Identifying Addiction to Drugs and Alcohol |
| Date Added: December 11, 2010 08:28:48 PM |
| Author: John Crimins |
| Category: Arts - Humanities: Education |
| Identifying Addiction to Drugs and Alcohol Addiction to drugs and alcohol is becoming more prevalent among young people these days. The negative effects of substance abuse are far-reaching, hurting not only the users, but also the people around them, especially families and friends. This is why getting help or treatment is very necessary for addicts to be able to resume living a healthy and normal life. Otherwise, ongoing dependency and addiction may lead to dangerous, and even fatal, consequences. But how do you know when one needs to get help? How do you know when one has succumbed to alcohol or drug addiction? Addiction, as many of us well know, is the compulsive use of or need for a substance that's addictive or habit-forming. And both drugs and alcohol are highly addictive, making people more dependent and more in need of them the more they use these substances. Identifying Alcoholism Alcohol addiction can be difficult for others to identify because of the absence of outward signs. While alcoholics usually live a lifestyle of social drinking and excessive partying, many are capable of hiding their addiction. Thus observers usually find it hard to differentiate a person who is merely having fun from a person addicted to alcohol. However, alcoholism does show certain physical symptoms, like altered mood, slurred speech and droopy or overly bright eyes. In essence, the key to diagnosing alcohol addiction lies within the alcoholic himself. Identifying Addiction to Drugs Drug addiction is somewhat harder to identify now, especially with an increasing number of people abusing medical prescriptions. But a person addicted to drugs like cocaine, methamphetamines, Valium, Codeine, and heroine, shows certain physical and behavioral signs. These telltale signs include extreme mood changes, bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, weight loss, scabs from needle pricks, lack of appetite, and constant sniffing. Moreover, addiction to a certain type of medication would mean that a user cannot function well in his or her routine activities without having taken a particular dose of the drug. So if you are asking whether a certain loved one is addicted to any substance, the first thing you ask yourself is whether that person's drinking habit or level of drug use already affects his daily life, including his relationships with other people. You ask whether the quality of his routine activities has changed. Or if alcohol or drugs already disrupts his everyday functions. Treatment and Rehab Recovery always starts with the addicted user admitting that he or she has a problem. Then there should be the desire to stop the habit and to overcome the addiction. Once these first two steps are taken, professional help must be sought. The user or his family can choose counseling and therapy, whether in a one-on-one or group setting, or even both. A completion of the treatment program is always recommended, as this has proven to have more successful results at overcoming addiction compared to leaving a recovery program unfinished. |
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