What is a Drug Addict?

A drug addict is a person who has become physically or emotionally dependent on addictive substances (drugs, alcohol) which impair them from a physical, emotional, social or even vocational perspective.

There are a myriad of attitudes concerning the drug addict. Cultivating an awareness of this issue begins with the realization that drug addicts are not necessarily bad people, but rather caught in a vicious cycle of drug use where their ability to stop is compromised by many factors. Fortunatally this condition is treatable.

How does a person become a drug addict?

No one wants to become a drug addict. The drug addict must first have some underlying problem, or underlying happiness, sense of hopelessness, or physical pain all of which cause some form of discomfort at varying degrees. The person drinks or experiments with drugs at some point and the alcohol or drugs appear to solve his problem. He feels better. Because he now seems better able to deal with life, the drugs become valuable to him. The person gradually increases his usage of his drug of choice. He is then trapped. Whatever problem he was initially trying to solve by using drugs or alcohol fades from memory. At this point, all he can think about is getting and using drugs. He loses the ability to control his usage and disregards the horrible consequences of his addiction.

Drug Addict Behavior

The addict will now attempt to withold the fact of his drug use from friends and family members. He will begin to suffer the effects of his own dishonesty and guilt. He may become withdrawn and difficult to reason with. He may become critical, blaming, and even hostile. He will often tend to blame his problems on those around him, including friends, co-workers, and loved ones.

The more he uses drugs, the more guilty he will feel, and the more depressed he will become. He will sacrifice his personal integrity, possibly lying and stealing to finance his drinking or drug habit. His relationships with friends and family and his job performance will go drastically downhill.

The drugs and alcohol are now the most important thing in his life. He has thrown away his job, his life-savings, his dreams and ambitions, all in an effort to maintain the painkilling and emotion killing effects he once obtained from the drugs. But ironically, his ability to get "high" from the alcohol or drugs gradually decreases as his body adapts to the presence of regular drug use. He must take more and more, and he now has to have them to be able to function at all.

As he continues to drink or use drugs, his body continues to adapt to the presence of the drugs. This is when the newly created drug addict begins to experience drug cravings. He will experience an overwhelming obsession with getting and using his drugs, and will do anything to avoid the pain of withdrawing from them.

He has crossed an invisibile and intangible line. He is now a drug addict.

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