Why Do People Become Addicted To Drugs Or Alcohol
These past few years, you have seen how the number of people who use drugs and alcohol increase. This has resulted in a more serious problem, such as early, and problematic pregnancies and failures in various parts of life. What are the possible reasons of allowing this malevolent thing to happen? And why do people become addicted to drugs or alcohol?
Substance addiction is one of the major problems across the world. It doesnt only cause suffering and pain for the people involved, but also to the society and those around the addicted individual. Regardless of the continued efforts to understand and eliminate drug and alcohol abuse, theres no sign that it is narrowing. It is a complicated issue because there are various reasons as to why people consistently get involved in substance addiction.
How Addictions Can Affect You
The strain of managing an addiction can seriously damage your work life and relationships. In the case of substance misuse , an addiction can have serious psychological and physical effects.
Some studies suggest a person’s risk of becoming addicted is partly genetic, but environmental factors, such as being around other people with addictions, are also thought to increase the risk.
Behaviours such as substance misuse can be a way of blocking out difficult issues. Unemployment and poverty can trigger addiction, along with stress and emotional or professional pressure.
Are The Symptoms Of Alcohol Abuse Reversible
Most individuals with an alcohol use disorder who experience brain or cognitive troubles will recover with treatment within a year of sobriety. In some instances, it can take much longer. The outcome of recovery and sustained sobriety depends on a host of medical, personal, and physiological factors. The first step in recovery from an alcohol use disorder is seeking treatment from a rehab center that offers exemplary clinical services and compassionate care.
You May Like: How To Stop Meth Addiction
Recognising An Alcohol And Drug Problem
There is no particular type of person who becomes dependent on alcohol or other drugs. It can happen to anyone.
What starts as occasional use of a drug or one prescription of pain-relieving medication, for example, can get out of control as time passes especially in times of pain or stress. You may find you need bigger doses to get the same feeling or to lessen the pain. Eventually, you may depend on the drug to feel good or to get through your day.
Other signs that you are becoming dependent on alcohol or other drugs include:
- having intense urges for the substance this could be once a day or several times a day
- needing more of a substance to get the same effect
- fixating about making sure you have a constant supply of the substance
- spending money on the substance, even when you cannot afford it
- cutting back on social or other activities
- not meeting your work, family or study responsibilities
- lying to people about your alcohol or drug use when they ask
- doing things that are illegal so you can get the substance, such as stealing
- taking risks such as driving when you are under the influence of the substance
- trying but failing to stop using the substance
- experiencing withdrawal symptoms when you try to stop taking the substance.
Why Did I Become Addicted To Alcohol
Of course, all of the above may only tell you half of the story. If you find yourself struggling with alcohol, you may spend time trying to understand why am I an addict? While you should never beat yourself up for the past, it can sometimes help you deal with the issue more effectively if you understand how it developed for you, personally.
When I was young, alcohol was prevalent in my household. My mom allowed me to start drinking at a very young age, and she drank often. I dont believe that she is an alcoholic, but the fact that it was always allowed in my household made it seem like alcohol wasnt a big deal.
Many of my friends also started drinking at a young age, so the people I spent the most time with drank often, and again, it just seemed so normal. Before I knew it, I was using alcohol as a way to numb my feelings when they became too difficult to bear.
Before I knew it, I was using alcohol as a way to numb my feelings when they became too difficult to bear.
When my mom was going through a divorce, and when I was dealing with the effects of sexual assault, I quickly turned to drugs and alcohol, and found myself in increasingly dangerous situations. I suffered further abuse and trauma, which I now know was none of my fault. But it was hard for me to cope with these events without substances.
References
Recommended Reading: How To Help Someone Addicted To Alcohol
Find Treatment For Alcoholism At Sana Lake Recovery Center
You dont have to struggle with your alcoholism by yourself. Sana Lake Recovery Center is filled with people who know exactly what youre going through. Well help you figure out what caused your alcoholism and get you back on track to a healthier life. Contact Sana Lake today for a free consultation, and learn how we can help you.
Rising Phoenix Wellness Services
Rising Phoenix is a licensed mental health and substance abuse intensive outpatient program in Scottsdale, Arizona. Our expert, compassionate team provides a full continuum of care for individuals struggling with substance use disorders, mental health, or dual diagnosis disorders.
We believe everyone is unique and design a treatment plan that fits each clients needs. Our team is skilled in scientifically proven, evidence-based approaches to addiction recovery and carefully incorporates the strategies most likely to benefit the person in recovery.
We invite you to contact Rising Phoenix to learn more about our addiction recovery, mental health, and dual diagnosis treatment programs.
Read Also: How Does Addiction Affect The Brain
Reducing Or Stopping Use Of Alcohol Or Other Drugs
Cutting down on alcohol or other drugs is hard to do because repeated alcohol or drug use makes the body more dependent and changes the brain. Brain scans of people who are dependent on alcohol or other drugs often show changes in the areas of the brain that help you learn and remember and make decisions.
