Drug addiction often starts with experimentation. Our curiosity gets the better of us, which eventually becomes an addiction.
While talking about addiction, you can say that any substance can be abused. However, there are some substances that carry high risk compared to others.Drugs like crack or heroin are so addictive that they might only be used once or twice before the user loses control. Addiction means a person has no control over whether he or she uses a drug or drinks.
To ensure no one falls deep inside the addiction pit, it is important to identify the early signs of addiction. Addiction is a chronic disease, that physically changing the brain and makes it harder to stop
Today, we will focus on the part where you can tell a person is a patient of addiction. This article will focus on the signs that will highlight substance abuse activity.
Signs & Symptoms Of Addiction
The first step to getting help is being able to recognize the physical, mental, and emotional signs, like abrupt weight or personality changes in your friends or family members. People who face a substance use disorder may isolate themselves from their partners, friends, or family members to keep their addiction a secret. Family and friends are the first lines of attack against an advancing drug problem.
Family members loved ones, and coworkers are usually in the best position to recognize a drug problem as they are familiar with the person’s behavior and habits. Family members can see the Changes in behavior, neglecting responsibilities, and exhausting financial resources. You can also seek help from your doctor, local treatment center, or support group. Family therapy helps people (especially young people) with drug use problems, as well as their families, address influences on drug use patterns and improve overall family functioning.
While the person can only experience symptoms, signs can be visible to the people around the patient.
Whether it is signs or symptoms, you must be aware of both things. This will not only help you tell whether the person sitting in front of you is dependent on substance use but also help you know about your dependency. By providing behavioral therapies, medication management (when appropriate), experiential therapies, family therapy, and aftercare support we can help participants gain skills to handle and balance family, community, and work-life situations, and to help prevent relapse.
When patients first stop using drugs, they can experience various physical and emotional symptoms, including restlessness or sleeplessness, as well as depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions.
We are about to list down the signs and symptoms that you might find in people suffering from any kind of addiction.
Common signs of addiction include:
1. Compulsive spending- this can take many different forms, including drug abuse, such as shopping, gambling, binge-watching TV shows, or using online platforms.
2. Unreasonable debt levels- addicts may spend money they don’t have, borrow money from friends and family or take on high-interest debt to maintain their addiction.
3. Changes in sleeping or eating habits- an addict’s patterns of behavior can change drastically as a way of coping with withdrawal symptoms. This could mean going longer without sleep, overeating, or drinking excessively in order to avoid feeling the pain of withdrawal.
4. Urgent and short-term goals- addicts may become preoccupied with achieving short-term goals, such as getting their next fix or spending money they don’t have. They may neglect long-term plans and relationships in favor of their addiction.
5. Reckless sexual behaviors- addicts may engage in sexual activities they wouldn’t normally feel comfortable with, in order to seek out pleasure or avoid withdrawal symptoms. This could include unsafe sex, engaging in prostitution, or cheating on partners.
6. Increased tolerance to substances or activities – as the addiction progresses, an addict may need to use drugs or alcohol more and more in order to experience the same level of pleasure. This could lead them to become dependent on substances or behaviors in order to function normally.
7. Negative impact on personal relationships- addicts may become distant or hostile towards friends, family, and loved ones as they struggle to cope with their addiction. They may also engage in destructive behavior such as lying, stealing, or hitting people.
8. Neglect of personal hygiene and grooming habits- an addict’s appearance may become unkempt and stained as a result of not taking care of themselves. This could include neglecting to shower or brush their hair, wear clean clothes or eat nutritious food.
Signs of substance abuse in adults Memory lapses following drug or alcohol use Isolation and being withdrawn and suspicious of others Breaking promises and commitments Maintaining and/or hiding a supply of alcohol or drugs Making excuses for tardiness or poor performance at work Trouble sleeping and/or a lack of motivation
These are some of the most noticeable signs that are clearly visible. After seeing a person, if you find a person showing any of the signs, you might label them as addictive patient.
Common symptoms of addiction include:
- A person suffering from addiction has a low tolerance for drug abuse. They tend to become angry easily and show sudden outbursts of anger for no reason.
- Withdrawal symptoms are one of the most dominant symptoms you can see in a patient. Withdrawal symptoms happen due to the body’s craving for addictive substances.
- A person suffering from addiction shows extreme mood swings. You will find them happy at one moment and sad at another.
- Lack of sleep is also a dominant symptom that is easily noticeable.
Were any of the signs and symptoms ringing any bell? If yes, you must take immediate action, starting with the medical detox process. Visit any rehab center, like the Laguna beach rehab to get started. To know what medical detox is all about, visit https://www.gallusdetox.com/locations/arizona/phoenix-detox-center/.
