Opium Effects
Opium Effects
The opium poppy seeds secrete milky fluid called opium. This fluid is rich in morphine which is used in heroin and even modern day medicines. Upon exposure to air, this opium turns black in color and hardens. People eat it, inject it, smoke it and even snort it for that drugged effect. Various regions of the body, like the central nervous system reel under the various opium effects like addiction, depression and even blocks pain.
When a person takes opium for the first time in any kind of form like injection or drinks, the first feeling that he gets is that of euphoria. He feels intensely happy and does not feel any kind of pain. Slowly as the euphoria fades, the pupils constrict and the breathing slows down. At this point, he enters a peculiar state where he is neither awake nor sleeping. The limbs become sluggish and heavy and the reasoning and thinking ability becomes clouded. Opium latches itself to the pleasure receptors in the brain and replaces the natural production of endorphins. It also prevents any kinds of sensations from reaching the brain due to which the person does not feel any kind of pain.
As the addiction progresses, the user starts developing a tolerance for the current dose. After a while the current dose, fails to provide a high which the user craves. As a result, larger doses of opium are required to experience the same kind of intense pleasure. This is where the user actually turns into an addict. However, the process is so rapid, that before the person realizes his body is already addicted to opium. This is why most addicts never admit that they are addicted to opium.
As the time passes by and the addiction intensifies, the absence of opium creates cravings in the brain and body. This is because, the brain stops creating any kind of endorphins on its own since opium binds to the pleasure receptors and creates a more intense effect. Due to this physiological dependence, the brain cannot work without the drug and same is the case with the body. The absence of opium also creates sensations of pain in the body
With the passage of time, opium starts restricting most of the basic activities of the central nervous system. It starts controlling the person’s emotions by acting on the limbic system comprising of amygdale, hypothalamus and hippocampus. It also starts depressing the central nervous system functions like respiration which may lead to asphyxiation and subsequent death. It also impairs the basic reaction to stimuli which leads to a drug induced coma.
Prolonged dependency on opium is quite likely to result into coma or death. Hence, this is where the age old adage “prevention is better than cure” holds true. Addiction to opium or its products causes nothing but harm. It is quite difficult to break so it’s better to stay away rather than try and regret it later. You don’t want to deal with all the opium effects.
