DRUG ABUSE

DRUG ABUSE

Overview and Facts

Drug addiction, also known as substance abuse, is an illness that affects an individual’s brain and behavior and prompts a weakness to control the use of a legal or illegal drug or medicine. When you’re dependent, you may keep using the drug in spite of the damage that it causes.

The danger of dependence and how quick you become dependent differs by the drug. A few medications like narcotic painkillers, have a higher hazard and cause addiction more rapidly than others.

In the long run, you may require bigger doses of the drug to get high. Before long, you may require the drug just to feel better. As your drug use builds, you may find it hard to abandon its use. Efforts to stop sedative use may cause extraordinary cravings and make you feel physically sick (withdrawal side effects).

You may require assistance from your doctor, family, companions, support or a treatment program to defeat your drug addiction and stay drug-free.

Types and Symptoms

Symptoms

Drug addiction symptoms or habits include the following:

  • Feeling that you need to utilize the drug routinely
  • Having intense urges for the drug that block out any other thoughts
  • Needing more of the drug to get the same effect
  • Taking bigger amounts of the drug over a longer period than you expected
  • Keeping a supply of the drug
  • Spending cash on the drug, despite the fact that you can’t manage the cost of it
  • Not meeting commitments and work duties, or decreasing social or recreational activities as a result of drug use
  • Driving or doing other unsafe activities when you’re affected by the drug
  • Encountering withdrawal symptoms when you want to quit taking the drug

Diagnosis & Medications

Diagnosis

Diagnosing illicit drug use (substance abuse) requires a careful assessment and regularly incorporates an appraisal by a doctor or a therapist. Blood, urine or other lab tests are utilized to evaluate drug use, yet they’re not confirmatory tests for addiction. In any case, these tests may be utilized for checking treatment and recovery.

Treatment

Despite the fact that there’s no solution for chronic drug use, treatment alternatives can enable you to follow a habit and stay drug-free. Your treatment relies on the drug utilized and any related medical or psychological problem you may have. Long term follow-up is essential to prevent relapse.

Treatment programs typically offer:

  • Individual, group or family treatment sessions
  • Understanding the idea of addiction, being drug-free and avoiding relapse
  • Detoxification
  • Withdrawal from various drugs
  • Behavioral treatment
  • Address other emotional conditions
  • Self-improvement gatherings

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