Alcohol

(Related words – Booze, Bevvy, Drink, Shots).

Some people drink with friends in pubs or at home. Others feel that they need to drink just to get through the day. Many people with a mental illness have problems with alcohol. People with mental illness misuse alcohol more than any other drug. It is easy to get and it is highly addictive. Drinking alcohol can make you unwell again if you have had mental health problems in the past. Doctors call this ‘relapse’.

The short term effects of alcohol depend on how much you drink. In small amounts, alcohol can make you feel more confident and sociable. The more you drink, the more likely it is that you will feel tired, dizzy, confused or unwell.

The long term effects of alcohol also depend on how much you drink, and how regularly you drink it. If you drink too much on a regular basis then you could cause yourself some serious physical and mental harm. Drinking may make it more difficult for you to recover from your mental illness, and may reduce your quality of life.

Some people think that drinking has caused them to develop a mental illness. For example, Patrick told the NHS that:

‘I began to realise I wasn’t functioning that well. I was getting depressed and I think that was connected to alcohol. It makes you moody, morose and introspective. I was forgetting things. I’d started on a new project and it was slipping away from me. I wasn’t on top of it.’

The government recommends that women should limit themselves to two to three units a day and men should limit themselves to three to four units a day. To find out more about what this means, visit http://www.nhs.uk/change4life/Pages/alcohol-lower-risk-guidelines-units.aspx.

Amphetamine and methamphetamine

(Related words – Crystal Meth, Meth, Phet, Speed).

In the short term, these drugs can make you feel wide awake and chatty. This can make it difficult for you to relax or get to sleep.

In the long term, amphetamines might make you anxious and depressed. They might also make you experience things that aren’t real. This is called ‘psychosis’.

When you stop taking the drug, you may feel depressed and you might find it hard to sleep.

Benzodiazepines

(Related words – Benzos, Downers, Tranquilisers, Valium).

Sometimes a doctor will prescribe benzodiazepines to help people with anxiety. People also buy them illegally because of their relaxing effects. They are very highly addictive, and so doctors normally only prescribe them for a short time.

In the short term, these drugs can make you feel calmer. Depending on the particular type you are taking, they could make you feel confused, irritable and in some cases they can make you experience things that are not there (hallucinations) and cause psychosis.

In the long term, some people become addicted. This can have a big affect on their day-to-day life. Also, some research has shown that if you use benzodiazepines for a long time, your memory or concentration could be affected.

Cannabis

(Related words – Dope, Draw, Ganja, Grass, Hash, Herb, Marijuana, Pot, Skunk, Weed).

Some people take cannabis because in the short term it makes them feel relaxed or happy. It can also make you feel anxious, paranoid and experience things that aren’t real. This can be a sign of psychosis. Doctors sometimes call this ‘cannabis-induced psychosis’.

Cannabis can have some serious long term effects on your physical and mental health. Recent research has shown that using cannabis can increase your risk of getting schizophrenia. This risk is higher if you:
•use it from a young age,
•use it for a long time or
•use high-strength cannabis like skunk.

Cocaine

(Related words – Crack, Coke, Charlie, Snow).

In the short term, cocaine can make you feel wide awake, talkative and excitable. There is a risk that you could take too much (overdose), and many people feel run down after taking it.

In the long term, cocaine use can affect how you feel. It can also affect your relationships with friends and family. If you use cocaine a lot or become addicted to it, you are more likely to have ongoing problems with depression, paranoia or anxiety.

Ecstasy

(Related words – E, MDMA, Pills, XTC)

In the short term, ecstasy can make you feel like you have a lot of energy, chatty and like you want to dance. It can sometimes make you feel anxious and confused.

In the long term, ecstasy may make you more likely to feel depressed or anxious.

Heroin

(Related words – Brown, Gear, H, Smack)

In the short term, heroin can make you feel relaxed and calm. It relieves pain and can make you feel sleepy. There is a risk that you could take too much (overdose). You can take it in different ways – some people smoke it and others inject it. If you inject it, you may get infections.

Heroin is a very addictive drug. It can have serious long term effects. When you stop taking it you may feel depressed and find it hard to sleep. You may feel that heroin becomes more important than other things in your life. This might make it harder to keep a job, affect your relationships with other people or have somewhere stable to live.

‘Legal Highs’

Legal highs are new drugs that become available before the government has had a chance to decide whether they are dangerous or not. There is often no way of knowing what is in them and what the risks are.

Mephedrone (meow meow, mcat or plantfeed) is an example of a drug that was a legal high but is now illegal because of the effects it was having on people who took it. Liquid ecstasy (GHB) is another ‘legal high’ that was made illegal.

Short term effects of legal highs vary but most are ‘uppers’ like cocaine or speed. This means that they make you feel energetic and talkative, which is why people often take them at clubs and festivals.

No one knows exactly how legal highs will affect you in the long term. The drugs are new and so scientists have not done a lot of research yet. There is evidence that some of these drugs may make you feel worse if you are at risk of having mental health problems.

LSD

(Related words – Acid, Blotter, Trips)

In the short term, LSD will make you experience things that aren’t real. Sometimes the experience will be enjoyable, and sometimes it will be frightening (a ‘bad trip’).

There is mixed evidence about the long term effects of LSD. We don’t know exactly how likely it is to cause mental health problems. Recent research has questioned whether LSD is actually a big factor, but other studies have suggested that people might become unwell after taking it.

What does ‘psychosis’ mean?

In some of the sections above we have mentioned ‘psychosis’. This means losing touch with reality. It can involve having unusual thoughts or experiencing things that aren’t real. It can be a symptom of mental illness and can also be a short-term effect of some drugs. You can find out more about this in our psychosis section.