Sample characteristics
The results showed that the average age of the samples was 27±7.36 years and the average duration of their drug use was 25± 25.41 months. Also, the majority of the sample were single, male and had bachelor’s degree (Table 2).
Table 2 Demographic information of sample
NO.
|
Age
|
Gender
|
Duration of drug use
|
Level of Education
|
Marriage status
|
1
|
25
|
Male
|
1 year
|
Bachelor’s degree
|
Married
|
2
|
22
|
Male
|
9 months
|
High school diploma
|
Single
|
3
|
28
|
Male
|
2 years
|
Bachelor’s degree
|
Single
|
4
|
33
|
Male
|
3 years
|
High school diploma
|
Married
|
5
|
18
|
Male
|
6 months
|
High school diploma
|
Single
|
6
|
30
|
Male
|
4 years
|
Bachelor’s degree
|
Married
|
7
|
20
|
Male
|
1 year
|
High school diploma
|
Single
|
8
|
24
|
Male
|
1 year
|
Unfinished high school
|
Single
|
9
|
28
|
Male
|
9 months
|
Bachelor’s degree
|
Single
|
10
|
32
|
Male
|
3 years
|
Unfinished high school
|
Single
|
11
|
29
|
Male
|
2 years
|
Bachelor’s degree
|
Single
|
12
|
49
|
Male
|
10 years
|
Unfinished high school
|
Married
|
13
|
33
|
Male
|
1 year
|
Master’s degree
|
Single
|
14
|
35
|
Male
|
3 years
|
Master’s degree
|
Married
|
15
|
19
|
Male
|
10 months
|
High school diploma
|
Single
|
16
|
23
|
Female
|
1 year
|
High school diploma
|
Single
|
17
|
21
|
Female
|
2 years
|
Bachelor’s degree
|
Single
|
18
|
28
|
Female
|
3 years
|
Bachelor’s degree
|
Married
|
19
|
18
|
Female
|
8 months
|
Unfinished high school
|
Single
|
20
|
25
|
Female
|
2 years
|
Bachelor’s degree
|
Married
|
After analyzing data, three main categories were identified which are presented in table 3: 1. Short-term consequences consisting of individual and social consequences. 2. Long-term consequences consisting of physical, psychological and behavioral consequences and decayed memory. 3. Illusions consisting of visual and auditory illusions. Then quotes and other explanations are given.
Table 3 Categories, subcategories and codes
Categories
|
Subcategories
|
Codes
|
Short-term consequences
|
Individual consequences
|
Getting euphoric, getting happier, getting stronger, getting more focused, enhancing sexual ability
|
Social consequences
|
Getting more social, more acceptance in the society, family happiness after the first months of drug use
|
Long-term consequences
|
Physical consequences
|
Decayed and broken teeth, dry mouth, sunken eyes, many wounds on the body especially hands, wounded gums, many pimples (under or over the skin) on the face and chin, sleep decrease, having a noisy sleep, pain and burning of the throat, getting thin.
|
Psychological consequences
|
Depression, having irrational beliefs about associates, thinking about suicide, getting insouciant about everything, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
|
high risk behaviors
|
Doing dangerous activities like high-speed driving, committing suicide, fighting a lot, mistreating the spouse, loss of control of behavior, high levels of violence against associates, wounding their bodies, having sex with multiple people, decrease of sexual power, getting rougher in sex, Jumping from high altitude due to lack of correct distance detection, excessive talking, excessive anger.
|
Highly decayed memory
|
Forgetting words while talking, forgetting the names of relatives, breaking the promise, keeping on at something, missing the addresses many times, losing different things like keys, forgetting the password of bank card, lack of focus.
|
Changes in eating pattern
|
Excessive consumption of drinks specifically soft drink, lack of tendency to consume sour things like yogurt drink, tendency to overeat sweats, lack of balance in eating, eating less
|
Hallucinations and delusions
|
Visual Hallucinations
|
Seeing strange things, seeing things other than their face in the mirror, the illusion of believing in things that are not real, the illusion of living with imaginary people, having horns on the head in the mirror, seeing someone sitting next to bed at night, seeing a little girl with long hair, illusion of seeing the elephant while driving, seeing trees as police officers, illusion of seeing the sea and the ship, illusions of hitting people by car (while they hit a cat), seeing small ants on the arm, claiming to see things that others cannot see, and the illusion of attending a big concert
|
Auditory Hallucinations
|
To hear the result of football game before it starts, to hear a voice encouraging the person to commit suicide, to hear the sound of walking feet in the sleep, to hear strange noises
|
delusion of suspicion
|
Conspiracy of colleagues to kill them, suspicion about spouse's betrayal, suspicion about neighbors for the desire to kill them, the illusion of being chased by anonymous people, the illusion of an individual coming to the room and moving the thing, the illusion of being harmed by others and the illusion of cameras being in the houses they rented.
|
delusion of having supernatural power
|
Believing in having the perfect sixth sense and the illusion of predicting everything (like results of soccer games)
|
- Short-term consequences: methamphetamine regular use initially has associated with positive outcomes, such as increased concentration and sexual ability, but these positive outcomes are not sustainable, and after some time these positive effects are replaced by negative outcomes, such as hallucinations and so on.
consequences that appear to be beneficial which make it more satisfactory to the person, but they are not sustainable.
1-1 Individual consequences: methamphetamine regular use initially causes physical and psychological changes in an individual that can affect his or her behavior, and in some cases, these behaviors are appealing to a person.
Participant No. 7 said: "I got much more focused at the beginning of using crystal. I studied less, but I learned more and my grades were much better, I was very pleased with myself."
Participant No. 1 said: "The first month I was using crystal my sexual power was very good, I was pleased with myself." Participant No. 11 also said: "when I started to use crystal, I got stronger and I lifted weights more than ever."
