Heroin Addiction Chasing the Monkey

Heroin addiction is one of the most common problems in the United States. Heroin affects children and adults, men and women, across all social and racial classes. While the number of people suffering from a lifetime of heroin abuse has decreased, thousands of people – 166,000 in 2003 alone - still suffer from heroin abuse in the United States.

Heroin dependance is supported by people looking for an escape from reality. Over time, a user will develop a tolerance to heroine and will, therefore, need to take more heroin in order to get high.

A person suffering from heroin abuse will often suffer from withdrawal symptoms within hours after injecting heroine. This causes the sufferer to seek another hit to alleviate the withdrawal symptoms.

When going through withdrawal, a person begins to feel restless and has intense cravings for heroine. They will also feel bone and muscle pain, cold flashes, diarrhea, vomiting and insomnia when going through withdrawals.

Withdrawal can also result in watery eyes, runny nose, loss of appetite and tremors. More severely, withdrawal can cause shallow breathing, convulsions and coma.

Withdrawal symptoms usually reach their worst point between 48-72 hours after the last injection. The withdrawal symptoms then begin to lessen after approximately one week. Sudden withdrawal by a person heavily involved in heroin abuse can cause death for a person in poor health.

Heroin can cause feelings of depression that can last for several weeks. Heroin dependance results in a vicious cycle in which the person suffering attempts to stop using heroine, but then uses it again to alleviate the symptoms of withdrawal. These symptoms can cause the person to do anything to get another hit, from stealing, to lying to even murder.

A sufferer can’t overcome the addiction alone. He needs help for the intense withdrawal symptoms associated with heroin abuse and should seek professional assistance in overcoming heroin addiction.

Also read our article about Teen Drug Addiction