How Long Does Drug-Induced Happiness Usually Last?
Happiness is something that usually starts in the brain. The brain signals to various glands in the body to produce happy hormones. When these hormones are released into the bloodstream, we start to feel better, joyous, or even ecstatic.
Because it can be so difficult to trigger these positive emotions, a lot of people seek out alternative methods to trigger the release of happy hormones. These methods include medical treatments, alcohol, drugs, as well as visual stimulation via smartphone devices.
Drug-induced happiness can make you feel a lot better in an instant. But is this method of happiness ethical and healthy? And how long does drug-induced happiness usually last?
In this guide, we take a closer look at this interesting topic.
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What Is Drug-Induced Happiness?
There is a pretty big difference between natural happiness and drug-induced happiness, but both of these have an impact on the mind because the mind and body are connected. Natural happiness usually occurs when we feel loved, see something funny, do something exciting, or when we receive something nice.
Drug-induced happiness is created when we consume certain substances. There are two main forms of drug-induced happiness. One is when we consume unhealthy and addictive substances such as alcohol or drugs to trigger the release of brain chemicals. The other is when we consume medications that are designed to trigger the production of happiness hormones.
How Long Does Drug-Induced Happiness Usually Last?
The duration of happiness can differ a lot depending on your current situation, stress factors, and the dose of substances you consume.
Alcohol Happiness
Alcohol is one of the worst ways to seek happiness because it is addictive and has horrible effects on various organs in your body and your brain. Alcohol-induced happiness is also quite unpredictable because alcohol can easily make you feel a lot worse instead of happy.
Alcohol is metabolized in the bloodstream for about an hour and can make you feel good, but if you continue consuming alcohol as the evening progresses or drink too much too quickly, the happiness can soon start to fade and you will either start to feel drunk or can simply start to feel depressed and develop persistent psychosis.
Drug Happiness
The search for happiness is what encourages most people to start abusing drugs. These unhealthy substances are extremely addictive and have a profound long-term effect on your mind, mood, general perception, and health.
People flock to psychoactive drugs like meth or ecstasy because these products can make you feel very good within just five minutes. When the rush wears off, you will be in a high phase where you feel positive, but you could also have aggressive behavior, blurred vision, and become delusional.
This drug-induced psychosis can last from 4-16 hours. This is usually followed by the binge phase where you will have an intense craving for more drugs as the effects start to wear off. This is followed by a tweaking phase where you can start to feel very agitated and emotional as withdrawal symptoms start to kick in.
Feelings of pleasure from drug abuse also change as you keep using these substances. Over time, your body develops a tolerance to these products, so you need a higher quantity more frequently to achieve some level of happiness.
This happiness level gradually depletes until you are no longer able to even feel happy from consuming drugs. At this point, drug users are just left with addiction, prodromal symptoms, and can develop many psychotic symptoms such as violent behavior.
Medically Induced Happiness
Some medications are designed to trigger the release of happiness hormones but don’t have the addictive effect or too many negative side effects on your body. There are various forms of these so-called happiness pills.
Some of these are prescription drugs offered to those who suffer from mental illness, bipolar disorder, or depression. Other recreational drugs consist of vitamins that are designed to naturally boost the neurotransmitters responsible for releasing happiness hormones in the body.
Prescription Medication
Prescription happiness pills such as antidepressants, opioid drugs, and stimulant drugs usually have certain negative side effects such as withdrawal symptoms. They can be addictive but are highly effective for combating negative moods in those with mental health disorders. These products usually need to be consumed at regular intervals, usually once every 24 hours.
Natural Supplements
Supplement happiness pills usually don’t give you an immediate spike of happiness but can gradually stimulate and boost the production of happiness hormones. These products must often be consumed several times throughout the day because their effectiveness is somewhat short-lived.
The prolonged effects of medically induced happiness are still unclear because these products are relatively new on the market. No one can tell if these medications could alter your body’s natural ability to release certain hormones or what the lasting effects of taking these products might be.
The only definite upside to these types of products is that they do not have a negative health impact on other organs in your body and don’t alter your ability to reason.
Is Natural Happiness Better?
Happiness that you can create naturally is always better than drug-induced happiness. This form of happiness is also better than supplemental drugs that can boost the production of happiness hormones because your body will never develop a tolerance, your body cannot become addicted, and there are no chemicals that can negatively affect your organs.
Drug-induced happiness should only be considered if you have a mental illness and suffer from a condition like depression. If you are going through a tough stage in life, it is better to seek out alternative and healthy ways to boost your mood rather than attempt to create a fake sense of happiness that will wear off the moment you stop consuming these products.
There are lots of different remedies that you can try to improve your self-esteem. These methods are much healthier and can offer longer-lasting results.
How Long Does Drug-Induced Happiness Usually Last – Conclusion
We hope that this guide was helpful to you and has made it easier for you to decide whether to seek out stimulants or to find other, more holistic methods for boosting your mood. We also welcome you to have a look at some of our other guides on Well and Wealthy where we share great advice that can help you achieve a happier life.
