Jessica was a lively girl in college. Her grades were all good and she was also the Captain of the volley ball team of her college. She had many friends and was admired by all, but soon things changed. Jessica was absent for most of the time from college. Her friends hardly got to see her and her grades dropped dramatically. Jessica’s friends who were worried for her found out that she has been taking drugs. The matter was reported to her parents who admitted her in a rehabilitation centre meant for drug addiction.
People use drugs, alcohol and other illegal substances as they seem to give them a pleasure like feeling. If a person uses a legal substance or an illegal substance in a wrong way then it is called as substance abuse, and if a person is unable to live without a substance or drug than it is known as addiction. Addiction always starts with a substance abuse.
About Addiction
Addiction is regarded as a disease that has profound effect on the person’s brain and behavior. When a person starts using a substance more and more, the pleasure like effect that it produces in the brain makes him get addicted to the substance. The person loses his power to think about the consequences of addiction .After sometime, the addiction completely takes over his or her life destroying health, relationships, work and draining all the money after which there is no pleasure like feeling, but only a feeling of intense pain.
Commonly abused drugs and substances
The commonly abused drugs and substances include
- Nicotine (found in cigarettes, cigars)
- Alcohol (liquor, beer, wine)
- Marijuana (dope, ganja, grass, weed, Mary Jane, pot)
- Hashish (gangster, hash, hash oil, hemp)
- Opium (black stuff, block, hop, gum)
- Heroin (smack, brown sugar, skag, skunk)
- Cocaine (bum, Charlie, candy, crack)
- Amphetamine (black beauties, crosses, hearts)
- Methamphetamine (crank, chalk, crystal, fire)
- MDMA methylenedioxy methamphetamine ( ecstasy, Eve, lover’s speed, uppers)
- GHB (liquid ecstasy, soap)
- Flunitrazepam ( forget me pill, Mexican valium, Roche, roofies)
- tamine, PCP and analogs
- Saliva divinorum
- Dextromethorphan
- LSD
- Mescaline
- Psilocybin
- Anabolic steroids
Prescription medications that can cause addiction include Opioid pain relievers, Stimulants and CNS depressants.
Signs of addiction
The physical signs include a feeling of sickness and body shaking when trying to stop the drug. There may be change in eating and sleeping habits, lading to considerable weight gain or loss. The person may crave for more substance or drug all the time. The signs of psychological addiction include withdrawal and hiding personal information from family, problems with school work or office work, hanging out with friends who have the same addiction loss of interest in day to day normal activities, mood swings with anxiety, depression and anger.
Treatment
A person is said to be addicted if he or she continues to use the substance, even if it costing the person’s health, relationships, work and money. The treatment for addiction consists of treatment programs, counseling, and self help groups. The treatment programs consist of inpatient, residential and outpatient programs in which individual, group or family sessions are conducted to educate the people and help in preventing relapse. A counselor or psychiatrist helps in dealing with problems related to relationships, job and health that get affected due to addiction. The ways to cope with addiction is taught in behavior therapy program. Joining a self help group is advised where one can interact with people suffering from the same addictions and learn ways to get rid of the addiction.
Preventing relapse
There is a high risk of relapse, if one is not careful after treatment. One must avoid the company of people who take drugs and avoid going to the neighborhood where drugs are available easily. One must stick to the treatment plan; visit the psychiatrist o counselor and attend meetings held by the support groups without fail.
Fighting the addiction
People who are struggling with a substance or drug addiction should not feel alone and discouraged. One can beat the odds and recover completely. Knowing about famous people who have overcome drug addiction helps in motivating people who are struggling with it. Some of the famous names who successfully fought addiction include Drew Barrymore, Oprah Winfrey, Stephen King, Charlie Sheen, Angelina Jolie, Whitney Houston and the list goes on.
