Kratom users can chew the tree’s leaves, swallow or brew dry kratom, or add the extract to a liquid. Healing leads to a brighter future with better health, stronger relationships, and new goals. Healthcare providers may recommend therapies alone or in combination with medications. Approach the conversation with empathy and without judgment. Share your concerns honestly and encourage them to speak to a medical professional or addiction specialist.
Substance Use Among Youth
Drug trafficking wreaks havoc on communities, causing widespread damage. The victim areas often see a surge in crime, from violence and theft to gang-related activity, as drug dealers fight for territory. This instability causes innocent people to live each moment of their lives in mortal fear. Local businesses suffer, investments dry up, and whole neighborhoods become rundown -especially places already struggling with poverty. Drug addiction, overdoses, and diseases such as HIV spread rapidly.
Warning Signs of Substance Use Disorder
Due to the toxic nature of these substances, users may develop brain damage or sudden death. As time passes, you may need larger doses of the drug to get high. Soon you may need the drug just to feel good. As your drug use increases, you may find that it’s increasingly difficult to go without the drug. Attempts to stop drug use may cause intense cravings and make you feel physically ill.
- Staff ask about drug use, health, and daily life.
- A full diagnosis should come from a health care provider.
- For more tips, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) offers a comprehensive guide to preventing substance use in adults and families.
- But recovering from substance use disorders and behavioral addictions isn’t easy.
- We treat each person with respect and dignity.
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These programs support behavioral modification through self-help and peer support. Group therapy supports people with SUD in maintaining abstinence and restraint. Different substances affect different parts of your body. For example, if you overdose on opioids, it targets the part of your brain that regulates your breathing. If not treated quickly, your breathing slows or stops completely, leading to death. Understanding the nature of drug addiction can help you or a loved one take the first steps toward healing.
- These changes often show up before physical problems.
- A provider can help you make adjustments throughout your life as needed.
- Some people who’ve been using opioids over a long period of time may need physician-prescribed temporary or long-term drug substitution during treatment.
- If you do start using the drug, it’s likely you’ll lose control over its use again — even if you’ve had treatment and you haven’t used the drug for some time.
- Tolerance happens when a dose of a substance does not work well enough over time.
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Behavioral addictions can occur with any activity that’s capable of stimulating your brain’s reward system. For many people, drug use begins as a choice. You might take something to feel drug addiction better, ease pain, or manage stress.
Treatment teaches coping skills and healthy habits. Recovery is a lifelong process with lasting rewards. Recovery also includes learning life skills. Patients work on sleep, nutrition, and stress control.
When misused, the following common drugs may lead to physical, psychological, spiritual, and relational problems, as well as other drug-related risks. In some cases, substance use disorder (SUD) may develop. Drug addiction doesn’t just affect the individual it can ripple through every area of life, from physical health to legal standing to family relationships. Understanding the potential complications of addiction is critical, both for those currently struggling and for those aiming to prevent substance misuse before it begins. Not everyone who uses drugs becomes addicted. Occasional or even frequent drug use may not meet the clinical threshold for addiction.