Source: Rehab Adviser
Public health issues impact our society in profound ways, beyond the struggles faced by individuals or their immediate families. The economy, workforce, and health care are all impacted by substance abuse.
In fact, addiction has become so severe that it is reducing human life expectancy for the first time in decades. Youth are primarily affected by addiction, which is even more alarming.
How Does Addiction Work?
As a complex condition, addiction is characterized by compulsive substance use despite harmful consequences. A common misconception is that people choose addictions because they're bored or for some other reason. In reality, the situation is different, and we as a society need to move beyond this common belief.
Addicts are driven by a strong urge to consume a certain substance(s) to such an extent that it controls their lives. Despite being aware of the consequences and problems that substances can cause, people with addictions still use them.
This happens because addicts suffer from distorted thinking, behavior, and body functions. The changes in the brain's wiring are responsible for the intense cravings for the drug. These changes are also the reason why many people don't think they can overcome addiction as easily as they think.
The Various Stages of Addiction
Source: Special Care Hospital Management
Initial Use
As soon as the user comes into contact with a substance, the cycle of addiction begins. It could be a prescribed medication to manage pain, alcohol at a social event, or simply peer pressure to fit in with their friends that leads an individual to try the substance for the first time.
During this stage, the individual will understand how this particular drug makes them feel. You're pulled into the first use as a hook. Even if one has the intention of never becoming addicted, that doesn't always happen. A person may use drugs or alcohol due to mental or emotional problems they need to address. Taking care of this stage of the cycle allows for rest if the issues do not bother anyone.
Abuse
When someone starts using a substance recurrently, it is the second stage of the addiction cycle. It may mean an individual increase their alcohol consumption in response to stress or anxiety, or they increase their pain medication dosage without consulting their doctor. Alternatively, it could be due to recreational use of the substance. Abuse occurs when it becomes a habit.
One may also find that the recovery time increases during the abuse stage. After the high, the brain tries to figure out what happened. During this stage of addiction, the brain takes longer to chemically repair itself and return to balance.
Tolerance
After abusing a substance for a long period, one begins to develop tolerance, the next phase in the addiction cycle. The brain begins to undergo chemical changes in this phase. Due to chemical changes, the user may no longer get the same physical or mental effects when they take the original dosage. In an attempt to recapture the original euphoria or high, the user may increase the dosage or frequency of use of the substance.
The new dosage may work for a while, but tolerance to it will eventually develop. As a result, the person starts increasing the dosage again, which gradually progresses to heavy substance abuse. Tolerance indicates a change in the brain in response to the drug. As time passes, the brain adapts and changes the way it responds to the drug. After some time, this will lead to the next stage of addiction- dependence.
Dependence
A user's body or brain becomes dependent on the substance to function properly or to feel "normal". According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, not all drug dependence is addiction. To breathe properly, a patient with chronic diabetes may be dependent on daily medication. That, however, does not constitute addiction.
An individual was unable to function properly before the drug was introduced, and they are using the medication to correct the problem. The drug does not cause dysfunction. Addiction may develop if a person uses a drug to treat one condition and becomes dependent on it to feel good that is unrelated to the condition being treated.
Addiction
Eventually, an individual will become addicted to long-term use. Addiction is defined as a complex chronic mental illness resulting from compulsive substance use despite harmful consequences.
In this stage, the individual is so focused on using a particular substance that it completely takes over their life. Substance abuse can negatively affect an individual's relationships, work, finances, overall mental and physical health, and more.
Substance use disorders like addiction are characterized by 11 signs and symptoms, including:
Overdosing on the substance
An inability to stop using the substance
Problems with relationships due to substance abuse
Taking a long time to use the substance or to recover from its use
Substance abuse takes priority over favorite activities
Substance abuse prevents you from keeping up with daily responsibilities
The desire to consume the substance
Despite negative health effects, using the substance
Using hazardous substances routinely
As previously described, tolerance to the substance develops
If you stop using, you may experience withdrawal symptoms
In general, experiencing 2-3 of these symptoms is considered a mild substance use disorder. Reporting 4-5 of them leads to a diagnosis of a moderate disorder. If the person is experiencing 6 or more of the symptoms, it is considered to indicate a severe substance use disorder or addiction.
Relapse
After a while, an addicted individual may realize the harmful or dangerous consequences of their addiction or grow tired of living their lives in the shadow of it. These experiences lead to an attempt to quit. Relapses can occur as a result of withdrawal symptoms, triggers, or other factors in an individual's life. As defined by the Medical Dictionary, a relapse is a downward spiral back into addictive behavior.
It is part of any chronic condition that a person has the potential for relapse. Sometimes, the initial treatment does not work, or the person attempts to quit without help, and over time, control is lost, and the patient relapses. It does not mean that the person has failed; it simply means they need to adjust their treatment.
We should give these individuals a chance to get out of any of these stages for their health and well-being.
Written By - Dr. Nayana Shree Suresh
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