The signs of addiction are Three main signs of drug addiction. Key Signs of Addiction: Behavioral Symptoms

Modern reality can be not only delightfully interesting and surprisingly full of vivid adventures, unfortunately, it can also be cruel. A lot of bad habits fall on a person. It’s good if there is willpower, it’s good if there are close people nearby who will lend a helping hand, not allowing you to slide into the abyss. However, not every person is so lucky, sometimes under the burden of serious problems, even a prosperous, educated and successful man becomes an alcoholic or drug addict.

Whether a person who has recently tried, but has not yet had time to become addicted to drugs, becomes a drug addict depends entirely on those who live or work with him under the same roof. One cannot remain indifferent in a situation where there are clear signs addiction, it is important to help a stumbled person, because anyone can get into such trouble.

External signs of drug use

• mood swings alternating with bouts of aggression and bursts of happiness, bliss and peace
• change in the skin surface, which becomes dull, pale, excessively weakened
• wounds heal for a long time, sometimes they rot
• bruises are often found on the body
• unusual gleam in the eyes
• dilated pupils
• frequent drinking of large amounts of water
• injection marks.

These are only external signs of drug use, which can be seen with a short contact with a novice drug addict. If you have to communicate with such a person for a long time, you can also notice obvious signs of a novice drug addict, observing his behavior and analyzing his actions. A person becomes overly secretive, quite often cuts off the conversation on the phone if someone else becomes a witness to the dialogue. Drug addicts prefer solitude, so they tend to avoid home tea parties, they do not seek to introduce their family members to their new friends.

There are other signs that a person is using drugs. In particular, among his personal items, one can find syringes, needles, spoons with traces of frequent heating, plastic bottles, cans, rubber bands and cotton swabs. Another external sign of a drug addict is the deterioration of his appearance. The addict ceases to be disturbed by the way he looks. For this reason, his hair may be greasy, his nails overgrown and dirty. Clothes in which he can be not only at home, but also visit crowded places, in most cases, not only crumpled, but also dirty.

Deterioration in health

Drug addiction is a serious disease, therefore, when using drugs, a person's health is rapidly deteriorating. You do not need to be a doctor to notice such deterioration even at home. In particular, the characteristic signs of drug addiction include rapid weight loss. Sometimes a person can lose more than 10 kg of weight in just one week.

You can suspect something is wrong if you observe how close person eats. Abrupt changes in appetite, alternating with incredible gluttony, and then a complete refusal of food, also indicate that a loved one has begun to use drugs. After eating, drug addicts may experience discomfort or even pain in the gastrointestinal tract, as these organs take on the toxic blow that the drugs are responsible for.

Drug addicts often complain of headaches. This is no coincidence, because arterial pressure they are constantly jumping. Doctors refer to the signs of drug use as a cough that cannot be eliminated even with the appointment of medications. Addicts become irritable also for the reason that they experience a constant lack of sleep. It is very difficult for them to fall asleep, and even if they succeed, sleep will be short and restless. Chronic fatigue increases external manifestations aggression and irritability.

Sexual function is disturbed in drug addicts, men lose sexual potency, and women experience a failure menstrual cycle. Drug addicts often experience pain in the joints and muscles. Due to the fact that narcotic substances have a negative impact on a person's health, his immunity weakens, so drug addicts often experience colds.

Subjective signs of a drug addict

There are also signs of a drug addict that go unnoticed by others, but the person himself, who has not yet lost the ability to analyze and critically evaluate his actions and behavior, notices these signs. In particular, he is convinced that the craving for a new dose is irresistible, it is difficult for the patient to resist his inner desires.

The addict loses interest in everything that surrounds him. He is haunted by thoughts only of high. Parents may notice signs that their child is using drugs, such as frequent absenteeism from school, serious problems with achievement. In many subjects, the child brings from school only low grades, despite the fact that earlier he even succeeded in mastering school disciplines.

A drug addict is characterized not only by a change in behavior, but even in the manner of conducting a dialogue. Often, such patients prefer to remain silent, but at the time of the dialogue, you can notice new words that were not previously characteristic of his vocabulary. This is the so-called addict slang.

Both the addict himself and his relatives notice that addiction has made him a real liar. Drug addicts indulge in all sorts of fantasies when they seek to borrow money in order to get another dose. When relatives can no longer or no longer want to give cash, they even commit such acts as selling personal belongings, equipment. When there is nothing left among their own things that could be sold, drug addicts commit theft. They are not even afraid that such serious acts may be followed by imprisonment.

Help for drug addicts

The deeper the problem becomes, the more difficult it will be to solve. If relatives or friends have noticed the main signs of the development of drug addiction in someone who did not experience any problems yesterday, it is important not to pretend that nothing is happening. You can not blame the addict for his impotence, you can not scold him, because all such actions will aggravate the situation, orient the addict to take a new dose. This is not surprising, because when high he does not experience any problems, he becomes “easy”.

