How To Spot A Drug or Alcohol Addiction
Sometimes, you may worry that a friend or family member is addicted to drugs. You may even worry about yourself, and knowing how to spot the signs of an addiction can make a difference.
If somebody you know (or yourself) has a problem, then a good place to get help is a rehabilitation centre. There, you’ll be helped to recover from your addiction both physically and mentally.
The obvious signs
There are a few factors that you may be able to spot to help somebody else. Some of the easiest things which you can detect are often related to the type of drug being used. For example, heroin can be injected, snorted, or smoked. Syringes may be a clue. Heroin can also come as a powder. The powdered version of the narcotic will usually be an off-white colour or a dark brown colour, but it can be any colour in between the two.
Seeing white powder can also be a sign of a cocaine addiction, too.
The symptoms
A person who is addicted to a narcotic substance will usually show some kind of symptoms. Although different drugs have different effects on people, keeping on the lookout for some of the things which certain drugs can cause can be very useful.
One thing which all drugs can usually do is alter the person’s behaviour. Sometimes, people also lose their appetite and find it hard to sleep if they are addicted to a substance. Even though this could happen to anyone, when partnered with other signs, it should be considered as a clue.
Some drugs can cause an abuser to be forgetful and lose their memory, and some can also stop them from being able to think properly. People may also get mood swings from an addiction. Drugs can also make a person feel unwell, nauseous and also depressed.
The affects drugs have on an abuser’s brain
When a narcotic is taken, the substance activates the brain’s ‘reward circuit’ by increasing the amount of dopamine (which is a chemical that transmits signals between the brain’s neurons) that is released.
Dopamine is released from neurons in your brain’s key areas and is generally discharged after something nice. However, narcotic substances can also free it. The high which people feel is often the rush induced when dopamine is released and it feels so good that some people may want to take it again – and this is often how an addiction forms.