How To Spot Signs Of Addiction?
Addiction is pervasive!
It influences all areas of an individual’s life. Although addiction is dangerous for both the patient and the people around them, it is a slow process. Addiction can not be integrated into your life overnight. Instead, it slowly seeps into one’s life.
That being said, if you can keep a close eye on the sign, you can stop addiction in the initial stage and prevent it from happening.
Follow these steps to spot signs of addiction.
Step 1: Look For The Physical symptoms
Addiction can have a devastating effect on your life. Some of these changes can easily be observed by the people around the patient.
An individual suffering from addiction might show the following signs:
- Insomnia.
- Nausea.
- Frequent headaches.
- A husky voice.
- Vomiting.
- Trembling.
- Gastrointestinal distress.
- Dilated pupil.
- Weight loss.
- Drug abuse
These are just the tip of the iceberg. Some of the signs are related to individual personality. For instance, you might find them not cleaning themselves for days and having a bad smell coming out of their body.
Step 2: Observe Sudden Behavioral Changes
As we have already said, addiction affects every aspect of an individual’s life and health. This also includes their behavior. In fact, you can say that behavioral changes are the first sign anybody will notice whether or not someone is addicted to something.
Here are a few behavioral changes that you might easily notice:
- Finding the person arguing with everything.
- Memory loss.
- Depression.
- Drinking alone without any reason.
- Using a substance to cool off the mind.
- Telling lies.
- Engaging in risky activity and behavior.
Step 3: Search For Drug Paraphernalia
After the confirmation of the first two steps, people can search the room of the patients for substance paraphernalia.If you’re worried about your own or a loved one’s drug use or heroin use, it’s helpful to know the warning signs and more importantly, that help is available and treatment works. Stopping alcohol abuse is just one part of a long and complex recovery process.
Drug abuse cannot remain hidden for long. Its impact is too dramatic, and the person using drugs can spiral out of control fast. The most obvious sign of an addiction is the need to have a particular drug or substance. Signs that you or someone you know may have a drug or alcohol addiction include: Psychological signals: use of drug and alcohol abuse as a way to forget problems or to relax withdrawal or keeping secrets from family and friends loss of interest in activities that used to be important problems with schoolwork, such as slipping grades or absences changes in friendships.It may increase mental illness When someone begins using drugs of any kind, they may start feeling as if they need larger and more frequent doses to get the same effects on their health, even with something that started as social experimentation.
Yes, we understand that everyone has their personal privacy, and it is not right to break that. Drug Abuse Use of recreational drugs, over-the-counter medications, or prescription drugs can lead to substance use issues. However, right now, personal privacy doesn’t matter. Here the priority is to save the person’s health from going deep into addiction with a drug-free life.
Here is a list of common forms of substance paraphernalia:
- Miniature spoons.
- Chillums.
- Injection needle.
- Cigarette papers.
- Water pipes.
Step 4: Monitor The Changes In Daily Life
The final step is to monitor the changes daily. A person suffering from addiction goes through daily changes. The changes are so frequent that you will be able to notice them easily. In addition to rehab, there is exceptional support available for those affected by alcoholism, including individual counseling and Al-Anon meetings.
One of the most noticeable changes you will find is that the person in question has changed their group. The person might start spending more time with buddies sharing the same substance use disorder.
In addition, you will find that their productivity has declined drastically. If the person in question is a student, they will start performing poorly in their academics.
However, if the person’s life is a working adult, you will find them coming home late at night or sometimes spending the whole night outside.
Tips on How To Spot Signs Of Addiction
1. Indicators of addiction
2. Changes in behavior
3. Resistance to change
4. Loss of interest in hobbies or favorite activities
5. Withdrawal from friends and family
6. Negative changes in sleeping habits
7. Increased use of drugs or alcohol
How do the best treatment programs help patients recover from addiction?
The best treatment programs for drug addiction treatment help patients recover by addressing the root causes of addiction. These programs work to provide support and guidance in order to help individuals develop healthy coping mechanisms, break the cycle of substance abuse, and address any underlying mental health issues. Additionally, these programs often include outpatient or residential treatment options that allow patients to live independently while they are recovering.
What Does Hitting Rock Bottom Actually Means In Addiction?
For every addiction, there is a limit. Often this is known as hitting rock bottom.
This period of extreme desperation occurs at the peak of addiction. This is the time when the person is 100% into addiction and is dependent on it for every action.
What defines Rock Bottom might differ from person to person. But, one thing stands in common – if someone hits rock bottom, it cannot get worse from there.
That’s when the destruction of good things happens in their life.
