Drug addiction is a serious disease. It can strike anyone, regardless of age, race, culture, background or socioeconomic status. You’re never too young, too old, too rich, too broke or even too religious to struggle with drug addiction. At any point in time you may find that you’ve crossed the line from drug experimentation to drug addiction.

Is it drug addiction or drug abuse?

The difference between drug addiction and drug abuse tends to be situational. People who abuse drugs may do so during periods of high stress or trauma. This could be a major life transition or transformation such as divorce, death or being diagnosed with a life-threatening illness or disease. In circumstances like this, people are looking for ways to cope with overwhelming feelings of grief and despair. Alcohol or drug abuse can occur as a result of people attempting to cope with these feelings. Generally as the situation improves or these people seek outside help, the alcohol abuse or drug abuse abates and they are able to return to a fairly level normal of functioning without crossing the line into alcoholism or drug addiction.

There are people who are more susceptible to alcoholism and drug addiction based on their genetic make-up. For these people, turning to alcohol or drugs to cope during a bad time can spiral straight into alcohol or drug addiction. Even when the situation has passed and things have balanced out, these individuals continue to abuse alcohol or drugs because they enjoy the effects and aren’t ready to quit. If they don’t recognize the problem and get help, a trip to alcohol rehab or drug rehab is inevitable.

Are you struggling with drug abuse or drug addiction?

In order to determine if you are struggling with drug abuse or drug addiction, there are a few questions you have to ask yourself. How often do you drink or take drugs? Do you take just enough to get by or do you get loaded every time? Is work or school attendance or performance sliding because of your alcohol or drug usage? Have you changed the people you hang out with? Do you isolate more? Have friends and family members expressed concern about your alcohol or drug use? Do you have withdrawal symptoms (headache, nausea, anxiety, body aches) when you quit drinking or using drugs? If you honestly answer these questions, you’ll have a better understanding of how serious your drug use is.

Whether you are dealing with drug and alcohol abuse or drug addiction, most people need professional help to quit drugs and alcohol. The level of care you need depends on the type of drug, how much you take and how long you’ve been taking it. While physical addiction is severed generally within a week, psychological addiction can take months and even years to break. If you suspect that you or a loved one is either struggling with drug abuse or drug addiction, don’t wait any longer. Seek professional help today.

What are alcohol and drugs doing to you? You had a big test but were too hungover to think clearly. You were supposed to meet a friend for dinner but had a few too many cocktails and were too drunk to drive. You find that you can’t function the morning after you tied one on unless you take something – another drink, a pill, a line. You’re canceling plans more and more with friends or business associates with excuses when the truth is you want to drink, use or you’re too sick from drinking or using.

How Important is Your Alcohol or Drug Use?

When alcohol and drugs become more important than family, friends or work it can be said you are in the grips of alcoholism or drug addiction. There are people who use alcohol and drugs periodically but still manage the day to day events of their lives without allowing alcohol or drug use to interfere. Then there are people who cannot live life without their alcohol or drug use – it becomes consuming. Their lives revolve around when they can get it, when they can consume it and when they can get more. A person whose alcohol or drug use has escalated to this level is in the grips of alcoholism or drug addiction.

What Is Your Alcohol or Drug Use Costing You?

The cost of alcohol and drugs is immeasurable, not only financially but in terms of relationships, work and opportunities. Your girlfriend or spouse leaves you, your children are taken away, you lose your job, you get passed over for the promotion, you miss out on high school graduation, you flunk the class you needed to qualify for graduate school, you end up in jail with a DUI and now you can’t pursue your dream of becoming a pilot. Any one of these scenarios and thousands more are lived out on a daily basis by people in the grips of alcoholism and drug addiction.

If you or a friend thinks you need help before your use of alcohol and drugs gets worse, call a drug rehab center today. Most centers have professionals on staff who can help you determine if you need help for alcoholism or drug addiction and the steps you have to take next. They’ll walk you through the whole process. Don’t let alcohol and drugs waste one more minute of your life.

It’s not always easy to recognize alcoholism and drug addiction. For some people the slide toward bottom happens very quickly and it’s easily detected. Someone in the grip of addiction is typically so consumed with alcohol or drugs that little else matters. Personal appearance, responsibilities, normal activities, relationships, sleep and eating patterns all deteriorate. Others are high-functioning and can hide their alcoholism and drug addiction for long periods of time before it begins to interfere with their life.