1-2 Social consequences: The consumption of methamphetamine in the short term creates self-confidence in the person, and this causes the person's social behavior to change. Unfortunately, one of the features of methamphetamine is that it has positive effects in the early short-term period, which cause not to detect bad effects in a short period of time.
Participant No. 2 said: "I was always an aloof person. My family always kept on at me about being isolated, but since I used crystal, I was not like that anymore, I got so socialized, and my family is pleased with me."
Participant No. 9 said: "I was afraid of being in the crowd. I did not like to be in parties. If I went, I sat quietly and do not say anything. But after starting using crystal, I felt more confident, I talk more in parties and I like more to be with people."
2- Long-term consequences of methamphetamine consumption: long-term consequences of methamphetamine consumption are far more destructive than those of other substances, both in terms of physical and psychological consequences of this substance and. In fact, after a relatively short period of initial consumption, its harmful effects are observed which may lead to harm to the regular user themselves or their family or even the society and completely disturb the life of the user.
2-1 Physical consequences: The effects of methamphetamine consumption in the long period of time cause changes in the body of regular users, which can disrupt their life and endanger the health of the individual.
Participant No. 12 said: "My body always itches; sometimes I scratch my skin so much that it gets wounded and bleeds". Participant No. 10 also said: "All my teeth are rotten. I can hardly eat anything, whenever I eat my gums bleed".
Participant No. 4 also said: "I cannot sleep like before, my sleep is messed up; sometimes I cannot sleep at all."
2-2 Psychological Consequences: Methamphetamine regular use causes mental changes in regular user which can disrupt his life.
Participant No. 18 said: "After a while using crystal, I got insouciant about everything, I do not care about anything. Nothing makes me happy or sad." Participant No. 20 said: "for a while, I think of suicide all the time. I think about how to kill myself." Participant No. 8 said: "I've been very obsessive-compulsive recently. When I want to do something I think about it so much that I cannot really do it and its time passes."
2-3 high risk behaviors: Long-term consumption of methamphetamine causes regular user to show unpredictable behaviors that can endanger their own lives and others’ lives, and may cause death to themselves or their associates.
Participant No. 6 said: "Recently, I've been fighting all the time. I beat my wife. I fight with my in-law family. I keep on at everyone."
Participant No. 10 said: "I have sex with many people, although I know it can be dangerous, I do it again." Participant No. 4 said: "I speak angrily to my wife every day; sometimes I beat her so much that I fear that she will die."
2-4 Highly decayed memory: Long-term consumption of methamphetamine leads to memory decay, so that the person faces difficulty in doing daily routine activities.
Participant No. 8 said: "I forget my friends’ names; I even confuse the names of my family members."
Participant No. 12 said: "I got very forgetful lately; I forget my password and give the wrong one."
Participant No 6 said: "Sometimes I miss my home address even though we have been living there for ten years."
Participant No. 12 said: "Sometimes it happens that I get myself busy doing something. Then I look at the clock and see that I only sit down for eight or nine hours getting busy with that idle thing."
2-5 Changes in eating pattern: Long-term consumption of methamphetamine causes changes in nutrition patterns of eating and may lead to a tendency towards foods or drinks that were not consumed by them before.
Participant No. 20 said: "I used to love sour things a lot before, but since I started using crystal I do not like them, I'd love to eat sweet things and drink very much, too." Participant No. 19 said: "Since I started using crystal, my appetite has decreased and I've been eating too little." Participant No. 13 said: "My eating is not balanced. I sometimes eat so much that my family get worried. Sometimes it happens that I do not have anything for two days."
3- Common hallucinations and delusions Caused by consumption of methamphetamine: One of the common consequences of methamphetamine consumption is the creation of hallucinations and delusions in people, which sometimes causes violence against themselves and others, and may even result in murder and suicide.
3-1 Visual hallucination: Methamphetamine consumption causes visual hallucinations in regular users, such as claiming to see things that others cannot see.
Participant No 3 said: "In an evening that I was driving, I hit a cat with my car, but I thought I hit a person. For a while I felt I was being chased. I hid myself."
Participant No. 10 said: "Sometimes I see tiny ants that march on my arm, so I scratch my arm until they all die."
Participant No. 16 said: "At night, a little girl comes and sits next to my bed, I say to my family, but they say there is nothing."
3-2 Auditory hallucinations: Methamphetamine consumption also results in auditory hallucinations, as many methamphetamine consumers claim to be able to hear voices that others cannot hear.
Participant No. 17 said: "Sometimes a voice keeps on at me that I should kill myself. I tried to kill myself a few times, but my family did not let me." Participant No. 3 said: "When I sleep, I hear feet that come close to me, but as I open my eyes, I see nobody. But when I close my eyes again, I hear the feet."
3-3 delusion of suspicion: Another problem that appears with the regular use of methamphetamine is the delusion of suspicion. It makes a person pessimistic about others and may lead to violence against them.
Participant No 12 said: "I always felt that my wife was betraying me, so I did not let her go out and she was always under my watch, this caused us to fight, and I always beat her."
Participant No. 10 said: "I always feel that my colleagues want to kill me, once the butler wanted to put poison in my tea, but I understood it." Participant No. 7 said: "I feel like everyone wants me to die, they all want to kill me."
3-4 delusion of having supernatural power: Methamphetamine consumption in some cases causes a person to claim to have supernatural powers and have an delusion of being associated with the universe.
Participant No. 9 said: "My sixth sense is perfect, and I can predict everything even results of football matches, someone comes to me before the game starts and tells me the result of the game."
Participant No. 11 said: "I can predict the upcoming events, I can even figure out who is about to die."