Am I addicted to drugs? Simple signs to tell if you have a drug problem

Sometimes when you are addicted to drugs it can be hard to see the signs to tell if you have a drug problem. Usually the first people to notice if you are addicted to drugs are the people closest to you such as; your parents, your spouse, or your children. Sometime even our loved ones don’t know the simple signs to tell if you have a drug problem so it is best if you know the simple signs tell you if you are addicted to drugs. Depending on the drug and how often you use it can determine what kind of signs you have and not everyone who is addicted to drugs has the same signs to tell if they have a drug problem. If you think you are addicted to drugs and you find that you identify with multiple signs to tell if you have a drug problem then please seek out help. Here are a few basic signs though that should be able to effectively tell you if you are addicted to drugs. They are but are not limited to:

• Problems can sometimes sneak up on you, as your drug use gradually increases over time. Smoking a joint with friends at the weekend, or taking ecstasy at a rave, or cocaine at an occasional party, for example, can change to using drugs a couple of days a week, then every day. Gradually, getting and using the drug becomes more and more important to you.
• If the drug fulfills a valuable need, you may find yourself increasingly relying on it. For example, you may take drugs to calm you if you feel anxious or stressed, energize you if you feel depressed, or make you more confident in social situations if you normally feel shy. Or you may have started using prescription drugs to cope with panic attacks or relieve chronic pain, for example. Until you find alternative, healthier methods for overcoming these problems, your drug use will likely continue.
• If you use drugs to fill a void in your life, you’re more at risk of crossing the line from casual use to a drug problem. To maintain healthy balance in your life, you need to have other positive experiences, to feel good in your life aside from any drug use.
• As the drug problem takes hold, you may miss or frequently be late for work or school, your job performance may progressively deteriorate, and you start to neglect social or family obligations. Your ability to stop using is eventually compromised. What began as a voluntary choice has turned into a physical and psychological need.

These along with continued signs to tell if you have a drug problem should give a clear idea of whether or not you are addicted to drugs. The signs below tend to happen after you are already addicted to drugs:

• You’ve built up a drug tolerance. You need to use more of the drug to experience the same affects you used to attain with smaller amounts.
• You take drugs to avoid or relieve withdrawal symptoms. If you go too long without drugs, you experience symptoms such as nausea, restlessness, insomnia, depression, sweating, shaking, and anxiety.
• You’ve lost control over your drug use. You often do drugs or use more than you planned, even though you told yourself you wouldn’t. You may want to stop using, but you for some reason you never do.
• Your life revolves around drug use. You spend a lot of time using and thinking about drugs, figuring out how to get them, and recovering from the drug’s effects.
• You’ve given up on activities you used to enjoy, such as hobbies, sports, and socializing, because of your drug use.
• You continue to use drugs, despite knowing it’s hurting you. It’s causing major problems in your life—blackouts, infections, mood swings, depression, paranoia—but you use anyway.

 If you or a loved one needs treatment for drug or alcohol addiction give our crisis counselors a call at 1-877-711-4673!