Staying Awake: Why you Should Avoid Stimulants when you Need to Stay Awake
When you have a hard time staying awake, you probably turn to a cup of coffee or a pill. Most people do. Unfortunately, most of the stimulants are extremely harmful and many of the side effects can kill you.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, stimulant addiction makes up a large portion of the overall addiction demographic. This includes prescription, over the counter, herbal, illegal, and common stimulants.
What is Stimulant Addiction?
A stimulant addiction is an addiction to any one of many different drugs. Stimulants are drugs that speed up the bodies processes. This means if you are tired you feel less tired which is the reason why many people start using stimulants. It artificially causes you to feel more alert; this is no substitute for a decent night’s sleep. After a while your body becomes dependent on these drugs to be awake. Most people who have issues with stimulants cannot stay awake or sleep normally once they are addicted.
Why Should you Avoid Stimulants?
Many people use stimulants in order to stay awake, not realizing the potential harm they cause.
Aside from the fact that stimulants are highly addictive; there are many reasons why you should avoid stimulants whenever possible. Some of the reasons are:
- they are extremely addictive
- they cause heart disease
- they can cause respiratory failure
- they can cause heart failure
- once your metabolism is sped up, it is hard to slow it back down
- they can make you gain weight when you stop taking them
- you can overdose on most of them
These are not the only problems with stimulants. There are other long term consequences such as high blood pressure and stroke.
How can you Avoid Stimulants?
If you are feeling sleepy you can avoid stimulants in a variety of ways. Some of these ways are:
- many of the commercial stimulants are harmful, stick to only the most mild
- use cold water, splash it on your face and the inside of your wrists
- although coffee might seem to be a good idea limit your coffee intake to one or two cups
- the same goes for tea drinking, tea also contains caffeine that is only helpful in the short-term
- take a walk or do another task when you are feeling tired, this can help to wake the brain up
It goes without saying that the best way to stay awake and alert is to get plenty of rest the night before. If you have difficulty sleeping or staying awake, with your doctor about it. There could be a medical reason that you are having trouble. It is important to have anything out of the ordinary checked out as soon as possible.
How to Find Help if you are Already Addicted to a Harmful Stimulant
If you find that you are addicted to stimulants or your stimulant use is interfering with your life it may be time to get help. If you need help, call us at 800-605-6597 Who Answers?.
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