The best thing you can do is to talk to someone you trust so you do not have to deal with this challenge alone.
Why Do People Get Addicted To Drugs
In most cases, the decision to use drugs for the first time is voluntary. Addiction, however, is not. So how does addiction start? Repeated drug use alters the way the brain perceives reward and motivation, making use of the drug a persons first priority. Drug use feels better than natural rewards, locking people into a cycle of drug-seeking behavior.
People who become addicted are often trying to self-medicate underlying feelings of depression or anxiety. However, as drug addiction progresses, people continue using drugs just to stop themselves from the pain of going into withdrawal.
Don’t Miss: What Is Holistic Treatment For Drug Addiction
The 10 Most Common Causes Of Alcoholism
Since there isnt one exact cause of alcoholism, experts instead identify risk factors as potentials for development. Professionals believe that these factors may play a role in the development of alcohol use disorders as they have been evident in the lives of many individuals who suffer from alcohol dependence and addiction.
Risk factors can be environmental, biological, and psychological. While the presence of these factors does not guarantee that a person will develop an alcohol use disorder, its important to be aware of the circumstances and components that can lead alcoholism in some cases.
How To Reduce Your Risk Of Becoming Alcohol Dependent
Taking regular breaks from alcohol is the best way to lower your risk of becoming dependent on it. If you drink regularly, your body builds up a tolerance to alcohol. Tolerance is a physiological response we have to any drug: the more you consume, the more your body needs to have the same effect. Regular drinking induces certain enzymes in your liver that break up alcohol. If you drink heavily over weeks or months, levels of these enzymes go up, your tolerance builds and you need more alcohol to get the same effects 3.
Brain systems get tolerant to alcohol too, and although you may be able to walk a straight line after drinking quite a lot, this means the brain has adapted so that next day the brain cells expect alcohol. Withdrawal symptoms such as anxiety and jitteriness occur, and you can find yourself drinking alcohol just to relieve that.
When youre drinking most days you can become psychologically dependent on alcohol too.
Breaking your drinking cycle is an important way to test for and tackle this kind of dependence. It can prevent your body from becoming accustomed to alcohol and help to lower or reset your tolerance.
Don’t Miss: Why Are Pain Pills Addictive
Who Uses And Who Abuses Alcohol
The 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health reports that 86% of American adults have drunk alcohol at some point in their lives. By the age of 15, up to 30% of American adolescents have already tried alcohol.
Some people may successfully limit their alcohol use to an occasional drink or social drinking. Medical advice and national dietary guidelines encourage adults to drink alcohol in moderation: up to 1 drink a day for women and up to 2 drinks a day for men.
Other people may be unable to drink alcohol without abusing it. These individuals may be referred to as binge drinkers or heavy drinkers. Binge drinking is defined as 4 or more drinks for women and 5 or more drinks for men on any occasion.
Heavy alcohol use, defined as binge drinking 5 or more days a month, puts you at risk of developing alcoholism. More than 33% of American adults and nearly 15% of American adolescents binge drink or drink heavily.
Are All Drugs Addictive
Any substance has the potential to cause addiction in an individual, but the potency of the drug has a huge impact on how quickly someone can develop an addiction. When comparing Ibuprofen with cocaine, for example, its obvious that developing an addiction to cocaine is much easier due to its highly euphoric effects.
Although unlikely for most drugs, it is possible to form a drug addiction after one use. Drugs like heroin can produce such a compelling high that people may begin to crave it after a single use.
Also Check: Why Is Nasal Spray Addictive
How Do You Get Addicted To Alcohol
In this series on alcoholism, we have described alcoholism as a specific type of addiction. In the following sections, we answer the question, “How do you get addicted to alcohol?” There are biological, psychological, socio-cultural, and spiritual reasons that people can become addicted to alcohol. Our goal is to help you, the reader, appreciate the complexity of addiction. Like most complex problems, there is a broad range of possible solutions. Our position is that complex problems, like addiction, do not benefit from single, simplistic solutions. People benefit from having a range of possible solutions to their addiction problems. So let’s begin. “How DO people get addicted to alcohol?” Understanding how we get addicted will ultimately lead us to the more important question, “How can we recover from alcoholism?”
Can Addiction To Drugs And Alcohol Be Prevented Or Cured
As with other chronic ailments such as asthma, heart disease or diabetes, addiction treatment is generally not a cure. But, addiction is curable and can be managed in a successful manner. Those who recover from alcohol or drug addiction, will be vulnerable to revert for years and potentially for their entire lives. According to a research, the best chance for addiction recovery can be guaranteed when behavioral therapy is combined with addiction treatment medicines.
Other good news is that drug addiction and use is preventable. Prevention programs including schools, families, media and communities play integral, effective roles to reduce or prevent drug/alcohol use and addiction. This is why you will see various schools, organizations and communities implementing programs with regard to prevention and treatment of addiction. This is helpful especially to people who cannot afford consulting a professional.
