The purpose of this report is to inform people about methamphetamine and discuss  methamphetamine's effect on the brain and therefore mental health.
The brain and mental health are very serious topics.mental health is important to society because it affects how we think, feel and act but most importantly it determines how we cope with stress and make choices that could be important with is going on out and about.
when an individual is upset then they will likely experience many problems with mood changes, struggle sleeping, tiredness, over eating and even problems regarding sexual pleasures. Mental health is important to society because it helps us get and maintain a healthy relationship, make good life choices, maintain physical health and well being and handle the ups and downs life supplies.Throughout this report you will read about many things such as an explanation of the productions including the raw materials, show the general chemical properties, learn how methamphetamine enters your bloodstream and the reactions that take place in the body and organs, learn about the brain's response to meth.
An overview of what mental health and how it affects an individual and explanation of how methamphetamine affects that person's mental health and the struggles that come with taking and after a user stops taking meth.


Background

Methylamphetamine is a synthetic chemical which means it is man made and not from a plant. Methamphetamine is more than likely going to be made in illegal laboratories hidden away in houses or sheds. Made by mixing various forms of amphetamine, a different stimulant drug, or derivatives with other chemicals to boost its potency. Pills and tablets for cold and flus are sometimes used as the basis for the production of the drug. The meth “cook” extracts ingredients from those pills and to increase its strength combines the substance with chemicals such  euphoria,as battery acid, drain cleaner, lantern fuel and antifreeze.These dangerous and deadly chemicals are very explosive and because the individuals that cook the meth take the drug themselves they can be very disoriented they can be killed when their preparations explode. This puts everyone else around them in danger. making methamphetamine these days are much harder now due to  federal regulations controlling the flow of precursor chemicals such as ephedrine and pseudoephedrine. almost 2.7 kilograms of toxic material, that can cause harm to an individual if it enters the body, is produced for every 0.5 kg of methamphetamine made. Homes that are used as illegal laboratories become unlivable. Methamphetamine can be produced a number of different methods. All of them involve ephedrine or pseudoephedrine. The entire process can involve as many as 32 different chemicals Acetone is found in nail polish remover and paint thinner. It’s extremely flammable. Anhydrous Ammonia is found in fertilizer and some cleaners, Ephedrine/Pseudoephedrine is found in some cold medicines, Hydrochloric Acid is used to make plastic, Lithium is found in batteries, Red phosphorus is found on matchboxes, Toluene is found in brake fluid, Sodium Hydroxide or lye is used to dissolve roadkill, Sulfuric Acid is found in drain cleaner. Within the first hour of injection, inhaling or ingesting meth enters the bloodstream and is then carried all through the circulatory system and then enters the brain. The dopamine is released and spread out giving of a sensation of euphoria,intense excitement and happiness, which lasts around 12 hours. Meth then blocks the reuptake of serotonin, norepinephrine and epinephrine. Within the second hour the individual will experience the high sensation. There heart rate will increase, their blood vessels will become wider and more open and there respiration increases. The user will start to hallucinate and many things can occur, a popular one is the feeling of bugs under the skins causing the user to scratch and cut their skin. The individual will feel paranoid and angry and are accompanied by obsessive behaviour and uncontrollable movement. Moving into hour 3 and the amount of dopamine slowly diminish within the neurons and damage is done to the receptors. The high slows down at around the 12 hour, that was enough time for the individual to get addicted but due to the damage on the receptors the next hit of meth will be less effective and the user will try and use more to get that first high sensation.Dopamine is a chemical that acts as a neurotransmitter, a chemical substance which is released at the end of a nerve fibre by the arrival of a nerve impulse, which relays nerve impulses to muscles, glands or other nerves. It  is called the brain's main pleasure chemical because it is found in the reward center of the brain, this area of the brain sends out pleasant feeling during certain behaviors such and eating a good meal or having sex. Methamphetamine sets off a huge explosion of dopamine in the brain, more than about 10 times then it would normally send out. This suddenly makes everyday things pleasurable and more interesting for up to about 12 hours.Everyday events suddenly become exciting, and the world is suddenly There are many different names for meth such as: methamphetamine, metafetamine; Metamfetamine; D-Deoxyephedrine; D-Desoxyephedrine; D-N-Methylamphetamine; Methylamphetamin. The molecular formula is C10H15N.the molecular weight is 149.237 g/mol


Discussion

Mental health is a very serious topic. 
mental health refers to our state of mind how we all cope with everyday problems big or small. 
A person with good mental health will feel better and more capable with problems. When we have a mental illness, this process is often a lot more difficult. Mental illnesses are common in Australia and about 1 in 4 people between the ages of 14-25 will experience mental illness.
mental illnesses can not always be avoidable, there are some simple things that we can do all year round to look after our mental health such as Exercising, staying in touch and surrounding yourself with supportive friends and family. mental health is about being cognitively, emotionally and socially healthy – the way we think, feel and develop relationships - and not merely the absence of a mental health condition. When an individual takes ice this can already lead them towards a mental illness it can lead to depression. mood swings and anxiety the same symptoms and someone feeling sad. 
Ice can also make an individual feel more confident with what they are doing and have more energy while feeling wide awake even without much sleep, feel less hungry and increase feelings of anger and make the user want to do risky things including violent behavior such as attacking an innocent bystander. 
The user will increase in paranoia which can be distressing and might even lead to the user doing abnormal things when being followed, stared at or talked about out in the public. 
The individual can start having delusions and hallucinations where there can hear and see strange things even when the actual drug has worn off. 
Abusing the drug can damage the brain cells to the point where they can't function the way they should and over time can even lead to something as serious as brain damage. 
If an individual as used ice before and has stopped then they might face some withdrawal symptoms, this include the struggle to get to sleep at night and a tired drowsy feeling all day, increased appetite where a person may not feel full, the ex-user may have trouble concentrating on a task and irritability. these symptoms tend to decrease after a week but may occur for up to 3 months.

Conclusion

Throughout this report you had an explanation on the production on meth, how it's made, and the raw chemicals involved in meth.a detailed explanation of how the drug enters and individuals bloodstream and the reactions that it has with the body. An explanation of the brain's response to ice. A detailed insight of what mental health is and what taking ice and then stopping can do to an individual. So in conclusion the effect meth has on a user's mental health is very dangerous and meth should never be used, however people always will use this drug as a stimulant to give them that boost they need even though they crash down even harder sometimes ending with mental illness such as depression which leads the user to doing more meth causing and addiction. Methamphetamine can destroy your mental health.

Public Education Piece

For my public education piece I made a video to advise the general public of the information showed in this report.

References

http://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/crystalmeth/what-is-meth-made-from.html
http://www.ripsych.org/importance-of-mental-health
https://www.mentalhealth.gov/basics/what-is-mental-health/
http://science.howstuffworks.com/meth3.htm
https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/methamphetamine
http://formulation.vinensia.com/2011/04/manufacturing-and-materials-to-make.html
https://methiscool.wordpress.com/when-meth-enters/