What Are The Main Symptoms Of Substance Addiction?
Another name for substance abuse is drug abuse. This refers to an excessive use of a chemical substance that makes you gain a special effect. Either street or illicit, sometimes drugs can be obtained with prescription as well in order to gain pleasure, and not because of medical reasons. Various drugs have varying effects on the human mind, and body. Boundless energy is caused by cocaine or methamphetamine, and then there are drugs like heroin, benzodiazepines, and oxycontin that instigate feelings of relaxation and tranquillity. The common attribute of all drugs is their ability to over-stimulate the pleasure-centre of brain.
The overall mental and physical effects of a drug can be different, but the major pattern is the same. For an addict, getting and using the drug is the most important thing of life. The consequences for using the drug can be awful as it prevent you to function normally, often impairing judgment to dangerous level. Some of the signs of abuse and addiction are:
Physical signs of abuse and addiction:
Drugs affect not just the brain, but also your body. It contributes towards increase in blood pressure and heart rate, such as cocaine and methamphetamine, when you use them they will not only increase your blood pressure and metabolism, but also make you suffer from sleeplessness. In contrast, there are drugs like opiates and barbiturates that decrease your blood pressure, and affect your breathing and alertness similarly. Listed below are some physical symptoms that result from substance addiction.
Stimulants make you feel restless, and increase your energy level, bringing you towards sleeplessness. In the case of opiates, benzodiazepines, and barbiturates, speaking ability and reaction time slows down, making you go through confusion, and disorientation. Then there is the case of either weight gain or weight loss. Some drugs increase your sleep cycles. The drug addicts, in order to conceal their scars at injection sites, wear shirts with long sleeves. Cough and bronchitis are caused by smoke drugs, which can result in excession of mucus or blood. Furthermore, there are methamphetamine addicts, which can cause dental problems of a very bad nature.
Mental and emotional signs of abuse and addiction
The temporary pleasure of substance abuse is the predecessor of a state of impatience for the addict. The emotional swings and the mood fluctuations can be spotted in between the state of satiation and temptation. Emotional and mental signs of substance addicts are as follows:
You will find addicts very talkative, “high” and cheerful with lot of energy in them. You will find in them increased irritability, agitation and anger. Some clear signs are; unresponsiveness, apathy, unusual calmness, depression, hallucinations, paranoia, temporary psychosis, delusions and lower threshold for violence etc.
A large population of substance addicts happen to be teenagers. This addiction, if not cured in due course of time, could worsen to a chronic one. Oversleeping is a trend in teenagers, so it is not very easy for parents to detect any kind of signs. Then there is the matter of them needing space, and privacy along with being argumentative, and furious. In order to find out signs of substance addiction in a teen, one should closely observe any changes in his/her attitude, and behaviour along with his/her health, and appearance.
The phenomenon of substance addiction is not a rare one in the world. To cure this, a number of rehabilitation centres are in the world helping people to remove the stigma of social evil. Not just his/her family, an addict has effects on his/her friends, colleagues, and sometimes even on the community. As, members of the society, it is our responsibility to help these addicts. Our support will give them courage that will make them strong enough to fight against powerful drug temptations.
You can get rid of drug additions by taking a professional’s help and get complete checkup at drug addiction treatment.
