You may use drugs to help you to deal with the symptoms of your illness, or you may use them because they make you feel good for a while. However, using drugs can have a long term negative effect on you. The possible long term effects include:
•Needing to take more to get the same effect
•Feeling like you have to take the drug (‘dependence’)
•Withdrawal symptoms – including feeling sick and feeling cold, sweaty or shaky
•Having sudden mood changes
•Having a negative outlook on life
•Loss of motivation
•Doing less well at work, school, college or university
•Problems with relationships
•Borrowing or stealing money from friends and family
•Being secretive.

Generally speaking, using drugs can mean it takes longer for your mental health to get better. Drugs can make you more unwell and can make you more likely to try and harm yourself or take your own life.

Using drugs could give you a mental illness that you didn’t have before. For example, recent research has shown that cannabis can increase your chances of developing schizophrenia.