Risk Factors for Addiction Many studies on addiction have been conducted. Risk factors for addiction can be internal (i.e., psychological or physical) and external (i.e., environmental).
Conclusion
The right approach is critically important when you find or see any sign of addiction in any person. Unfortunately, you cannot confront the person head-on and talk about their addiction.
You must first enter into their confronting zone and make them believe that you are there to help and not to judge.It may be challenging to know if someone has a drug addiction but knowing warning signs can help.
By promoting yourself as one of the trusted people in their life, you can slowly talk about addiction and convince them to go for addiction treatment. Physical warning signs of drug abuse Bloodshot eyes, pupils larger or smaller than usual Changes in appetite, sleep patterns, physical appearance Unusual smells on breath, body, or clothing, or impaired coordination Behavioral signs of drug abuse
Then there are the times when you can suddenly feel a change in your loved one’s behavior. It can be sudden or it might have been happening for months behind their back. Despite being convinced that they don’t have an addiction problem, they are not taking any steps to seek help – and this is quite a big red flag. This shows that even though you may be unable to see it, there could actually be signs of addiction at play here.
To spot them early on, keep an eye out for these common signs: consuming large amounts of alcohol or drugs late into the night; losing interest in hobbies previously enjoyed; having money issues; using abusive language when dealing with their friends; showing mood swings regularly. While you can treat addiction, in most cases, someone with addiction must want to change for recovery to be successful.
If you notice any one of these signs after years of love and closeness with your loved one, do not hesitate to reach out for professional help as soon as possible.
FAQ’s
Q-1. Are you using the substance more often or for longer periods of time than usual?
If you are using the substance more often or for longer periods of time than usual, then you may be struggling with a dependency. If you are using the substance less often or for shorter periods of time than usual, then there is less of a need to seek professional help.
Q2. Are your mood swings worse?
There is no definitive answer to this question, as everyone experiences mood swings in different ways. However, if you are concerned that your mood swings may be affecting your quality of life or causing you distress, it may be worth consulting a healthcare professional. They can help you assess your condition and provide advice on how to best manage it.
Q3. Do you feel like you need to keep using the substance in order to Function Normally?
Here are some things to keep in mind if you’re struggling to quit:
1. Talk to a doctor – If you’re having difficulty quitting or staying abstinent, it may be helpful to speak with a doctor. They can help you figure out what steps are necessary in order to safely discontinue using substances and minimize any potential side effects.
2. Seek support from friends and family – Just like anything else in life, quitting substances can be difficult. You may benefit from seeking support from friends and family members who have successfully quit before you. They can provide encouragement and support as you make your journey.
3. Make a plan – Having a plan is key when quitting substances. developing a plan will help you stay on track, set realistic goals, and avoid any potential relapse. Some popular plans include the 12-step program or the Minnesota Model.
If you’re struggling to quit, it’s important to talk to somebody about your situation. We here at The Better Life team would be more than happy to offer our support!
Q4. Have financial problems suddenly started occurring?
If you have been experiencing financial problems suddenly occurring, it is important to seek out professional help as soon as possible. While there are many possible causes of financial difficulties, some of the most common ones include:
1. Unstable employment – If you have been experiencing sudden changes in your income or job responsibilities, this may be causing financial difficulties.
2. Medical bills and unexpected expenses -medical bills and unexpected expenses can quickly add up and put a strain on your budget.
3. Overspending – If you have been spending more than you are earning, this can quickly lead to financial problems.
Q5. Poor investment decisions – Sometimes poor investment decisions can cause major financial problems down the road.
If you are struggling with any of these issues, it is important to seek out professional help as soon as possible. A financial consultant can help you evaluate your situation and develop a plan to resolve the issues.
Q6. Has your behavior changed in any way – are you acting recklessly, for example?
Yes, it is possible that there is a correlation between drinking and driving and erratic driving. It is also possible that your behavior may have changed as a result of drinking and driving. If you have any concerns about your behavior or the situation, it is important to reach out for help.
Q7. Do you feel like stopping using the substance is a struggle for you?
1. It is difficult to stop using a substance when it becomes embedded in our daily lives.
2. There are often cravings and strong wants for the substance that continue even after we have stopped using it.
3. It can be very difficult to find coping mechanisms and healthy ways to deal with our emotions when we are using the substance regularly.
Q8. Have thoughts about using the substance become increasingly negative over time (e.g., wishing to use more and more)?
Yes, there is definitely a potential for addiction to using any substance. The more someone uses a substance, the more they may begin to feel negative thoughts about it – such as wishing to use more and more. This is known as tolerance, and it means that the user needs to use higher and higher doses of the substance in order to experience the same level of pleasure or satisfaction. Over time, this can lead to addiction.
