Blissful morning to you all,
Drugs! The piece that prolongs life but when used in the wrong way either by overdosing on them or using the wrong types could be fatal and depreciate our quality of life and that is why for every pack of drug, you get to see the inscription, "Stay Out Of Reach Of Children!"
I entered college of medical school early so I got to grasp the impacts of these substances early enough, hence, I was never intrigued on abusing them either since I knew the consequences of each and every one of them.
While I don't have personal experience on the prompt, my medical school have showed me how profound, frustrating and heartbreaking the effects of drugs can be.
When I was doing my neurology clinical rotation was when I got to witness the first one and again was when I was doing my psychiatry clinical rotation, this seemed like the den of drug abusers.
For the first ever case I witnessed, Daniel was a boy of 17years old and he was diagnosed with ADHD (Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) when he was young.
This was an illness that when treated could be managed very well but then, the parents did not follow up with the treatment and without consistent medication, he struggled to concentrate and fidget even against his own will...It's an illness that makes someone unable to focus for long in a particular task and always active jittering up and down even against his will.
A friend suggested he took a drug, yes, the drug was for his diagnosis,but then, the drug wasn't suitable for his system and because he didn't go to the hospital to get that particular prescription, it worked for a while; helped him focus and study but then not long enough, he experienced side effects: his jittery attitude was back, he noticed his heart running very fast (palpitations), he was very anxious and he seemed easy irritated that it became worrisome and he needed to come to the hospital for expert care and management and this was when I met him.
He displays these symptoms even against his will, when my consultant was taking his medical history, he took twice the hours he take normally because at a point Daniel will walk around the clinic and come back, he will not answer some of the questions and he will even shout at him when asked some questions and he will get to apologize when he realized it and the questions will continue... It was just a thin line from madness honestly.
He was admitted, placed on the right drugs his system needed and not long enough, he got better and better.
He was also counselled on tapering down the drugs little by little and to adopt healthier techniques like timed breaks before he was discharged.
He still comes for checkup before I left the school, but then, he was a whole lot better than the way he was admitted.
During my psychiatry clinical rotation, I saw another story unfold, it was a case of crack cocaine addiction.
Miss Jane was a graduate and a banker who was doing great at her job hanged out with her friends on one of the weekends where she tasted cracks cocaine for the first time and according to her, she enjoyed it as it took her away from the world, gave her the ecstasy and euphoria she hoped for and gave her the feeling that she was a superhuman ( listening to her say all those stuffs that very day was funny but we couldn't laugh at all because our consultant was there) and it was flowing perfectly because she was learned... You wouldn't even agree she is an addict because she's still so so fluent with her communications.
She started ordering from her friends after the party and not long enough, she had her personal vendor... It was expensive but then, she could afford it since she had a great job.
Like every other addict, she lost control of her timing and needed cracks even at her workplace, In a bank! And unfortunately for her she was caught on one of the occasions and was deemed not fit to continue the work, hence, sacked.
This was when it started to go downhill because the money wasn't coming again and yet the cravings were getting worse... She sold everything she had for cracks and even borrowed from friends.
It was on attempt to get her to pay her house rent that the landlord called the elder brother who came to know what the problem was and noticed her sister was already an addict.
He settled her bills and brought her to the psychiatry hospital where we met her.
As at when we left the clinical rotation, she was there and the meds were working, hopefully she will get better.
While we harness the health benefits drugs carry, let's also always remember that at all times, we should get them prescribed for us as they also carry potential to make us regret ever knowing they existed and leave long lasting imprints on our lives; some which we cannot recover from.
Thanks for reading and have a nice day
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Wow, you must have see a whole lot during your clinical trials, lol.
Drugs have their uses so when we try to go against it, we should be ready to face the consequences. The funny part? It doesn’t care if you know or not, hehe
That's it😂😂
More like ignorance of the law isn't an excuse.... It just go ahead and effect what it does best, lol
Exactly, so we have to be careful and if we can, also look out for others
Sure
Indeed, there is a thin line between harm and healing if drugs are handled with caution and unsave practices avoided.
Thanks for sharing these experiences with us. Awesome write-up, kudos 👏👌
Thanks man, I appreciate your coming around
You are most welcomed
Wow. That's what drugs can do to someone. Once tasted, it becomes difficult to leave especially when around people who encourage you to keep on with it. In the end, if such an individual has a job, it would be difficult to cope with it, hence being stopped or sacked from the job.
I hope she gets better and not to go back again. This is more like making her go through relapse prevention too.
Yep, it's that and sadly you can't even treat addiction just one-off because withdrawal symptoms might kill the person.
You have to taper it down bit by bit which invariably means her treatment involves taking cracks cocaine too but this time, the dosages will be reduced everytime
Wow. I hope she gets well. That's my prayer for her. It's so sad she had to lose her job.
Yeah... The job is the least of her worries now sha