Outreach and education are major assistances in helping people, particularly teens, to understand potential risks of alcohol and drug use. Health care providers, teachers and parents have integral roles in teaching young people for their healthy, successful future.
Don’t Miss: Why Do People Get Addicted To Smoking
What Causes Alcohol Addiction Study Investigates
Is a faulty signaling mechanism in the brain area that processes emotion the reason that only a minority of those who drink alcohol become addicted to it?
Researchers in Sweden and the United States suggest that this might be the case after studying alcohol addiction in rats.
They found that the rats that became addicted had an impaired brain mechanism similar to that seen in postmortem brain tissue from humans who were addicted to alcohol.
The faulty mechanism is a failure to clear away a substance known as gamma-Aminobutyric acid that inhibits signaling around neurons, or brain cells, in the central amygdala.
The amygdala is a region of the brain concerned with emotion, learning, memory, and motivation.
The scientists report their findings in a paper now published in the journal Science.
What Causes Alcohol Addiction
What is the root cause of alcohol addiction? There is no easy answer. But certain factors can raise your risk.
Like other addictions, alcoholismâalso called alcohol use disorder âappeals to the pleasure centers of the brain. When you drink alcohol regularly, your brain begins to associate the drinks with sensations like euphoria, relaxation, and loss of inhibitions. This results in cravings and, in some cases, dependency.
Recommended Reading: How Many People Are Addicted To Heroin
The Controlled Substances Act
The Controlled Substances Act is a law that regulates legal and illegal drugs in the United States. Under the CSA, drugs are categorized into different schedules according to a drugs perceived danger and potential for dependence. For example, Heroin is classified as a Schedule I drug because of its illegal status and extremely addictive qualities. Legal medications on the other hand, such as over-the-counter Painkillers and cough Suppressants, are categorized as Schedule V because of their low chances for abuse.
The CSAs drug scheduling system exists for several reasons. In common cases, the system is used by judges to help them determine sentences for drug-related crimes. It is also helpful for medical professionals when writing prescriptions.
Break free from addiction.
What Steps Can I Take To Curb My Drinking On My Own
Some people prefer to try cutting back or quitting on their own before committing time and money to rehab. And there are a few approaches that can identify and combat drinking at an early stage. People can focus on education and support, such as through Alcoholics Anonymous, or take on a sobriety challenge. People can learn mindfulness rather than trying to soothe uncomfortable feelings with alcohol, mindfulness encourages techniques such as breathing, visualization, and meditation.
In a clinical setting, motivational interviewing, which cultivates the drive to change behaviors, and Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral, and Treatment , which funnels patients to treatment, are also helpful options.
You May Like: Am I Addicted To Food Test
Environment And Personal Experiences
If you grow up in a household where alcohol is readily available and is consumed when something negative happens, you may learn to drink in order to feel better. If youre around people who drink often and pressure you to drink, this can lead to increased alcohol consumption as well.
Everyone reacts differently to their personal experiences and environment. One person who grew up around large amounts of alcohol might become an alcoholic, while another might swear off alcohol for life. Still, life experiences and surroundingsincluding adverse childhood experiences and other traumatic eventscan play a role in whether you become addicted to alcohol.
How Easy Is It To Get Addicted
Each individual is different. The amount and duration of drug use required to develop an addiction varies from person to person and is impacted by factors such as:
- Family history of substance abuse
- Traumatic experiences
- Mental health disorders like anxiety or depression
- Age at onset of drug use
- Administration method
These factors align in different ways to affect the development of addiction. A teen with depression who injects an opioid, for instance, will likely become addicted more quickly than an emotionally resilient adult who only swallows tablets.
You May Like: How To Cure Heroin Addiction
Effects Of Alcohol Dependence On The Body
Being alcohol dependent can lead to a whole range of serious health problems. If youre dependent on alcohol, you increase your risk of developing high blood pressure, stroke, coronary alcohol-related heart disease and alcohol-related liver disease.
Prolonged heavy drinking damages your liver. An estimated seven out of 10 people with alcoholic liver disease have an alcohol dependency problem5.
Factors That Lead People To Experiment With Alcohol And Drugs
There are many different reasons why people, especially teenagers, try the harmful use of alcohol and drugs from biological to developmental, to environmental factors. Some use the substance due to peer pressure or teenage rebellion, while others use it to promote relaxation or as a way to handle stress.
Also Check: Why Do Addicts Blame Everyone Else
Alcoholics Anonymous And Other Support Groups
Many people addicted to alcohol also turn to 12-step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous . There are also other support groups that dont follow the 12-step model, such as SMART Recovery and Sober Recovery.
Regardless of the type of support system, its helpful to get involved in at least one when getting sober. Sober communities can help someone struggling with alcohol addiction deal with the challenges of sobriety in day-to-day life. Sober communities can also share relatable experiences and offer new, healthy friendships. And these communities make the person with an alcohol addiction accountable and provide a place to turn to if there is a relapse.