Recognizing Alcoholism and Drug Addiction: Patterns

Someone who is struggling with alcoholism and drug addiction will typically have certain patterns of usage. For example, the must-have nightly cocktails, always having alcohol available in the house or at social functions, mood swings that could indicate someone is high or coming down off of a high, unusual sleeping patterns, isolating, leaving the house at odd hours, frequent visits to the doctor complaining of symptoms that require pain medication – these are patterns to watch.

If alcohol or drug usage is not interfering with an individual’s ability to manage life or relationships, then it’s not yet at a problem level. Some people can use alcohol and drugs for recreational purposes while others get hooked immediately. The best indication is the manageability of a person’s life.

Recognizing Alcoholism and Drug Addiction: Appearance

Generally a person’s appearance and their surroundings are indicative of what’s going on inside of them. If someone is consumed in their alcoholism and drug addiction, it can’t help but affect what’s going on around them. Their personal relationships, extracurricular activities, school or work attendance and performance will all suffer. Usually family members will be the first to recognize the signs of alcoholism and drug addiction.

Recognizing Alcoholism and Drug Addiction: What to Do

If you recognize these behaviors in yourself or a loved one, seek professional advice. Drug rehab centers typically have professionals answering the phones who are former addicts and alcoholics – they can detect the severity of alcoholism and drug addiction through the patterns you describe and advise you on the best level of care. There are inpatient and outpatient programs depending upon how much alcohol and drug usage is interfering with your life or that of a loved one. It doesn’t cost anything to make a few phone calls and find out how to arrest alcoholism and drug addiction before it’s too late.

Drug and alcohol abuse are serious problems that can have a negative impact on every aspect of your life. Drug and alcohol abuse is generally the precursor to addiction, but not always.

Drug and Alcohol Abuse is Situational

Drug and alcohol abuse typically occurs in response to life situations and may only be temporary, but generally needs to be interrupted before it leads to addiction. Life situations that can trigger drug and alcohol abuse include loss of a loved one, job loss, poor health, divorce, major move, exposure to trauma or abuse whether physical, mental or emotional. Any of these experiences or a combination thereof can result in a person increasing the use of drugs or alcohol to cope, relieve stress or escape.

Drug and Alcohol Abuse can lead to Addiction

Many of the events surrounding drug and alcohol addiction can be so traumatic that an individual uses drugs and alcohol to “check out” of life. In this event, the drug and alcohol use needs to be interrupted before it spirals into addiction. Generally family members, loved ones and friends will notice and encourage the person to get help. A good counselor or therapist can help someone address the underlying reasons for turning to drugs and alcohol. Support groups and journaling may be suggested to help move through overwhelming emotions the person is using drugs and alcohol to suppress.

Drug and alcohol abuse doesn’t always lead to addiction but for people who have family history or display addictive tendencies it can be a dangerous place. Drugs and alcohol are a temporary fix and just indicate that there are more serious problems that need to be dealt with.
If you or a loved one is struggling with drugs or alcohol because of life situations you don’t know how to handle, seek professional help. Most drug rehabs offer therapy and counseling. While you may not be ready for inpatient drug rehab, there are outpatient programs that work around your schedule and can help you arrest the problem before it gets any worse. Don’t wait until drug and alcohol abuse turns into addiction.

Drug abuse treatment is a proven and powerful way to help a drug addict to start on the road to recovery. There are many different types of therapy: from rehabilitation to detoxification, to a 12 Step Program, to group meetings, to inpatient treatment, and then outpatient treatment. Rehabilitation for drug abuse is an educational process of learning about both the disease of substance abuse and what steps are necessary to put and keep it in remission.

A person with a drug addiction must want to quit abusing drugs and be willing to fully participate in a treatment program. If the addict has no desire to participate in a treatment program their chances of success are almost nothing and will most certainly relapse at a later date.

One of the first steps in a treatment program is medical detox, done with medical supervision in a closed environment.

Different types of Drug Abuse treatment programs

Most people would think of full-time residential treatment when referring to the term treatment program. However, treatment programs are done in other settings and environments, and places with many different methodologies. There are several different levels of rehabilitation for drug abuse. So, not all treatment programs are full-time, residential facilities. Treatment is offered at the following levels:

• Intensive Outpatient (IOP)
• Partial Hospitalization (PHP)
• Inpatient (detox)
• Residential
• Extended Care

Programs for the treatment of drug abuse can be generally done at different levels, For example, a treatment program, for drug abuse could be a simple Intensive Outpatient Program, known as IOP. Lead by a certified, licensed counselor, an intensive outpatient program is primarily group therapy done three times a week, for 6 to 8 weeks.

Or, treatment programs could refer to a full-time residential rehab center. In that case, the treatment program would be where the client resides in at the treatment center for some period of time, most often a minimum of 28 days, longer when possible.