Addiction is a chronic brain disease that causes compulsive, uncontrolled drug seeking and use despite harmful consequences. The signs of addiction can be physical, mental, social, or behavioral. Physical signs of addiction can be the inability to stop using the drug even after it has caused problems in their life, fits of anger or irritability when trying to quit, nausea, weight loss, fever, Insomnia, shakiness and tremors, skin infections from injecting drugs into veins (tracks). The Development And Progression Of Addiction. Mental signs can be loss of interest in hobbies or activities that were once pleasurable to the individual, inability to make decisions without the help of drugs or alcohol, failure to concentrate on anything but obtaining more drugs/alcohol, anxiety, and so on. If you or your loved one is showing any of these signs, you should immediately reach out to an addiction center in Lahore for assistance.
How to Prevent Addiction from Developing by Avoiding These Common Influences
The causes of addiction are many and complex. It is essential to understand the different factors that influence addiction to prevent it from developing.
Many factors can increase a person’s risk of developing an addiction, including:
- Genetics: The genes a person inherits from their parents significantly affect their risk of addiction.
- Mental health: People with mental health issues are more likely to develop an addiction than those without mental health issues.
- Environment: Factors like where people live, who they live with, and what they do for work can all affect their risk of developing an addiction.
- Stress levels: Stressful situations or events can lead to increased drug use and make it more difficult for someone to quit using drugs when they want to.
Factors That Can Affect and Speed Up the Likelihood of Developing an Addiction
Addiction is a complex but treatable condition. It takes time, effort, and patience to overcome an addiction. But the good news is that addiction can be treated. The first step in overcoming addiction is recognizing the problem and seeking help from professional treatment providers.
The following are eight factors that can affect and speed up the likelihood of developing an addiction:
Genetic Inheritance
The genetic inheritance risk factor is a significant factor in the development of addiction. The risk of developing an addiction is significantly increased when one or both parents have an addiction problem; for example, if both parents are alcoholics, the risk of addiction is increased substantially.
Childhood Environment
The childhood environment is one of the most critical factors in determining whether or not a person will develop an addiction. The effects of childhood environment on the development of addiction are not well understood. However, they are thought to be related to parenting styles and other environmental factors, such as schooling and peer group influences.
A study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse showed that childhood adversity (including physical abuse and neglect, family dysfunction and divorce, and parental alcohol or drug abuse) is associated with an earlier age of alcohol initiation. The younger the generation of first exposure to alcohol, the more severe the risk for later alcoholism. Children exposed to these risks are more likely to develop alcoholism later in life.
Easy Access to Drugs & Alcohol
In this section, we will talk about the risk factor of easy access to drugs and alcohol. It is a big issue in today’s society because it affects many people and their families. There are many reasons why people drink and use drugs. Some people do it to escape reality, while others do it to fit in with their friends or family. But no matter what the reasons are, the effect is always negative in some way or another. Alcohol and drugs can affect the brain by changing the way it functions. They can also cause physical changes in the body, such as a change in heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate. Alcohol is one of the most common drugs people use because it is cheap and easy to obtain.
Peer Pressure
Peer pressure is one of the factors that affect people developing an addiction. When people use drugs to please their friends and fit in, they are more likely to become addicted to these drugs.
Young adults are especially susceptible to peer pressure, which can lead them to use drugs or alcohol. This increases the chances of becoming addicts greater than if their peers were not pressuring them. e.g., A 14-year-old boy who had been drinking alcohol since he was 10 said that he did it because his friends were doing it too. He eventually became addicted to alcohol as well.
Impulsive Behavior is Linked with Drug Use
Impulsivity is a personality trait that describes people who act without thinking about the consequences of their actions. People who engage in impulsive behavior are more likely to take drugs than people who do not engage in impulsive behavior. Self-report questionnaires or behavioral tasks can measure impulsivity. The most commonly used questionnaires include the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS).
Impulsive behavior is a risk factor for drug use and other behaviors, such as substance and alcohol abuse. And gambling. In some cases, impulsive behavior can lead to self-injury. The Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS) is a questionnaire that asks the respondent to evaluate their impulsivity levels on a scale of 0-40 based on 20 items. Items such as “I have trouble delaying gratification,” “My thinking gets stuck on trivial details,” and “I am easily distracted from what I’m supposed to be doing” are common questions in the BIS. There is a 19-item questionnaire that asks the respondent to self-evaluate their impulsivity levels on a scale of 0-19. Items such as “I find it difficult to resist temptation,” “I have trouble planning for the future,” and ” I find it easy to stay awake. “The items are scored on a scale of 1-7, with one being the highest possible score and seven being the lowest.
There are many different ways to treat addictions. The most effective treatments are often difficult to find because they depend on the habit and the person. Some common treatments for addiction include therapy and medication. There is no one-size-fits-all treatment for addiction because every case is unique and requires a different approach.
The best way to find out what treatment will work best for you is by consulting with a professional specializing in addiction treatment options, such as a therapist or doctor.
Addiction treatment can be hard to find. It’s one of those things we all know about, yet we don’t know how to get it done. That’s where Dr. Zahid Qutub comes in. Dr. Qutub runs the most successful addiction treatment center in Lahore and will help you find the best addiction treatment, whether that means therapy, medication, more therapy, or more medication. He’s got experience working with various addictions, and he knows that addiction is a journey, and it’s essential to walk through the process together. Still not sure what you should do? You can contact Dr. Qutub for a free phone consultation about your options!