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Drug and alcohol addiction, or substance use disorder, is a complex, chronic disease characterized by compulsive substance seeking, despite the harmful consequences. It affects both the mind and the body. After continued use, the chemistry of the brain and body change significantly, making it difficult to stop using drugs or alcohol.
Learn more about addiction and the effects of specific drugs or alcohol. Visit our What We Treat pages to find more information on specific substances.
Observe their behavior for a few days or weeks to understand why you think they have a problem. This information will be useful when you talk with other family members, professionals, and your friend/family member about their addiction.
Share your observations to get a different perspective. This helps you understand if there really seems to be a problem.
Protect yourself and those around you from physical harm. Call the police if there is danger of violence.
Set limits to protect your home, finances, and relationships. Avoid enabling behavior, such as providing financial help.
Call us to speak with a substance abuse professional. Our phone line is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Describe your observations, what type of substance is being abused, how long the use has been going on, the negative consequences from use, and how they respond to conversations about drugs and alcohol.
Usually, someone experiments with drugs or alcohol because of their environment. Peer pressure from friends in college may lead to the first drink of alcohol or the first puff of a marijuana joint. This later turns into a ritual activity in circles of friends, and the addiction starts to form.
It is essential to have the correct, supporting environment during and after recovery for higher chances of continued sobriety.
Drugs and alcohol disconnect the mind and body from the current state of reality. When someone is battling with a mental illness, such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, depression, or ADHD, using substances seem to help cope with anxiety, depression, and loneliness. In reality, it makes these problems worse.
Trauma and mental illness can not be cured by drugs. It is important to address the root cause of substance abuse, mental unease. This is why we have a therapist and counselors on site every day to help our patients work through trauma and mental illnesses.
If a blood relative, such as a parent or sibling, has addiction problems, it is more likely that the children will develop drug or alcohol addictions as well.
Drugs and alcohol affect the “reward circuit” in the brain, flooding it with dopamine and causing euphoria. These changes cause dependencies that make it difficult for anyone to stop using even if there is a strong desire to quit.
Some of the functions affected by drug and alcohol addiction include:
After an extended period of substance abuse, the brain develops a tolerance. This means that more of the substance is needed to feel the same euphoria, making overdose a possibility. It is important to seek help before this happens.
Quitting drugs and alcohol alone is not easy, and is it potentially lethal if done without medical help. That is why we offer a medically monitored detox program with Medication Assisted Treatments (MAT) to help battle withdrawal symptoms.
Completely cutting out alcohol or benzodiazepines, like xanax, can cause seizures and death.
Suddenly cutting opioids will cause extreme muscle and bone pain, diarrhea, vomiting, and cold flashes.
Even if someone quits for a short period of time, the chances of relapse are high. This is why it is important to have continued support and treatment plans, even after stopping drug or alcohol use. After our detox and residential programs, we create an aftercare plan for each of our patients.
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