Heroin is an extremely addictive drug that has powerful euphoric effects. People who take just one dose of heroin can get certainly addicted to it immediately, and often do so. There are others who try heroin and decide they did not like the high and don’t try it again. The effects of heroin are very strong and cause most first time users to become nauseous and vomit.
So why would anyone want to use heroin again if it makes them feel so sick? The answer is that once a person is inclined to experiment with hard drugs like heroin, they are already on the road to addiction. Most heroin addicts didn’t like heroin the first time they used it but fell in love with it the second time.
What is Heroin Addiction?
Addiction is a disease caused by environmental and genetic factors. For people who grew up in environments where their emotional needs were neglected or inconsistent as well as experiencing abuse or neglect, this person is more likely to find relief from substances or behaviors that help them feel better emotionally. The people who try one dose of heroin may not like it the first time. But since they are entering or on the road of addiction, the likelihood that they will run into it again is great. And it is that second exposure that usually hooks users for good.
Heroin addicts also can become addicted to heroin after one dose after they became addicted to prescription pain killers. Prescription pain killers act on the same areas of the brain that heroin effects, but heroin is much cheaper, and there is no limit on how much heroin you can buy like there is with a prescription pain killer. Once a person’s prescription of Vicodin or Oxycodone is no longer enough, these people look for more opiate drugs and often discover heroin.
Heroin Addiction is an Epidemic that Keeps Growing
One of the reasons that heroin addiction is continuing to increase rapidly in numbers in the United States and other countries is a result of the overprescribing of pain killers in the 1990s and 2000s. Since the opioid crisis began during those years, doctors, as well as government agencies, are now making prescription pain killers less easy to get. However, heroin addiction is still an ongoing crisis. Younger generations are now being exposed to heroin much earlier than they were during the beginning of the opioid epidemic, with children as young as elementary school-age now trying it.
The fact of the matter is that a person can become addicted to heroin after trying one dose. The reason this happens is a result of two influences. One that heroin is extremely potent and addictive. Two that the person who is willing to try heroin is more than likely predisposed to becoming an addict of a certain drug or many drugs or behavior that provides them relief from the emotional discomfort they are experiencing.
A December 2018, New York Times article on opioid addiction writes how addictive heroin is making it far easier for a person who may be inclined towards addiction, in general, to become addicted to heroin quickly.
The brain balances its own endorphins like a thermostat. When an external source [of endorphins like heroin mimics] keeps flooding the brain, it throws that system off…opioids produce a surge of dopamine, a chemical messenger that tells the brain that “taking this drug is good, repeat it.” The brain’s response to opioids and the surges in dopamine they cause can rewire circuits in the brain. The brain’s response to these chemical changes makes life difficult without the drug. Stress and irritability creep in, so you take more opioids to cope. Soon, nothing else in life provides any satisfaction. The pleasure and reward cycles flip: You get less pleasure from the drug but want it all the more. The more you seek and take the drug, the more the brain adapts to the drug and demands more. (NYTIMES)
The safest way to prevent becoming addicted to heroin is never to try it. Some people may not have realized that they were inclined to becoming an addict until they try heroin. Others are already headed towards addiction of some kind and heroin was an easy one to get addicted to because it is so powerful.
If you or your loved one is experimenting with heroin it is time for professional help. Heroin addiction is by far the hardest addiction to stop because it causes physical dependence and once a person is physically addicted to heroin they will destroy their lives and families to get it. Our heroin addiction programs will prevent and stop heroin from destroying you or your relative’s life.