Signs of Substance Abuse
It is estimated that 74 percent of Americans claim that alcohol addiction has impacted them at some point in their lives, whether it is their own, that of a friend or family member or experiences with others.
Healing from this dysfunction takes time and effort. Feelings and emotions often have been frozen, covered by anger or fear, or other inapproprate respsonses and rarely dealt with openly and honestly. Counseling can help you with this process. To experience to good feelings, e.g. joy, contentment etc. requires that you feel the others, sadness, pain, fear and so on. When you deny any feelings, the door is closed to all feelings.
The work needed to be done to enjoy the wonders of life, free from self defeating behaviors or substance abuse that ruled daily life, is worth it. Caring for yourself is worth it. Whether you are the addict or close to an addict, your life has been dictated by rules of the disease. Hide, don’t express feelings, deny the problem, move to a new place, get new friends and so on are avenues many take but they don’t work. Facing the demons works.
I can help you move along this path and find your way to a more gratifying, confident and contented life. Marriages can be good again; children can be close; friends can be trusted; jobs can be more rewarding. All this can and most often does happen when you commit to working through this in therapy.
The following are some signs of substance abuse and addiction to be aware for yourself or others.
1. Preoccupation, such as planning events around use and need to be sure of availability when wanted.
2. Using in situations that might be dangerous to self or others.
3. Unplanned use, and inability to stop as originally planned.
4. Use alone and defensiveness re use.
5. Protecting the supply
6. Use as a medicine
7. Increased tolerance, that is, you need more of the substance to reach the desired effect.
8. Blackouts
9. Failing at obligations