In this post, you will learn about various effects of drug abuse on academic performance.
Table of Contents
Brief Discussion on the Effect of Excessive Drug Intake
Drug abuse is one issue that the world is fighting on large scale. Being addicted to drugs is usually something that happens on a short-term basis, owing to the thrills the user gets to experience once the drugs begin their action.
These drugs exert their effects on the body in different ways, such that they can become systemic. Daily improvements are being made to make these drugs more attractive to gullible users.
This struggle poses a huge threat to the education sector, looking at how much students go into creating reforms in this regard.
However, this has not yielded the kind of results most people, especially those concerned would want.
I overheard a pained parent lament terribly over his son’s condition. This young man was introduced to marijuana as a result of peer pressure. All efforts taken by the father to make him quit the intake of marijuana were futile.
Sadly there has been no change in recent times. This issue has gotten him expelled from three different universities.
The academic damage it had already caused was already making the young man’s father a shadow of his old self.
Recently, another that happened was the case of a promising optometry student at IMSU who died jumping off a high-rise building under the influence of hard drugs.
This scourge of drug addiction is biting hard and the reality is that many students do not understand the harsh realities that accompany drug abuse.
Drug abuse and academics are two parallel lines that should never meet in any student’s life. Hence you should take note of the harm these substances cause. Let’s take a look at the consequences and effects of drug abuse on academic performance.
The Effects of Drug Abuse on Academic Performance
Based on what we’ve seen the excessive intake of hard drugs did to students who indulge in such acts, we have provided a list of effects of drug abuse on academic performances and even life in this section. Our aim is to notify parents and students of these career and life-threatening effects and to make it serve as a deterrent to potential drug takers (the youngsters).
- Drug abuse can cause severe brain damage
- Brings about a psychological imbalance
- Drug addiction lowers your self-esteem
- Your retentive capacity may alter drastically
- Drug addiction makes you become a social misfit
- Drug abuse puts your overall health at risk
1. Drug Abuse Can Cause Severe Brain Damage
The brain is the seat of intelligence and coordination. This is the organ that facilitates day-to-day academic activities. It is the seat of intelligence. Without the brain, a man is as comparable to a mere vegetable. For this reason, you should not use any substance that would impair the functionality of your brain.
Long-term drug addiction issues cause brain aneurysms and in cases where it’s not properly managed, it could result in permanent brain damage or even death. Once there is an impaired brain function, academics would come to a halt.
2. Psychological Imbalance Is Inevitable
The psychology of a drug addict is not balanced, and this invariably results in the obvious drop in academic performance once the drugs begin taking their toll on those who abuse them.
This is why we shouldn’t just give a mere look at a drop in academic performance. Abuse of drugs can have very deleterious effects on an individual’s psychology.
Several studies have shown that there is an obvious link between post-traumatic stress-induced disorder (PTSD) and substance abuse.
At some point, those who abuse these substances hallucinate. This is why drugs and heinous crimes are also inseparable. If indeed you value the bright future you’ve got ahead, stay away from hard drugs.
3. Drug Addiction Lowers Your Self-Esteem
Many young people who abuse drugs are reduced to a gory image of themselves irrespective of how gifted they are.
To cite an example, I could remember a guy who taught me physics while I did prepare to write my first external examination.
He was an extremely brilliant young man with prospects. Sadly, he lost control of his life as a result of his addiction to marijuana and alcohol.
These substances he mistook took over his life; he could barely function in class except he took them. He lost his composure and confidence. The last time I saw him, he was already drained and it wasn’t just a good sight of him to behold.
4. Your Retentive Capacity Is Altered
This is another important point to consider among the effects of drug abuse on academic performance.
A drunken person barely remembers what happens while he is intoxicated. The same also happens in the case of individuals who are addicted to drugs. Once they get high, they barely remember a thing.
These substances alter the optimal functionality of their memory, especially in the long term. Even those who claim to use drugs as memory boosters only benefit from this habit on a short-term basis.
Students will be in need of their retentive memories all through their academic years, abusing drugs may bring about a decrease in the functionality of retentive capacities, hence the need to avoid indulging yourself in such activities.
In the long run, this habit would often result in degenerative conditions that alter the retentive capacity of such individuals. Drug addiction is a dream killer, just do away with it.
5. Drug Addiction Makes You Become a Social Misfit
There is an aura of instant dissociation around people who are drug addicts, even after they have changed.
Drug addiction renders a person unpresentable in social settings, as no one would want to associate with someone whose life has been taken over by drugs.
Irrespective of how brilliant or gifted a student is, chronic takers of hard drugs would become an instant misfit in society once drug addiction becomes part of their everyday life.
Although our society is very well a place addictive substances move around clumsily, no one finds people who misuse these substances attractive enough to be associated with.
6. Your Overall Health is at Risk
How would you be able to perform excellently in your academics if you are unhealthy?
Only the healthiest minds learn, and beyond the brain, there are other organs in the body that drug addiction is capable of impairing their functions.
The heart, kidneys, and lungs are mostly hit hard by the effect of drugs. Oftentimes, the effect of this damage doesn’t become obvious until much and severe damage has been done.
In long-term drug addiction cases, this is inevitable and is a huge factor that could end an individual’s academic career.
For anyone who wants to survive the rigors of being an astute academic scholar, you must stay away from the use of substances that will disconnect you from reality. Once a person is disconnected from reality, death is to be expected.
Conclusions on the Effects of Drug Abuse on Academic Performance
With these few career-threatening effects of drug abuse on academic performance we have looked into, you will agree with me that winning the battle against drug addiction is important as its effects are not friendly to anybody.
Rather than being stuck in a quagmire of life-damaging habits, get addicted to eating good food, fruits, exercise, and games that will keep your body and mind stimulated to grow.
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