Everybody tells you that drugs are illegal and what they can do to your body. They tell you that they’ll kill your brain cells. But, they don’t tell you the real road that an addict goes down. If you get into heavy drugs, you’ll experience most of the following, if not everything on this list.

Once Won’t Be Enough

People always say they’re only going to try something once, but that’s very rarely what really happens. They try it once and they like the high so much that keep using to try to chase the original high. Before they know it, they’re an addict although they never get that first feeling back.

You’ll Try to Hide It

You’ll think you’re keeping your secret, but those around you will notice subtle changes. You’ll start losing weight, or, you’ll start wearing turtlenecks or long sleeves in the summer to hide the needle marks. Your family and friends will also notice your personality changes or strange behavior.

You’ll Lose Your Job

As your addiction gets worse, you won’t be able to hold down a job. Keeping track of the day or time becomes impossible. Once you become unemployable, you wind up living off the system, which makes it even harder to afford your growing addiction.

You’ll Sell Everything You Own

Now that you’re jobless with an addiction to feed, you’ll start to trade your things off to dealers or sell them to pawn shops for more drug money. You might think that you’d never sell your amazing stereo or your Xbox, but if you become an addict, you’ll have no problem giving them to the highest bidder if it means you can get your next high.

You’ll Steal From People You Know

Once you’ve run out of things of your own to sell, you’ll have to move on to other people’s things. Usually, addicts start stealing from the most accessible places first, family and friends, before they move on to strangers.

You’ll Become Aggressive

Even if you’re the meekest person in the world, your addiction is more powerful than your self-will. You’ll grab your girlfriend by the hair, yell at someone for no reason, start a fight at the bar, or throw a phone at your sister if you’re jonesing for your next hit.

You’ll Lose Your Self-Respect

You’ll stop caring about everything, including yourself. Nothing matters at this point, but your addiction. If you’re out of money, and there’s nothing left to steal or sell, you might even turn to offering sexual favors in exchange for drugs.

You’ll Lose Your Home

You’ll be so busy paying to feed your habit that you won’t be able to afford the little things like rent, hydro, and food. Eventually, your power will get cut off and you’ll get evicted. If you still live at home at home with your parents, sooner or later they’re going to get sick of it and tell you to move out.

You’ll Put Your Family Through Hell

You might think you’re the only one going through it, but you’re putting your entire family through it too. They have to watch you suffer and turn into someone they don’t even know, right in front of their eyes.

You’ll Hit Rock Bottom

Rock bottom isn’t the same for everyone. For one person rock bottom might be losing their kids. For another person, it might be losing their home. It’s just a question of what it’s going to take to get you there, and how much you’ll put yourself and your family through first.

Even then, you might not learn from it. Some people clean up and go right back out looking for the nearest dealer, repeating the whole process.

Before you even think about giving in to peer pressure and trying heavy drugs like meth, cocaine, crack, or heroine, think about all these realities of the life of an addict.