How to Gain Insight Into Substance Abuse

Substance abuse can seem like a way of dealing with problems.

Understanding substance abuse can be very difficult if you aren't familiar with the causes and effects of it. Addiction or over-use of a substance can be seen as substance abuse, and people can abuse alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, heroin, crack, nicotine, oxycodone and many other substances. It can be difficult to understand what drives people to abuse these substances, particularly with the amount of negative consequences that doctors and the government warn people about. Attempting to better understand substance abuse is a good idea if you have a friend or family member who is affected.

Instructions

1. Accept that drugs have positive effects as well as negative ones. Drugs have a variety of pleasurable effects, and that is generally what makes people want to take them again. Think about the effects of alcohol or nicotine, and remember that aside from the hangover and the cough, they do have positive effects. Drugs have a lot of similarities in this respect. Cannabis, for instance, can help users feel relaxed and content, and ecstasy produces a state of euphoric happiness. Understand that the reason people initially take drugs is because they enjoy doing so.

2. Think about the aspects of life that drive people to addiction. People who are susceptible to substance abuse often have a turbulent home life, or lacked parental attachment during their youth. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, genetic factors can account for up to half of someone's vulnerability to addiction. In addition, if people have grown up in a home where people abuse substances, they will be more likely to do so themselves.

3. Understand the habit-forming aspects of drug use. Think of this as different from addiction, which is a physical dependency that develops with time. For example, imagine a person who has a drink of whiskey every day after he gets home from work. Life can be stressful, and each day at work seems to be getting worse and worse. Every single day he needs that drink more and more, and soon it develops into getting drunk every day, just to deal with his stress. After time, this cyclical behavior becomes a substance abuse problem.

4. Visit substance abuse forums. Forums such as Sober Recovery are places for people with substance abuse problems to tell their stories and help each other through their problems. Read the posts left by people who have tried to kick their drug habit, and look at the responses other members have left. Think about how they treat their addiction, and their feelings towards it.

5. Attend a Narcotics Anonymous or Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. Try to arrange a visit to listen to other people's stories. Understand that the people who attend meetings like that are looking for help, and have succumbed to substance abuse and addiction. Listen to what they say about their addiction. Understand that people who abuse substances are not inhuman monsters, just people who are going through a difficult patch in their lives.

References

• eMedicine Health: Substance Abuse
• NIDA: Understanding Drug Abuse and Addiction
• Help Guide: Drug Abuse and Addiction
• BBC Health: Causes of Addiction

Resources

• Sober Recovery: Substance Abuse
• Drug Strategies: Narcotics Anonymous Meetings
• Alcoholics Anonymous