The right decision would be to convince the addict to visit a drug treatment clinic. Our rehabilitation center"Renaissance" provides high-quality medical, psychological help to all those who have made the decision to embark on the path of healing. Highly qualified specialists will find an individual approach to each patient, develop a successful scheme of treatment and rehabilitation. Pull the person out vicious circle addiction specialists of our center always succeed. Staying in the center, drug addicts feel care, attention to themselves, and comfortable conditions where they live remind them of home.

THE HISTORY OF DRUGS The history of the emergence of drugs goes back many centuries. Usage narcotic substances first mentioned among the ancient Sumerians. It was then, five thousand years before our era, that the writings spoke of opium, which was called “joy” in Sumerian. Drugs have been known in almost every known ancient culture - Ancient Rome, Egypt, Greece, India, they are mentioned by historians, speaking of such civilizations as the Incas and Aztecs. Even the peoples of the Far North knew about the properties of this kind of substances. In the third millennium BC. e. there was a Shen-nong medical clinic, this Chinese emperor was engaged in medicine and proposed the use of hashish as medicinal product in intestinal disorders, gout, sclerosis and cough. This remedy was brewed in the form of tea. Inside the ancient burial complexes, drawings of the Indians of South America have been preserved, which depict people chewing coca leaves.

At the beginning of the first millennium, the rise in popularity of opium in ancient Rome was extremely high. This happened thanks to doctors who used it to treat certain diseases. The milky juice of the poppy is also mentioned in the works of Hippocrates and Theofast. The first opium-based drug was prescribed to a patient by Paracelsus in the 15th century. In any treatise of healers of antiquity and the Middle Ages, only useful property opium. Obviously, the level of development of medicine was not high enough to appreciate the problem of dependence on this substance.

WHEN DID DRUGS INTRODUCED? Since 1898, the famous German pharmaceutical company Bayer began selling a new drug - diacetylmorphine, or heroin. It was originally offered as a cough remedy. And only 15 years later it was noticed that patients are addicted to it. Along with heroin, cocaine began to be used in medicine for the purpose of pain relief. It was possible to isolate it from a plant that the Indians used since ancient times in South America. It is worth noting that until 1906 cocaine contained such a famous drink as Coca-Cola. On free sale at that time were also chewing gums, as well as tobacco products with the addition of this herb.

DRUG ADDICTION IN RUSSIA The ancient priests of the Slavic tribes used potent substances to treat people and put them into a trance. The formulation of the compositions of such potions has not reached our times, but it is known that certain berries, mushrooms, and mosses were used for this. The introduction and spread of the religion of Christianity in Rus' led to the fact that they began to fight hard with the production and use of potions. And the preachers of paganism were subjected to severe persecution. The Magi were fined in favor of the church, and especially zealous ones were burned at the stake. However, these measures were not supported by the population, and a certain number of prescriptions were transferred to traditional healers who used drugs for pain relief and as sleeping pills. Our ancestors are enough for a long time some plants were used exclusively for household needs. The ornament then included the image of beautiful poppy flowers, and hemp and exceptionally strong ropes were made from hemp. But already in those days, the hypnotic properties of a decoction of poppy seeds were used. Peasants gave it to children before leaving for their work, so that they would sleep and not distract their parents.

Since 1581, the royal physician from England, James French, opened the first pharmacy in Moscow. He brought there the first batches of opium and Europe, the origin of which was Indian. At first, in Russia, such purchases began to be made in bulk, but gradually they switched to direct deliveries from eastern countries. Until the very beginning of the twentieth century, drug addiction in Russia was not topical issue. Appearance a large number people dependent on drugs falls on the times of the First World War and the revolution. During these years, the history of drug addiction in Russia began, the use of cocaine and morphine as painkillers in military field surgery and for the treatment of oncological diseases became widespread. Morphine also served in those days as a source of inspiration among the bohemian elite. The decrease in the importance of cultural values ​​and the complete denial of religious postulates also had an effect. The second surge of drug addiction occurred in the seventies of the twentieth century. During this period, due to the introduction Soviet troops drugs of Asian origin became available in Afghanistan. There was practically no control over the transportation of potent drugs. After the collapse Soviet Union, since 1991 the growth of drug addiction in Russia has become steady and constant. Since 1997 there have been qualitative changes in the market of narcotic drugs. Artificially created synthetic and semi-synthetic substances took the first place in sales. The increase in the amount of heroin seized rose from 2% to 56%. In terms of the number of heroin addicts, Russia is in first place in the world, and in terms of the number of people dependent on any type of drug per capita, it is in third place.

Parents, relatives and friends can identify a person who is taking drugs. But, as a rule, most of them are not ready to hear the truth. But by noticing changes in a drug addict in time and taking immediate action, you can manage to save him from the abyss of addiction.

If you notice that something strange is happening with a person close to you, first of all, pay attention to whether he has signs of drug addiction.

And the sooner you take action and seek help from specialists, the higher the chance you have to save and cure your loved one.

