The Best Way To Figure Out The Signs Of Addiction

Psychologists and addiction specialists often consider addiction as an illness despite the fact that there are no tests that can be administered to find out if this is an illness it is deemed to be. From a medical setting, diagnosing addiction as a disease cannot be conducted. There are no physiological markers which can be used to diagnose this as an illness, disease or disorder. If drug addiction is not an illness then the only reasonable definition that we can formulate is that it is a choice. Drug addiction can be something which comes as a consequence of one person deciding to behave in a certain way with no provocation. It might take some time to accept that one willfully fell into addiction and so most will be in denial about it for some time until things spiral out of control and they find themselves in drug rehab center.

If drug addiction is defined as obsessive behavior then it is an all-consuming compulsion that can destroy finances, livelihoods and relationships. Taking drugs and alcohol is always mentioned with the word “moderation” but sooner or later one reaches levels that go beyond this threshold. The one other thing that determines severity is the reasons behind the use or abuse of the substance. Are you drinking alcohol to hide emotional turmoil or to hide from painful realities you should rather be facing than running away from? Most individuals that have issues with addiction don’t know what is happening to them because addiction is a gradual process. So how do you know when you have entered the danger zone when abuse can turn into something more insidious?

There are some basic questions you should ask yourself

• Do you find yourself sneaking off work or from parties to take a drug?
• Are you a secret drug taker?
• Do you drink alcohol or use substances whenever you go to social settings to better deal with people because you feel shy?
• Is your behavior affecting your interactions with family and friends?
• Do you think people like you more when you’ve taken a drug or had a drink?
• Is your conduct affecting your financial situation?
• Do you ever feel like you can’t work unless you take a pill or a drink?
• Do you drink alcohol or take drugs to forget or do you forget your problems because you have taken a drug?

If your answers are mostly “yes” then you need to be worried you are either on the threshold of being a drug addict or you already are and you did not know. Realize that you know, one way or the other you can do something about it, leave the edge in case you are approaching the danger zone or go for drug rehab program as soon as possible if you have already stepped over the edge into the danger zone that defines you as a bona-fide addict.