Do you think you or your loved one is suffering from a substance use disorder and doesn’t know what to do? Or you are just intrigued about understanding what substance use disorder is all about?
In this post, you will learn everything you need to know about substance use disorder. By the way, you can get the best substance use disorder treatment here.
What Is Substance Use Disorder?
Substance use disorder otherwise known as addiction is a mental health-related disease that affects an individual’s brain and behaviors. This often leads to their inability to control how much intake of the substance they consume. This substance could include prescription medicines or over-the-counter (OTC) medicines like opioids (codeine, morphine, fentanyl, hydrocodone, oxycodone, codeine, and morphine), Adderall, methamphetamine (meth). Substance abuse or addiction also involves illicit drugs such as heroin, marijuana, cocaine, hallucinogens, and so on. Likewise, alcohol and nicotine are considered drugs as well.
How Does Substance Use Disorder Occur?
Substance use disorder or drug addiction often starts as an experimental use of recreational drugs in social gatherings. While most people’s cases of addiction begin with exposure to medical prescription drugs especially opioids or pain relievers. Usually, in the instance of prescription medicines or drugs, abusers find it very difficult to stop the usage of the prescribed medicines even after they have been certified healthy by their physicians. Also, medications or prescriptions can be gotten from a relative who was genuinely prescribed the medication by a professional.
Gradually, the urge for the drugs increases daily, and the need to dose up becomes frequent. This situation becomes more difficult for users as the doses required to get high increase. Thereby, users feel useless without using drugs and are unable to carry out their daily activities. The dependency and reliance on the substances to feel good become more pronounced and users are hooked.
How fast an individual becomes addicted to a substance varies and depends largely on the substance use and tolerance level of the users. Any attempt to stop substance use in this stage without medical help will cause intense cravings and lead to withdrawal symptoms or becoming ill.
Sign And Symptoms Of Substance Use Disorder
The symptoms vary just like the tolerance level in individuals. These are common signs and symptoms of substance use disorder.
- Extreme cravings for the substance just to block out any other thoughts.
- The urges to use the substance more frequently which may be daily or multiple times in a day.
- Requiring larger doses of the drug to get the same high as the body is getting more used to the presence of the substance.
- Constant usage of prescription medicines even after getting better.
- Maintaining a supply chain of the drug and keeping more than prescribed around.
- Spending time and resources on the drugs even though you can’t afford them.
- Having problems concentrating on work requirements, school obligations, or family responsibilities.
- Continual usage of drugs even though it’s causing more physical and psychological harm than necessary.
- Indulging in bad activities such as stealing to get the substance.
- Spending considerable time getting off the effects of the drug after usage.
- Attempted failures in stopping the usage of drugs.
- Lastly, encountering withdrawal symptoms whenever attempting to stop taking the substance.
- Occasioning health challenges such as lack of energy, constant fatigue, sudden weight loss or gain, and red eyes.
- Having constant unruly appearance, looks and behavior.
- Having any related money issues such as borrowing money or selling precious items to get money for funding the drugs spree.
Treatment For Substance Use Disorder
Treatment for substance use disorder may include one of the following depending on the certain drug abused. Medical detoxification and therapies. Consult your physician to help you in determining the best medical approach to overcoming and treating substance use disorder.