How does drug addiction occur?

It is customary to single out the following reasons why people become drug addicts:

• physiological, which include hereditary predisposition or genetic disorders in the metabolism of neurotransmitters in the brain. Excess or deficiency of these substances provokes changes emotional state a person, increasing his anxiety and unreasonable fear, the appearance of a feeling of dissatisfaction. Having taken the drug for the first time, a person with impaired neurotransmitter metabolism can quickly and effortlessly get rid of tension and anxiety, in return he will feel calm, pleasure and bliss;
• psychological: weak and immature psyche, unconsciousness of one's own actions, inability to satisfy one's own needs in a normal way, an acute desire to immediately receive what one wants from others, excessive demands on oneself and others, unwillingness to solve one's problems on one's own, violent fantasies;
• social: unpreparedness for adult life and the inability to solve problems on their own, excessive guardianship of relatives or their unspoken ban on the free manifestation of their own "I". Often the reason for the start of drug use is domestic violence, neglect, uncontrolled life of adolescents without the participation of parents and an excessively “free” parenting style.

Many of the above causes of addiction are a combination of social and psychological factors. Besides:

even simple youthful maximalism, interest in new sensations, the need for self-expression, unwillingness to obey social standards, boredom or self-doubt can become the reason for the first use of drugs.

Therefore, when the first signs of a drug addict appear, it is necessary to take action and seek help.

Signs of drug use of different types

A person taking narcotic and psychotropic substances has some symptoms of drug addiction.

But they differ in the type of drug:

1. marijuana causes lethargy, drowsiness, inappropriate behavior, sudden mood changes, laughter for no reason, sudden weight loss. The look of a marijuana addict becomes glassy, ​​and the eyes themselves are red;
2. psychostimulants and “soft” drugs lead to hyperactivity, irritability, sleep disturbance, weight loss or excessive weight gain;
3. when taking inhalants, memory is disturbed, a person becomes irritable, anxious, he becomes drowsy, refuses food, experiences dizziness, nausea. And under his nose, a red rash appears;
4. hallucinogenic drugs cause increased emotionality, irritability, aggression. A drug addict who takes such substances becomes secretive, his speech becomes slurred, his thoughts are confused, interest in study or work disappears;
5. taking depressants and sleeping pills, the addicted person's behavior is disturbed, paranoid attacks occur and suicidal tendencies appear. But most hallmark addiction is sleep disturbance and redness of the eyes.

None of the above signs of drug use is a guarantee that someone close to you has become addicted. Therefore, pay attention to his mental state, his behavior, habits, watch him, talk to him, and only then draw the right conclusions.

Main signs of drug use

Determine if your relative or close friend became addicted, it is possible for some outward signs addict:

• on changes in appearance skin: it becomes pale or reddened;
• speech becomes incoherent;
• loss of appetite or overuse food;
• impaired coordination of movements;
• indifference to their appearance develops.

But most characteristic symptom addiction is a change in the eyes: the pupils dilate or constrict, the whites turn red, and the look becomes glassy and cloudy.

Outward and obvious behavioral signs of drug use include:

• causeless excitement;
• a sharp change in performance: from increased activity to lethargy;
• indifference to the outside world, deterioration of attention and memory;
• inability to focus on anything in particular;
• there is insomnia or drowsiness;
• reduced self-esteem;
• mood changes drastically;
• increased fatigue even with minor loads;
• asociality, self-isolation and refusal to communicate with friends and relatives.

In addition, there are three more main signs of drug addiction and dependence of your loved one:

• missing valuables and money from home;
• frequent phone calls;
• lies and resourcefulness of a drug addict.

Therefore, be attentive to your loved ones, and remember that only a change in behavior should alert you, and if you find several of the above symptoms of drug use at once, talk to the addict. Of course, a person will try to deny everything, will refer to employment or fatigue when trying to discuss with him his changed behavior. He may not even admit to himself that there is a problem and consider that all this is temporary. Thus, he tries to protect loved ones from his problems. However, the fact remains that the addict cannot cope with the addiction on his own, and he needs help. And, above all, the help of relatives and friends.

Therefore, if you have suspicions about the behavior of someone from your environment, take the first step towards drug addiction treatment and contact Renaissance.

This sign is not always possible to track in time, so it is so important to be interested in children's friends, to get to know their families. If you are not in a hurry to be introduced into the circle of new acquaintances, you should be wary. Usually teenagers and young people become addicted if there is a charismatic leader nearby, and also because of curiosity, low self-esteem, domestic problems... There can be many reasons, but all of them lead to the fact that a person loses his former place in society: he becomes an outcast or unemployed.

Of course, addiction develops differently for everyone. For some - after the first use of the drug, for others - after a few weeks or months. The three main signs of drug addiction and substance abuse that we have listed with detailed description, will help you notice something is wrong in time and take action. We, in turn, will be ready to provide you with professional advice and effective medical assistance. You can contact our specialists with any doubts or suspicions.