Drug Addiction or Substance Abuse
Unless you have personally experienced the problem yourself, it is very difficult to understand how addiction or substance abuse to drugs or alcohol can happen.
Many people believe all the individual has to do is stop drinking or using drugs and the problem goes away.
It is never that simple. The strongest people with tremendous amounts of willpower are usually unable to stop, even when their lives are crumbling around them.
Drug addiction can and does happen to anyone.
The first issue in helping to get someone you love treatment for addiction is to create an environment of understanding and get them to admit, they have a problem and they desire help.
People use drugs or drink for many different reasons:
1. Self-medicating feelings of insecurity, social anxiety, stress, or even physical pain.
2. A form of recreation or as a result of peer pressure from friends or family.
Whatever the reasons, anyone who uses any drug can easily become addicted under the right (or wrong) circumstances.
This is because addiction and/or abuse is both a physical and mental disease that occurs from one thing only – repeated drug use or drinking.
Tolerance is the first stage of drug addiction. As a substance is introduced into the body on a consistent basis, the central nervous system (CNS) will make changes in order to lessen the force or the intensity of the drug.
This causes the user to develop a tolerance where he/she needs more of the drug to achieve the same effect – to get high.
This tolerance only makes the problem worse because now more of the drug is being put into the system to achieve the same result.
Tolerance leads to physical dependence. Physical dependence occurs after a substance has been in the body on a consistent basis for so long that the changes made by the CNS become semi-permanent.
This means that body has adjusted to a certain amount and then it only functions normally when the drug is in the system.
When the drug is suddenly reduced or withheld from the body, the central nervous system must make drastic changes in order to adapt.
The Withdrawal Syndrome or Detox and in some cases stopping the use of a drug or alcohol can actually be fatal.
The body’s chemistry had been altered to expect a certain amount of the drug and now all of a sudden, there is no drug and the body tries to adjust, often with success.
The detox process should always occur in a medically equipped facility, once a person has progressed past tolerance to physical dependence and addiction.
True addiction features physical dependence with a full set of physical, emotional, and mental problems and conditions that can be extremely debilitating.
Once physical dependence has set in, true addiction is differentiated by the appearance of three behaviors:
1. Control loss – People who are addicted show a loss of control over their drug use or drinking.
2. Obsession – Addicts obsess, think, plan and talk about drugs and using drugs constantly.
3. Continuation despite consequences – Even with the loss of loved ones, careers, financial difficulty, and trouble with the law, an addict will often continue using despite these severe consequences.
It does not matter what the situation is or how addiction came to be, there is help available for anyone who needs it and admits they have a problem.
Drug rehab centers and alcohol recovery programs are dedicated to providing a secure environment where people can get professional help and take back control of their lives again.
To help yourself or someone you care about who has a drug addiction or alcoholism problem, all you need to do is make one confidential phone call right now.