The problem with an evolving understanding of an issue is it becomes difficult to proceed with confidence. Knowing that what you were taught might no longer be true makes it difficult to move forward.
Making matters worse, drug addiction is often a second-hand issue. to this end, learning about some drug addiction facts helps orient you to finding solutions and finding out more about specific paths and treatment options.
The following offers some tangible reality to what sometimes seems a limitless problem.
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Drug Addiction Facts
People are complicated. People altering their conditions with substances more so.
1. Addiction Falls into Two Categories
One thing you might hear a lot is the term ‘addiction’ being applied to compulsive behaviors. You’re not ‘addicted’ to screens, it’s a compulsion.
Addiction requires a dependence that is either mental or physical in nature. Addiction to sugar also isn’t a thing as your body needs sugars to function. The compulsion is to overindulge.
Physical dependencies manifest in pain, sickness, and digestive issues. As the body comes to rely on a substance or stops manufacturing it itself, the lack of substance throws natural systems out of whack.
Mental dependence also creates physical changes but in the brain. here receptors and channels get disrupted, leaving lasting damage. Aberrant behavior increases and unlike other parts of the body, damage may not be reversible.
2. Genetic Precursors
Addictive behavior has a genetic component. If your family is prone to substance abuse, you’re likely to inherit the same issues.
Addiction response is also genetic. If a substance affects a parent adversely, it’s likely to do so to the children. This is one reason Native populations experience steeper declines with alcoholism.
On top of this, poverty tends to be generational, and experiencing poverty, even for a short period, is linked to a plethora of addiction risks.
3. Relapse is Common
Not relapsing is more the exception since 85% of addicts relapse with 60% of those doing so in the first month after treatment.
The reason relapse is such a problem is linked to the physical dependence of addiction and the lifestyle issues that put a person at risk.
While going through drug addiction treatment helps to sever the physical dependence and reset health, it doesn’t solve these underlying issues. Staying clean requires growth and positive steps which feel even more difficult after treatment with so many pressures put on a recovering addict.
4. Environment Shapes Relapse
The environment that an addict thrives in is one more reason for relapses. Old habits and all that.
For many, living alone or in an environment that failed to hold them accountable fosters further addictive behavior. Assisted living, sober housing, and other residential programs provide support and aid.
Find more info about these options to increase the chances of passing the relapse threshold.
5. Alcohol Leads Statistically
The most common addiction in the United States is alcohol. This supersedes the second largest, prescription drug addiction, by almost double.
Part of this stems from the prevalence of alcoholic substances in society. The other is that it is a slow addiction that produces many high-functioning addicts in comparison to other substances.
The Shape of Knowledge
While this isn’t an exhaustive list of drug addiction facts, it gives you a basis to learn more.
There’s always more to learn, so visit us again for more lifestyle and health information.