What Are The Long-Term Effects Of Ketamine Addiction?
Ketamine addiction is a serious affiliation that can be extremely damaging to a person’s physical and mental health long-term. Ketamine is a strong anaesthetic drug that was used for pain management in veterinary settings. It has been found to be used in medical situations aswell in hospitals.
People who misuse ketamine on a daily basis for an extended period of time will suffer from long-term effects that can be severe. When someone is addicted to ketamine, they will regularly abuse the drug in large doses and they will notice that their mental and physical health will start to deteriorate and their overall quality of life will suffer greatly as they will spend most of their time seeking out ketamine, taking ketamine and recovering from taking the substance.
Physical And Psychological Dependency
A long-term effect that can be damaging to a person is through abusing ketamine, you will start to develop a physical and psychological dependency – this is due to the substance having extremely potent painkilling properties and the anaesthetic effects that people will experience when taking the substance makes it highly addictive.
When a person takes ketamine, there are a few ways that you can take ketamine, the most popular choice is through snorting it but it can be injected and even taken in tablet form. When taken a user is likely to experience physical and psychological dissociation. In the brain, they can experience an increase in dopamine and serotonin. These types of surges in the brain can cause strong feelings that make people seek out taking ketamine on a regular basis. People will use ketamine to self-medicate as it can ‘numb’ a person’s current feelings and they find they can cope with life when taking ketamine.
A person suffering from a ketamine addiction due to taking ketamine frequently on a daily basis will build a tolerance to the drug where they take much higher doses in order to feel the effects that they felt when they first took ketamine. This is known as tolerance, frequent use will cause the body to feel as if it needs ketamine in order to function and feel ‘normal’ which will always lead to a physical dependency where the user seeks out the drug in order to wean off painful withdrawal symptoms which are caused where the body recognised the drug has been withdrawn from them.
Withdrawal symptoms or also known as ‘comedown’ when it kicks in, there are many different ways that your body can react and some can be seriously damaging to a person’s physical and mental health. It can be very difficult to manage withdrawal symptoms especially when you are doing it by yourself, people who attempt to wean themselves off ketamine by themselves are at much higher risk of relapsing due to withdrawal symptoms and intense cravings.
Long-Term Effects Of Ketamine Abuse
When ketamine is taken via snorting through the nose, frequent ketamine abuse will cause damage to the nasal passageways and sinus cavities. The long-term effects of ingesting ketamine nasally will eventually cause damage to the structure of your nose plus it can leave an impaired sense of smell. Many ketamine addicts will decide to inject the substance as it enters the bloodstream a lot quicker for fast effects but when you inject ketamine, it can damage your veins, muscle and skin. It can also lead to skin infections, infectious diseases and more.
Severe ketamine abuse has also been found to damage misusers’ kidneys and liver. Frequent high doses of the ketamine substance will lead to long-term bladder problems and urinary tract. You can also experience such effects as heart attack, high blood pressure and breathing problems.
The long-term effects of Ketamine can be extremely damaging to a person’s mental and physical health, in some cases, the effects of ketamine addiction can be life-threatening. Ketamine abuse can cause a user serious discomfort which makes them unable to function properly and in some cases, it can be fatal.
Mental Long-Term Effects Of Ketamine
Through long-term ketamine abuse, there can be damage to your mental health and mind. People that have suffered from ketamine addiction for an extended period of time, can have symptoms such as mood swings and problems with their memory.
Ketamine abuse can also lead to mental health conditions such as schizophrenia in people predisposed to such mental health conditions. People who suffer from ketamine addiction can have flashbacks and trigger psychosis. Long-term ketamine users can also experience dissociation, even when they are not taking the drug and the effects have worn off. Dissociation can be dangerous and has left people in bad situations.
Get Treatment For Your Ketamine Addiction
If you are suffering from a ketamine addiction and the long-term effects that come from constant misuse, it is important that you seek out specialist treatment from rehabilitation centres as you can be safely medically detoxed to withdraw the drug from your systems and learn ways to maintain a sober lifestyle away from taking ketamine.
Rehabilitation offers those suffering from ketamine addiction a safe environment where they can heal, an important part of recovery is withdrawing the substance from your body and due to potentially harmful withdrawal symptoms, it is recommended that you seek out professional help in order to detox the substance from your system. As addiction is heavily psychological, you will work on your addiction with mental health professionals in different types of therapy tailored to your personality for the best results. In rehab, you will learn the skills and tools to help manage your lifestyle better for when you leave for the outside world.
Ketamine addiction is a serious affliction that needs to be dealt with as soon as possible, admitting that you have a problem is the first step on the road to recovery. Get in touch with our rehab specialist team today who will be able to find you the ideal treatment for you or a loved one’s ketamine addiction. You don’t have to go through the struggles of addiction alone and there is always hope through rehabilitation.
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