent on drugs commit statutory, inchoate, property or even personal crimes in order to obtain drugs. The article “Lindsay Lohan Biography” states, “On May 26, 2007, Lohan was arrested after crashing her Mercedes-Benz into a tree in Beverly Hills. She was arrested again July 24 in Santa Monica after she allegedly engaged in a car chase with the mother of her former personal assistant. In both cases, Lohan was found in possession of small amounts of cocaine.” In other words, this article is expressing how drug abusers commit more crimes than just the standard possession and sale of drugs.…

    • 1265 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Dual Diagnosis Treatment Often times, a diagnosis of substance addiction or alcohol dependency, can come accompanied with mental conditions. In fact, it is more often than not that the individuals who come to see us for addictions recovery, end up finding out about, or taking care of psychological conditions simultaneously. Clinicians refer to these clients as ‘Dual-Diagnosis’ patients. Because of the frequency, and importance of this issue, (Location Name) offers a complete dual-diagnosis treatment program. Substance Abuse and Mental Health:…

    • 526 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Insanity When people use drugs and get addicted, the drugs normally make them act strange and completely different than their normal selves. The people like this feeling so they continue to take the drugs until they have basically gone insane. For people like that, drugs make them insane. For some, annoying little noises drive them insane.…

    • 1673 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Meth Busts

    • 782 Words
    • 4 Pages

    An example would be depression, anxiety, agitation, and etc (Sack). They use drugs to amend those feelings that they are experiencing. If someone has been experiencing stress in the life, they think drugs will help relieve the problem. Once that person have been abusing these drugs, they become addicted to it and does not want to quit. If a person is hooked on the drug, it will start to destroy them significantly.…

    • 782 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As values and traditions transform, the main types of illicit drugs do likewise. The frequently exploited drugs currently are thought to be cocaine, marijuana, opiates, amphetamines, hallucinogens, and barbiturates. Some individuals are trying mind-altering drugs also, such as Ecstasy and LSD. People consume drugs for various motives as well as explanations like to reduce anxiety, for the reason that it produces a feeling of happiness, interest, to be accepted by the crowd, and in their opinion, they feel that they are mature enough to do so. Several individuals consider drug exploitation and dependence as harshly a societal hindrance.…

    • 990 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Mental health is integral to the overall health and well-being of a society. Additionally, mental illness has been shown to impact disease onset and progression. For example, depression is a risk factor for chronic diseases, such as hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease and has been shown to negatively affect the progression and management of these conditions (Chapman, Perry & Strine, 2005). Furthermore, mental illness positively correlates with risky health behaviors, such as substance abuse and tobacco use (Chapman et al., 2005). According to the CDC, there are social determinants of mental health as there are social determinants of general health.…

    • 162 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Drug use and abuse remains a constant problem worldwide, with individual, social and economic implications. As such, it has been the subject much research, which reveal its association with co-occurring mental health disorders – not only in the context of drug abuse precipitating psychoses, but also from the perspective that mental health disorders may increase a person’s proclivity for developing a substance use disorder. A 1990 study by Regier et al found the lifetime prevalence of an individual with a mental disorder having a concurrent substance use disorder to be 29%. This is compounded by a more recent study done in 2003 by Weaver et al, which had even more dramatic results, with 44% of their psychiatric patient population reporting drug use problems within that year.…

    • 535 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Opioids Pros And Cons

    • 1405 Words
    • 6 Pages

    A prescription drug or prescription medication is a drug that you get from a pharmacy or some sort of a professional medical source to be dispensed. In this society it is very easy for young teens to get their hands on prescribed drugs without a Doctor 's consent, this is because there aren 't many rules on prescription drugs. People get the drugs from sellers that they know such as family, friends or a person on the street . People also use them for many reasons such as wanting to fit in, lose weight or for a boost of energy to be able to study more effectively . Prescription drugs have a potential danger on teenager 's : physically and mentally and the prescribed drugs are more accessible than illegal drugs.…

    • 1405 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Introduction Introduction Mental ill-health is a pervasive public health issue impacting about 46 per cent of Australians aged between sixteen and eighty-five during their lifetime (AIHW 2016, p. 2). Results from the National Health Survey (ABS 2015) revealed mental and behavioural conditions to be the most prevalent long-term health condition experienced by Australians. Here, anxiety-related conditions were most frequently reported (ABS 2015). Amid the Australian population, those aged between sixteen and twenty-four experience a mental health disorder in the last twelve months more often than other age groups (ABS 2014). Younger Australians, in particularly young women reported having an anxiety-related condition at twice the rate of males…

    • 799 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Mental Effects Of Cocaine

    • 262 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Also, it leads to a sudden death in people who have a heart disease and changes of behavior like aggression and a mood swing (Pub Med Health). There are different types of reasons why people take drugs, like influence by others (friends), family issues (rejected from family), personality (impulsive, hyperactive), and education (drop-out, poor performance in…

    • 262 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Dopamine Influence

    • 873 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Therefore in order to feel pleasure again, the drug user must take more drugs repeatedly in order to bring the dopamine function back up to normal. Due to the imbalance drugs can create on dopamine levels in the brain, along with other neurotransmitters, it is clear to see how drugs can influence the progression of schizophrenia in most cases. According to Atkinson, author of the article, “Cannabis use ‘trigger for schizophrenia’”, a study was performed in Germany where a group of 2,500 subjects, aged 14-24, who smoked cannabis were studied for four years. They found adolescents who smoked cannabis slightly increased the risk of developing signs of psychosis later on in life, increasing from 16-25%. They also discovered that those predisposed to psychosis, who showed signs of disturbed thought processes, increased their chance of developing psychosis by 50%…

    • 873 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Side Effects Of Ecstasy

    • 725 Words
    • 3 Pages

    It usually is taken orally, but it can also be snorted, injected, or smoked. Short term use of this drug, can induce after effects such as sadness, depression, confusion, paranoia, insomnia, and anxiety. The long term effects damage the brain by affecting the region of the brain that involves in education, thought, and memory. The purpose of ecstasy is to induce a hallucinogenic trance that can make the brain unaware of its surroundings or change its perception of its surroundings.…

    • 725 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    What I consider a human service, as well as, a spiritual problem is mental illness. The internal cause for mental illness may vary, based on or depends on the specific disorder. Mental illness could be triggered by different biological, psychological, and environmental factors, which contributes to the advancement of mental disorders. The external cause could come from life’s circumstances such as: pain, bereavement, incapability and loss of independence (Stein, 2013).…

    • 350 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays