There are many Americans in the world who struggle with substance and drug abuse. We all may have found ourselves abusing a substance at one point or time in our lives. On an everyday basis people abuse substances like caffeine, herbal medicines, nicotine, alcoholic beverages, and even prescription drugs. All of these substances are legal and accepted into society (compared to illegal substances and drugs). Some of the more common illegal drugs and substances are cocaine, marijuana, LSD, ecstasy, heroin, crack, and GHB. When substance abusers fail to get treated, they risk incoherent thinking which can lead to violence and committing criminal acts of violence or abuse to friends, family, and loved ones.
The first thing into understanding a substance abuser, is to learn the reason why they use the drug? More commonly people use substances due to relief of pain, stress, alertness, relaxation, friends use it too, to escape reality, recreation, etc. The underlying question is, why abuse the drug? People often abuse substances because they become dependent on the effects they receive from the substance. Other reasons maybe that after long-term drug usage, their body becomes immune and may require a higher dosage. The increase in dosage is an extreme risk and can lead to possibly death. Most users who take extreme doses of drugs get so caught in the cycle that their habit becomes uncontrollable and hard to stop.
Long time abusers ignore the warning symptoms or the abuse that they are doing to their bodies. Their appearances often decline, more some than others depending on the substance. They can appear tired, depressed, sleep deprived, starved, old, sickly, and not their usual selves. Having a diminishing appearance can cause even greater substance abuse once users realize what they’ve done to their appearance. It can lead to suicidal thoughts, bizarre psychological behavior, isolation, and abuse on friends in family. Users may take out their aggressions on their loved ones. In some cases, users just do not care about their looks; all they care about is satisfaction from the drugs.
Often self-identity is lost with substance abuse. Users can have a totally different personality while on drugs. The constant change in personalities can really have an affect on the users family. Users may neglect their responsibilities as an adult and take care of their family. It could lead to sexual assaults and child abuse because of this “new personality” while on the drugs. Even worse, users may lose all contact from family and friends because their drug usage has gotten out of hand and unbearable to live with. Many users are in denial about their drug abuse. They do not believe that they are the ones with the problem or that their problem isn’t very serious. They blame their family and friends for false accusations and blame their own faults on others. Some users come to the realization that they in fact do have a problem and seek help. Sometimes it takes abandonment from family and friends before a person realizes the predicament they are in and the pain they have inflicted. There are many options for users who seek help and treatment. Depending on the substance or drug used, there are many facilities offered to rehabilitate and help individuals put an end to their abuse. This is a major step for substance abusers and people often do not make it far to this step of self-help. It is important for substance abusers to realize that no one can help them unless they first help themselves. If you are a substance abuser please ask for help and treatment before its too late.
References
Ncadi, “Substance Abuse Treatment and Domestic Violence (TIP) Series 25.” http://ncadi.samhsa.gov/govpubs/bkd239/25i.aspx
“Violence: An overview of its Relationship to Substance Abuse.” Health. http://www.health.org/referrals/resguides.asp?invNum=MS720.html
