How do you know if a person has a drug problem?

One of the aspects of drug addiction that makes this health disorder such a dangerous problem is that, on its own, nature, generates the conditions so that the person is not aware that he has a problem until he has suffered consequences very negative.

The desire to continue consuming leads the person to focus on that chain of actions that lead to get drugs and use them to claim discomfort, and it is hard to see beyond that circle vicious. On the other hand, people around them tend to assume that nothing out of the ordinary happens, among other things because drug use is very normalized in certain social circles; and in turn, those who have developed the addiction usually keep this a secret so as not to have to give explanations.

All this makes it relatively normal not to seek professional help and treatment until many months or even years have passed since this pathology originated. Therefore, in this article we will do a review of the behavior patterns that help to know if a person has a drug problem.

• Related article: "The 14 most important types of addictions"

How to know if a person has developed a drug addiction problem?

Take a look at these key ideas for detecting drug addiction in your environment.

1. The person is more irritable

The tendency to hostility and anger is one of the characteristics of drug addiction. This has to do with two main factors. In the first place, the deterioration of their physical and mental state makes the person have fewer resources to deal with situations that require a certain concentration and effort, and this produces frustration. On the other hand, if it has been "too" long without consuming, the discomfort that this produces leads the person to focus on the goal of consuming more, and many social interactions that do not lead to it are seen as a hindrance.

2. The person becomes more closed and wants more privacy

It is very common for people addicted to drugs to become more suspicious of their privacy even in front of their loved ones, and start spending more time alone or with other people who also use drugs. That is, they modify their network of daily social interactions to spend less time with those people to whom they would have to give explanations in in case they are found to have an addiction, and spend a larger portion of their free time with those who can get together at the same time that that addiction is consumed. substance.

3. The person goes out without explaining where he is going

Addicted people they need to regularly engage in "missions" to get the psychoactive substance on which they are dependent, and this happens by talking as little as possible about this with those who can not bring them closer to this goal.

• You may be interested in: "What is dual pathology and how does it affect people?"

4. Sleep disturbances appear

Most addictions interfere with the quality of sleep of the people who suffer them. This causes those who have developed drug addiction to go to sleep late, wake up numerous times at night due to problems sleeping, etc.

5. Concentration problems

The addiction focuses the person's attention on the use of that substance, so even when they are performing tasks that have nothing to do with drugs, they cannot avoid fantasize about using, or think about what they will do in the next few hours to get more material. As a result, they are often unable to focus on a task if they are not using at that time.

6. Stress and anxiety problems appear

The "monkey" associated with withdrawal causes the addict's nervous system to go into a state of alarm, to detect as soon as possible opportunities that allow to continue consuming the psychoactive substance. For this reason, cold sweats, sensitivity to changes in the environment, tremors, dizziness, etc. may appear.

7. Skin problems arise

In the medium and long term, many drugs lead to the development of skin diseases that are easily visible. This is reflected, for example, in a more accelerated aging: hair loss, appearance of wrinkles in a relatively short period of time, changes in nail color, appearance of thinner and drier skin, etc. Of course, none of these phenomena is by itself indicative that the person has been using drugs, but if these elements are given together, there is a good chance that the origin is in this class of pathologies.

8. The situation progressively worsens

Addictions lead a person to see how her health progressively deteriorates; Unless you go through a detoxification and rehabilitation process, you will hardly go from addiction to a situation in which symptoms are emitted. Due to the dependence produced by the substance, the body gets used to the drug and the individual needs to consume more and more and more regularly to avoid suffering the discomfort of withdrawal.

Looking for addiction treatment?

If you want to start a treatment process to overcome an addiction, get in touch with us.

On CITA Clinics we specialize in detoxification and rehabilitation therapy and support services for people with addictive disorders; We serve from medicine and from psychotherapy to those who have developed a pathological dependence on a drug or a problematic behavior pattern (games of chance, video games, etc.). In addition, we have a residential module located in the middle of nature, for those who make use of the treatment in the short, medium or long-term income modality. You can find us in Barcelona and in Dosrius (Mataró).

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• Zhong, S., Yu, R., Fazel, S. (2020). Drug Use Disorders and Violence: Associations With Individual Drug Categories. Epidemiologic Reviews.