Beware of Kratom! It’s Dangerous to Your Mental Health

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• Beware of Kratom! It’s Dangerous to Your Mental Health
• From the HealthyPlace Mental Health Blogs
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• Mental Health Quote

Beware of Kratom! It’s Dangerous to Your Mental Health

Have you heard of kratom? Do you know it’s like Xanax, Valium, Vicodin, and heroin?  

Kratom is gaining popularity as a mental health booster. It’s used to decrease anxiety, especially social anxiety, and to increase energy and focus. In higher doses, kratom leads to euphoria and pain relief. Kratom’s benefits come naturally, from a plant native to Southeast Asia. It’s legal in the U.S. and you don’t need a prescription to get it.

Kratom acts like both benzodiazepines and opioids. And like them, kratom is highly addictive. Someone using kratom can easily become dependent, needing more to feel the effects they want. Then comes full-blown addiction that requires professional treatment.  

The drug is used by teens to study hard, lose social inhibitions, and feel great. It’s easy for teens to use. They can drink it as a tea, chew it as gum, smoke it, take it as a pill, or eat it. One mom asked her teenage son if he knew about kratom. He replied, “Tons of people at my school use it. Teachers don’t know, but it’s legal so it doesn’t matter.”

The more you—and teens in your life—know about kratom, the better equipped you’ll be to pass on this drug that upfront sounds too good to be true.     

Sources:

Frank, C. (n.d.). Kratom: A legal drug that’s dangerously addictive. Child Mind. Retrieved June 2019 from https://childmind.org/article/kratom-a-legal-drug-thats-dangerously-addictive/  

Kratom. (n.d.). WebMD. Retrieved June 2019 from https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-1513/kratom

Related Articles Dealing with Addiction

• What are Opioid Drugs?
• Opioid Dependence vs. Addiction — Symptoms, Treatment
• Benzodiazepines for the Treatment of Anxiety
• What is Drug Addiction? Drug Addiction Information
• What is Drug Dependence — Drug Dependency?
• Teenage Drug Abuse: Signs and Why Teens Turn to Drugs

Your Thoughts

Today's Question: Share your experience with kratom, if any, and let us know if you think kratom should be made illegal? We invite you to participate by sharing your thoughts, experiences, and knowledge on the HealthyPlace Facebook page.

From the HealthyPlace Mental Health Blogs

On all our blogs, your comments and observations are welcomed.

• PTSD and the Exaggerated Startle Response
• How My Sexual Assault Impacted My Relationships
• How a Daily Visualization Enhances Your Effectiveness
• What is Sexual Orientation OCD?
• Slow Down to Reduce Anxiety Fast
• Giving a Gift to Someone With Mental Illness Means a Lot
• Self-Acceptance and Complex PTSD
• Overcoming Anxiety Is Like Learning to Tie Your Shoelaces
• Is Depression the Reason You Can't Work Full-Time?
• Borderline Personality Disorder and Fear of Abandonment
• How Having a Baby Helped My Mental Health Recovery
• Why Should You Begin a Mindfulness Practice?
• 3 Signs Your Toxic Boss is Undermining Your Self-Esteem
• 3 Tips for Coping with Summertime Depression

Feel free to share your thoughts and comments at the bottom of any blog post. And visit the mental health blogs homepage for the latest posts.

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Most Popular HealthyPlace Articles Shared by Facebook Fans

Here are the top 3 mental health articles HealthyPlace Facebook fans are recommending you read:

1. Support Animals Offer Real Help to People with Mental Illness
2. When We Need to Talk About Depression
3. My Drive in the Rain: Exposure Therapy to Help Anxiety

If you're not already, I hope you'll join us/like us on Facebook too. There are a lot of wonderful, supportive people there.

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Mental Health Quote

"You have to learn to care about people without taking on all their problems."

Read more mental health quotes.

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