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±25.54 months. Also, the majority of the sample were single and male and had earned a bachelor’s degree (Table 2).
1 Short-term consequences: Initially, regular methamphetamine use 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 the negative outcomes, such as hallucinations, etc.
Consequences that appear to be beneficial which makes it more satisfactory to the person, but they are not sustainable.
1-1 Individual consequences: Regular methamphetamine 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 the 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 short-term consumption of methamphetamine creates self-confidence in the person, and this changes the person's social behavior. Unfortunately, one of the features of methamphetamine is that it has positive effects on the early short-term period, which causes not to detect bad effects in a short period.
Participant No. 2 said: "I was always an aloof person. My family always kept on at me for 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 at 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 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 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 long-period 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: Regular methamphetamine use causes mental changes in the regular user, which can disrupt his/her 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 about 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 do it, and its time passes."
2-3 High-risk behaviors: Long-term consumption of methamphetamine causes the 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 regular 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 the 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 gets worried. Sometimes it happens that I do not have anything for two days."
3- Common hallucinations and delusions caused by the 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."
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 Persecutory Delusions: Another problem that appears with the regular use of methamphetamine is the persecutory delusions. It makes a person pessimistic about others and may lead to being violent 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 observation, 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 a delusion of being associated with the universe.
Participant No. 9 said: "My sixth sense is perfect, and I can predict everything even the results of football matches, I feel 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."