Women who drink even small amounts of alcohol during pregnancy may give birth to infants with fetal alcohol syndrome. Children of alcoholic parents have a 40 percent greater risk of developing alcoholism than those whose parents are not alcoholic. Steroid users can experience serious cardiovascular, liver, central nervous system, gastrointestinal, and reproductive disorders. In males, use can result in testicular atrophy, sterility, impotence, and arrested growth. Irreversible masculinization and sterility can result when woman use steroids.
Psychological impairment includes mood swings, depression, and very aggressive behavior.
The use of depressants can result in a change in tolerance and physical, as well as psychological dependency. Withdrawal symptoms include anxiety, vomiting, acute psychotic episodes, seizures, and death. Large doses of PCP may result in a convulsive seizure, coma, and death. Mood disorders occur and the user may become violent, irrational, and potentially harmful to self and others. The user may experience panic, confusion, anxiety, depersonalization, and loss of control.