Addiction in Your Life
Table of Contents
How Drugs and Alcohol Affect Your Life & Relationships
Addiction is an insidious illness that can eventually take control of a person’s life. Anybody who risks experimenting with drugs can become addicted.1 One of the most disturbing things about this illness is that people who have it are often in denial, refusing to accept that they have a problem. Because they cannot see any problem, they feel they do not need to seek help.
If you abuse drugs or alcohol,2 you may be addicted without realizing it. Even if you are not addicted, there may be very good reasons why you should seek treatment to help you quit. Here are some of the many problems that people who abuse substances can encounter.
Alienation and Isolation in Addiction
Alienation and isolation go hand-in-hand with substance abuse. People who routinely avoid substance use have little desire to spend time in the company of those who are obviously high or drunk. Even if the abuser’s conduct is not particularly offensive, it is highly unlikely that he or she is capable of conducting a meaningful conversation. If you consistently abuse drugs or alcohol, you will soon find people will try to avoid you, even at times when you may be sober.
You may even find your family has begun to avoid you. Your abuse may be causing friction within the home on many different levels. There is a very real risk that you will be asked to leave. That risk is compounded if you start to ask others for money—or worse still, steal it—to pay for drugs or alcohol.
Call 866-491-4426 to Speak With an Addiction Specialist
Obsession
People who suffer from addiction become obsessed with drinking or their drug or choice. Their waking hours are dedicated to feeding their addiction. They are either looking for the money to buy the next lot of drugs or alcohol, trying to find it, or are completely under the influence of drugs or alcohol. This has an appalling effect on people’s lives. Relationships break down and personal health is neglected.
How Addiction Affects Your Health
Malnutrition is a common problem with people who have addictions. People who are suffering from addiction might choose to go hungry so that they can use money to feed their habits rather than buy food. Malnutrition leaves people vulnerable to numerous health problems.
Persistent substance abuse exposes people to many different health risks, some of which are life-threatening. Those who inject risk of hepatitis or HIV from using infected needles, and the risk of overdose is always near. Thousands of people die every year in accidents that occurred when they were under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Constant drug or alcohol abuse damages organs and can cause depression and mental illness.
If you use drugs or alcohol, you are putting yourself at risk on many different levels. You may already have an addiction. That means you have a serious illness that needs to be treated. The good news is that millions of people like yourself have learned how to manage their addiction and achieve and maintain sobriety. People who have hit the darkest depths of despair have managed to get their lives back on track, and you can too. Contact LifeSync Malibu now to learn what treatment options are the best match for your needs.
Call 866-491-4426 to Speak With an Addiction Specialist
- (1) Drug Fact Sheet
- (2) Drugfacts: Understanding Drug Use and Addiction
