How Do You Know if You Have a Substance Abuse Problem
How exercise I know if my adult friend or loved one has a substance utilise problem?
This page is filled with resources and data to help someone you intendance about who might have a drug* utilize trouble. Outset, try to answer the questions below equally honestly as possible. If the person is willing, you tin can include him or her in the discussion. (*"Drugs" is used hither to refer to illicit drugs, prescription drugs, or alcohol.)
- Does the person have the drug in larger amounts or for longer than intended?
- Do they want to cut down or terminate using the drug merely can't?
- Do they spend a lot of time getting, using, or recovering from the drug?
- Practice they have cravings and urges to utilise the drug?
- Are they unable to manage responsibilities at work, domicile, or school because of drug use?
- Do they go along to use a drug, even when information technology causes problems in relationships?
- Do they give upward of import social, recreational, or work-related activities because of drug use?
- Practise they apply drugs over again and again, even when information technology puts them in danger?
- Practice they keep to use, even while knowing that a physical or mental problem could accept been acquired or fabricated worse past the drug?
- Do they have more of the drug to get the wanted upshot?
- Have they developed withdrawal symptoms, which can be relieved by taking more of the drug? (Some withdrawal symptoms can exist obvious, only others can be more subtle—like irritability or nervousness.)
If the answer to some or all of these questions is yeah, your friend or loved i might have a substance apply problem. In the most severe cases, information technology is chosen an addiction. Information technology can happen to people from all backgrounds, rich or poor, and it tin can happen at whatsoever age.
See NIDA's video: Anyone Tin Become Addicted to Drugs
Through scientific inquiry, we now know more than ever about how drugs work in the encephalon, and we also know that drug addiction tin be successfully treated to assistance people stop using drugs and lead productive lives.
If you think your adult friend or loved one might be addicted, you cannot set the trouble by yourself, but there are some steps y'all tin can take. Encourage your loved one to explore the result by reviewing this folio: What to Do If You Have a Trouble with Drugs: For Adults. Offer to walk the person through the information and to help access the resources.
If the person is initially not willing to be helped, y'all tin read the information below to learn more about drug habit and to see if in that location are resources or information that might convince your loved one to seek aid.
Why can't people stop using drugs on their ain?
Repeated drug employ changes the encephalon, including parts of the encephalon that give a person self-control. These and other changes tin exist seen clearly in brain imaging studies of people with a drug addiction. These brain changes explain why quitting is so difficult, fifty-fifty when an fond person feels fix.
See NIDA's video: Why Are Drugs So Hard to Quit?.
If my friend or loved 1 refuses to cooperate, should we conduct an intervention?
Many people are compelled to enter handling by the pressure of their family, friends, or a court system. Nevertheless, in that location is no evidence that confrontational "interventions" similar those familiar from TV programs are effective at disarming people they have a trouble or motivating them to change. It is even possible for such confrontational encounters to escalate into violence or backlash in other ways. Instead, you should focus on creating incentives to at least get the person to a doctor. Often people will listen to professionals rather than have conversations with friends and family members, every bit the latter encounters can sometimes be driven by fear, accusations, and emotions.
People of all ages with substance utilize disorders live in fear of what will happen if their drugs are taken away. You tin can ensure the person you lot care about that professional person treatment centers will keep them safety and as comfy equally possible if a detoxification procedure is needed.
Treatment is ever individualized based on the person's needs. Notwithstanding, if someone is using a drug upon admission to a treatment program, one of the first things needed is to assistance safely remove the drugs from their system (often referred to as "detox"). This is important because drugs impair the mental abilities needed to engage with and stay in treatment.
When patients kickoff terminate using drugs, they can feel a variety of concrete and emotional withdrawal symptoms, including depression, anxiety, and other mood disorders; restlessness, and sleeplessness. Remind your loved ane that treatment centers are very experienced in helping patients get through this process and keeping them prophylactic during it. Depending on your loved one's situation, at that place may also exist medications to reduce these symptoms, which makes it easier to stop using.
My friend was in rehab before just relapsed subsequently. How practice we know treatment volition work this time?
This means your friend has already learned many of the skills needed to recover from habit and should try it again. The fear of relapse should non get in the way of trying treatment again. People existence treated or recovering from addiction relapse near equally frequently equally do people with other chronic diseases, such as hypertension and asthma. Treatment of any chronic disease involves irresolute deeply imbedded behaviors, and relapse sometimes goes with the territory—information technology doesn't mean treatment failed. A return to drug utilize indicates that handling needs to be started again or adjusted, and your friend might benefit from a unlike treatment approach.
I am worried that my loved one is driving while using drugs. What practice I do?
If you share a vehicle, you should demand that your loved ane meet a md earlier using the car once more. This can exist very inconvenient for both of you, but information technology is imperative that drug users not bulldoze. Your loved one's life, yours, and others' could exist at take chances.
In many cases, you may not exist able to control your loved one's ability to drive. You must tell them that the single most responsible affair to do is not drive while using drugs (including using prescription medications). All drugs can impair skills necessary for the safe performance of a vehicle, including motor skills, remainder and coordination, perception, attending, reaction fourth dimension, and judgment. Fifty-fifty small amounts of some drugs can have a measurable effect on driving ability.
Drugs too affect people's ability to tell if they are dumb—and so y'all might have to make some hard choices. If you believe your loved one is driving and impaired, y'all should consider calling law enforcement. This can exist a difficult conclusion, just sometimes court intervention tin actually assistance force a loved 1 to seek assist. For more see our DrugFacts on drugged driving.
If y'all are an employer and doubtable an employee is using drugs, you should immediately suspend whatever driving privileges while you get it sorted out. You tin contact this government helpline to find out more most workplace drug testing: Drug-Complimentary Workplace Helpline: 800-967-5752 (800-WORKPLACE) or HELPLINE@SAMHSA.HHS.GOV.
If people take drugs because they feel depressed—just are depressed considering drugs are overtaking their life—How do we know which problem came outset?
It is very possible your loved one needs to notice treatment for both low and addiction. This is very common—information technology's chosen "comorbidity," "co-occurrence," or "dual diagnosis" when y'all have more i health problem at the aforementioned time. Encourage your loved one to discuss all symptoms and behaviors with the doctor. There are many nonaddictive drugs that can help with low or other mental wellness bug. Sometimes health care providers do not communicate with each other as well as they should, and so y'all can exist your loved one's advocate (with their permission) and brand certain all related health care providers know about all of the health issues that concern you. People who take co-occurring issues should exist treated for all of them at the same fourth dimension. For more data see our DrugFacts on comorbidity.
Note: If y'all ever experience and then depressed that you lot remember about hurting yourself, at that place is a hotline you lot can call: ane-800-273-TALK (8255). This is called the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, and you can share all of your problems with them. A caring, nonjudgmental voice will exist on the other stop, listening.
Source: https://archives.drugabuse.gov/publications/step-by-step-guides-to-finding-treatment-drug-use-disorders/if-your-adult-friend-or-loved-one-has-problem-drugs/how-to-recognize-substance-use
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