10 Signs That You Need Addiction Help

Addiction affects people of all ages, genders, and socioeconomic status. Therefore, at the first signs that someone is developing this type of disorder, it is important to seek help.

However, for people not trained in the field of health, it can be difficult to know how to detect addiction disorders. Therefore, in this article we will see what are the main signs of addiction that show the need to seek professional help as soon as possible, as well as the impact they have on the life of the affected person and their environment.

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

Signs of addiction: when to seek professional help?

Addiction brings with it various physical, psychological, and social signs that can be identified. Here we will see what they consist of, although it must be taken into account that these are guidelines to guide oneself and that each person is different and has their particularities.

1. Lack of control over a substance or behavior

Abusive consumption of alcohol, stimulant drugs or other psychoactive substances, inability to resist shopping, leisure time devoted entirely to looking at a screen...

They are signs that the person is seeing their freedom and autonomy conditioned for a behavior that does not contribute anything positive but that happens to be one of his main priorities, or perhaps even his main priority.

To find out if this criterion is met or not, it is recommended that you keep track of the occasions on which this repetitive behavior appears.

2. Bad time management

The desire to satisfy the need produced by the addiction cannot wait: that is one of the characteristics of any addiction disorder. That is why, in people who develop these psychological and psychiatric disorders, the difficulty managing time in areas of life that do not have to do with that kind of activities.

In this way, the tendency to become obsessed with the behavior that is the root of the addiction arises and the whole schedule becomes subject to improvisation in order to avoid withdrawal syndrome in its different demonstrations.

3. family isolation

Another warning sign associated with addiction is a lack of concern and withdrawal from family members. closest, being the substance/behavior their priority choice, when deciding what to dedicate the time.

After all, these needs imposed by the disorder can usually be satisfied alone, apart from social interaction, and when they require the presence of someone else (for example, in compulsive gambling) treatment It is superficial and confined to fulfilling very specific roles (customer and service provider, or players who compete with each other, etc.).

• You may be interested in: "The 8 types of family conflicts and how to manage them"

4. Difficulties at work and/or studies or lack of interest in it

Long-term projects lose importance for the addicted person, who gives much more importance to impulses and short-term goals (practice, linked to addiction).

Some examples of this pattern of behavior are the habit of arriving late, the lack of attention in the activities to be carried out, the decrease in performance, etc.

5. Difficulties in personal relationships (friendship or love)

In the same way that family relationships are damaged by addiction, the same thing happens with other types of affective ties, such as friendships.

Addicted people frequently reach a point where they have liquidity problems, which leads them to ask for money that sometimes they cannot give back, and since the priority is to be able to continue covering the need to satisfy the addiction, they are forced to lie to cover their backs in these cases. This can lead to the destruction of relationships.

6. Lack of interest in social/leisure activities

Another feature is inattention to healthy and pleasurable activities of life, giving up social, recreational or occupational activities, to focus on the substance or behavior that has been chosen;

7. Neglect in personal hygiene

Personal care is no longer important, since it requires time and the addiction works against preserving a good level of well-being in general terms, with which it makes no sense to worry about the image that is given, hygiene, etc..

8. Problems with physical health

Common among these problems are, for example, a lack of energy and motivation, problems sleep, weight gain or loss, difficulties with concentration and memory, mood changes humour, etc.

9. Drastic changes in behavior towards family and friends

For example, attention is drawn to the lack of interest in being with them, irritability, aggressiveness, the search for social isolation, etc. The person is not able to provide convincing explanations for this change in behavior, and sometimes even becomes angry when asked about it.

10. Economic difficulties

Another sign that there is an addiction is, as we have seen before, the lack of ability to manage money, and the accumulation of debts and credits. This is an element that, as a consequence, produces the part of the deterioration of the person's quality of life that does not have to do with the physical deterioration directly caused by the disorder.