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TDS do you stop maturing when you start abusing drugs

mrflowers00

mrflowers00

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i started drinking every weekend when i was 7 and that progressed into smoking pot and drinking almost everyday by the time i was 12 then at 14 i started using any drug i came across and the longest i've been sober since i was 7 (now 23) was for 9 months and i have been told by numerous counselors and drug addiction specialists that when you start abusing drugs at a young age you stop maturing mentally so according to that i have the mind of a 7 year old but i feel like i'm more mature than a lot of people my age i was just wondering what any of your thought were on this subject
 
I don't know the science behind it, but I think that there is a mental immaturity that comes with abuse. Drug abuse forms immature habits and promotes immature behavior, but I know people who use drugs often and are teenagers that are very physically and mentally mature. I started drinking and smoking pot at age 11-12 and I'm still using pot and occasionally psychedelics at 16 , not in an abusive manner anymore, but I'd consider myself mature. I'll try to find some more info on this topic though to factually back it up.
 
When I was 14 I found Percocet in my parents' medicine cabinet. I took four and I felt WONDERFUL. I took the bottle and hid it in my bedroom. They thought the maid took them. :D

After that I started drinking the alcohol in the liquor cabinet.

So, I agree that one stops mentally maturing at the age one starts abusing drugs, since I pretty much act as though I'm 14. Most of the time anyway.
 
I think that the more literal meaning of it is that a lot of drug users become so involved in drug use/being high that they don't mature at the normal rate of other people that are more exposed to the real world each day. If you are a functioning user then it doesn't apply to you as much, but a lot of everyday users act young. Even if you are a functioning user though, if your use is a coping mechanism then you really won't be maturing in terms of dealing with whatever it is you seek to escape from by getting high.

When I was in rehab at age 20 I was one of the youngest people there, yet thought that everyone was so immature. They had been using since before me for the most part, so it made sense I guess.
 
Every drug is different in my opinion. I'm an alcohol and coke guy (clean 2 1/2 years). I can honestly say my addictions HELPED me mature and even better understand myself as a person. Any addiction to heavy drugs (opiates and amphetamines) will change the brain in certain ways. It's all about learning how to deal with compulsive behaviour. That is what ultimately helped me overcome my addictions.
 
well i certainly don't think that doing drugs has made me more mature in any way but at the same time i think it has had a minimal effect in lowering my level of maturity
 
crimsonjunk said:
I have heard that alot but have never seen a study or any science to back it up, I think its propaganda personally.
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Me too. There are adverse effects to using drugs, especially at a young age, I'm sure that specific drugs and types of drug use can have an impact on your mental health; ability to cope with emotions, depression, anxiety etc without drugs; and, depending on the drug, your cognitive abilities. But it's an oft-repeated myth that using drugs makes you mentally trapped at the age you were when you starting using them. I am living proof. I do not consider myself mentally stunted or immature (not to sound arrogant), and I began using drugs at a very young age - weed around 10 I think (although that was sporadic), alcohol around 11, heroin at 13 (the latter of which carried on for many years unfortunately). This is NOT to say it's a good idea in the least. But it's a vast overstatement to say it stunts your mental development to the degree that you remain at the mental age you were when you first used drugs.

lonewolf05 said:
I can honestly say my addictions HELPED me mature and even better understand myself as a person.
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This is how I feel as well. But for someone considering trying an addictive drug I would not say the learning experience is worth it! And not everyone does mature and learn from their drug use.
 
its a bit silly when rehabs tell you are the emotional age you were when you started using IMO....

for one drugs make most people emotional trainwrecks - thats what happens when you start fucking your brain up with outside chemicals - and the more you do the more damage will probably have been done (however in time its usually possible to go back to baseline)

its also a little bit hard to gauge emotional maturity sometimes i mean there are 45 year old successfull proffessional people who have no history of addiction and lack emotional maturity
-----on the flipside there are people in their 20s who are wise beyond thier years and can keep it together despite the fact that they were addicts for thier teens or early 20s
 
I definitely find this true how ever some drugs will be worse. For instance i find Weed is the big one , that stuns emotional growth when used young. When you're a daily stoner, you don't really want to try new things and such you kind of just want to do you're routine. Also weed makes many people anti social, so imagine being anti social for so many years. How are you able to grow emotionally if you aren't making certain connections.
Anyways yea, i started smoking at like 15 and daily by the time i was 17. I am 22 now, i definitely do NOT feel like a 22 year old.
 
F1n1shed said:
I definitely find this true how ever some drugs will be worse. For instance i find Weed is the big one , that stuns emotional growth when used young. When you're a daily stoner, you don't really want to try new things and such you kind of just want to do you're routine. Also weed makes many people anti social, so imagine being anti social for so many years. How are you able to grow emotionally if you aren't making certain connections.
Anyways yea, i started smoking at like 15 and daily by the time i was 17. I am 22 now, i definitely do NOT feel like a 22 year old.
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because this is TDS i wont be mean in my reply.... but I disagree and I really really dont thing weed is the issue..... and not only that .... you are only 22 - most 22 year olds are really not that mature anyway (on average)

and weed is probably NOT whats causing your anti social personality
 
Well I would think it would impact ones ability to cope with emotions. As far as brain development I think using at a young age would make one more susceptible to addiction because the brain becomes accustomed to using. It's what the brain has learned. That could effect a person's maturity level, but maturity is kind of on a broad spectrum if you think about it. There's emotional maturity, physical maturity, spiritual maturity, cognitive maturity, etc. That's my take. There are many scientific theories regarding stages of psychological development. So it really depends on how you look at it.
 
kayladelmo said:
Well I would think it would impact ones ability to cope with emotions. As far as brain development I think using at a young age would make one more susceptible to addiction because the brain becomes accustomed to using. It's what the brain has learned. That could effect a person's maturity level, but maturity is kind of on a broad spectrum if you think about it. There's emotional maturity, spiritual maturity, cognitive maturity, etc. That's my take. There are many scientific theories regarding stages of psychological development. So it really depends on how you look at it.
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i agree

i also think that it could go either way.... yes a person may not be able to mature fully in some ways due to drugs but on the other hand it could have the opposite effect where as i stated previously the person may become wise beyond thier years because of everything they have been through and thus are actually better equipped to deal with many life situations
* note that may happen or you may give yourself brain damage and i am not encouraging drug use i just dont think it should be used as an excuse
 
People represent an innumerable amount of variables in the way that they react to the influence of pretty much anything, to generalize the way that you did about marijuana use causing anti-social behavior is wrong and stating that as fact is just not going to be true. I know a lot of people who smoke weed who are ambitious, extremely social, creative and have everything together mentally and emotionally; I have also witnessed people who smoke weed and are stereotypically anti-social, immature and stupid. Over generalizations only serve to oppress and condemn large groups of people to being lesser in the eyes of others.

I can say the same about users of many other types of drugs that I have met thus far in my life, some people do seem to bring credence to the stereotypical claims thrown around by those who just don't understand and don't want to understand, they see one or two examples of the behavior of people that use a certain drug and in their minds all other users of this drug must be the same. And this is the same way I think about this idea that people stop maturing at the start of their drug use, SOME people do but many others do not.
 
i think it's possible that i am more emotionally mature because as a result of using drugs at such a young age i was often depressed which got me in many a therapists offices and i know a lot about what makes me click
 
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