It can significantly impact your emotional well-being, relationships, education and career. Help from your health care provider, family, friends, support groups or an organized treatment program can help you overcome your drug addiction and stay drug-free. If you have concerns about your mental health, talk to a primary care provider. They can refer you to a qualified mental health professional, such as a psychologist, psychiatrist, or clinical social worker, who can help you figure out the next steps. Find tips for talking with a health care provider about your mental health. The Clinical Affairs Team at MentalHealth.com is a dedicated group of medical professionals with diverse and extensive clinical experience.
- These drugs are not all in the same category, but they share some similar effects and dangers, including long-term harmful effects.
- Use these free education and outreach materials in your community and on social media to spread the word about mental health and related topics.
- Rather, it requires a comprehensive, individualized approach that addresses both the physical and psychological aspects of dependence.
- Substances such as alcohol, marijuana and nicotine also are considered drugs.
- The risk of addiction and how fast you become addicted varies by drug.
Medicines don’t cure your opioid addiction, but they can help in your recovery. These medicines can reduce your craving for opioids and may help you avoid relapse. Medicine treatment options for opioid addiction may include buprenorphine, methadone, naltrexone, and a combination of buprenorphine and naloxone. Diagnosing drug addiction (substance use disorder) requires a thorough evaluation and often includes an assessment by a psychiatrist, a psychologist, or a licensed alcohol and drug counselor. Blood, urine or other lab tests are used to assess drug use, but they’re not a diagnostic test for addiction. However, these tests may be used for monitoring treatment and recovery.
SUD therapy
Taking some drugs can be particularly risky, especially if you take high doses or combine them with other drugs or alcohol. Despite the name, these are not bath products such as Epsom salts. Substituted cathinones can be eaten, snorted, inhaled or injected and are highly addictive. These drugs can cause severe intoxication, which results in dangerous health effects or even death. People use cannabis by smoking, eating or inhaling a vaporized form of the drug. Cannabis often precedes or is used along with other substances, such as alcohol or illegal drugs, and is often the first drug tried.
Drug addiction, also called substance use disorder, is a disease that affects a person’s brain and behavior and leads to an inability to control the use of a legal or illegal drug or medicine. Substances such as alcohol, marijuana and nicotine also are considered drugs. When you’re addicted, you may drug addiction substance use disorder symptoms and causes continue using the drug despite the harm it causes.
The brain continues to develop into adulthood and undergoes dramatic changes during adolescence.
- If you or someone you know has a mental illness, there are ways to get help.
- John C. Umhau, MD, MPH, CPE is board-certified in addiction medicine and preventative medicine.
- A provider can help you make adjustments throughout your life as needed.
- Once you’ve been addicted to a drug, you’re at high risk of falling back into a pattern of addiction.
- Many, though not all, self-help support groups use the 12-step model first developed by Alcoholics Anonymous.
Updates regarding government operating status and resumption of normal operations can be found at opm.gov. Explore key milestones, discoveries, and the impact of NIMH-funded studies on mental health. Information about NIMH, research results, summaries of scientific meetings, and mental health resources. The Division of Intramural Research Programs (IRP) is the internal research division of the NIMH. Over 40 research groups conduct basic neuroscience research and clinical investigations of mental illnesses, brain function, and behavior at the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland.
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People struggling with addiction usually deny they have a problem and hesitate to seek treatment. An intervention presents a loved one with a structured opportunity to make changes before things get even worse and can motivate someone to seek or accept help. Signs and symptoms of drug use or intoxication may vary, depending on the type of drug.
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However, professional help plays a vital role in successful recovery. Treatment providers can offer the tools, support, and guidance needed to overcome addiction and maintain long-term recovery. They can also help address any underlying mental health conditions that may contribute to substance use. Recovery from addiction represents an ongoing journey rather than a destination. After discussion with you, your health care provider may recommend medicine as part of your treatment for opioid addiction.
However, several key indicators can help identify when substance use or behavioral patterns have become problematic. Even after you’ve completed initial treatment, ongoing treatment and support can help prevent a relapse. Follow-up care can include periodic appointments with your counselor, continuing in a self-help program or attending a regular group session. One of the more common and most deadly complications of substance use disorder is overdose. Club drugs are commonly used at clubs, concerts and parties. Examples include methylenedioxymethamphetamine, also called MDMA, ecstasy or molly, and gamma-hydroxybutyric acid, known as GHB.
Some of the most common substances include alcohol, opioids and marijuana. It involves family and friends and sometimes co-workers, clergy or others who care about the person struggling with addiction. Substance use disorder (SUD), formerly known as drug addiction, is a mental health condition where you experience a problematic pattern of substance use that affects your health and quality of life.
Finding Help for Co-Occurring Substance Use and Mental Disorders
The relationship between substance use and mental disorders is complex and often interconnected. Many people with substance use disorders also experience other mental disorders like depression, anxiety, or bipolar disorder. Similarly, people with mental disorders are at a higher risk of developing substance use problems. The presence of these conditions can significantly impact the course and outcome of addiction treatment. Co-occurring disorders, also referred to as dual diagnosis, occur when someone experiences both a substance use disorder and a mental health condition simultaneously. These conditions often interact and complicate each other and can make treatment more challenging 8.
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It’s common to have more than one SUD at a time, like alcohol use disorder and tobacco use disorder. Once you’ve been addicted to a drug, you’re at high risk of falling back into a pattern of addiction. If you do start using the drug, it’s likely you’ll lose control over its use again — even if you’ve had treatment and you haven’t used the drug for some time.
There isn’t a single test available to diagnose substance use disorder. Instead, healthcare providers rely on a thorough evaluation of your medical history and behaviors surrounding substance use. They may order drug tests to see how much and how many types of substances are in your body at a time. They may also evaluate prescription drug monitoring program reports (a database of distributed controlled substances). The first step of substance use disorder treatment is withdrawal management.
Introducing drugs during this period of development may cause brain changes that have profound and long-lasting consequences. Consider how a social drinker can become intoxicated, get behind the wheel of a car, and quickly turn a pleasurable activity into a tragedy that affects many lives. Occasional drug use, such as misusing an opioid to get high, can have similarly disastrous effects, including impaired driving and overdose. Use these free education and outreach materials in your community and on social media to spread the word about mental health and related topics. Recognizing the signs of addiction can be challenging, as the condition often develops gradually, and individuals may hide their symptoms.