Do you have a gnawing feeling about someone close to you because of their sudden change and odd behavior? Do you suspect that they may have a drug addiction? Read on if the tell-tale signs below check out.
Your teenage daughter, your grown-up son, your parent, your sibling, your close friend, or your superior at work. Anyone can be addicted. It’s best to keep your eyes open and alert for any tell-tale signs of addiction, which can show up immediately or through time as they become affected by these mind-altering drugs.
Now let’s find out these so-called tell-tale signs of addiction by the type of drug they use.
Image source: talktoFRANK.com
Tell-tale signs of addiction
1. Marijuana
- Appearance: Dry, blood-shot eyes that necessitates eye-drops. Clothes and body may emanate marijuana odor.
- Behavior: Shortly after smoking, users will feel relaxed to almost sleepy. They will have impaired coordination and an increased appetite.
- Mental state: Peaking at 15 minutes after smoking, users will feel less anxious, if ever. They will also have a care-free high.
2. LSD (Acid)
- Appearance: Sweaty hands, increased underarm perspiration, with larger or dilated pupils.
- Behavior: Sense of disorientation and slurred speech that can last up to 12 hours after one dose. Larger doses cause hallucinations.
- Mental state: Unpredictable and erratic emotions with sudden mood changes. They may also have an inexplicable sense of panic.
3. Cocaine (Crack and Coke)
- Appearance: Gaunt appearance for general users. For those who snort, nose bleeds might occur frequently. The eyes might appear red with the pupils dilated.
- Behavior: Will act like they are uninhibited with little self-restraint and a lot of confidence. They will also have disrupted sleep patterns and may exhibit restlessness, aggression, and violence.
- Mental state: Extreme euphoria immediately after first use. However, the high immediately crashes, causing depression. Memory loss and mood swings are also common.
Heroin addict (Image source: www.verywell.com)
4. Heroin
- Appearance: Marks and even abscess from repeated injections and infections from contaminated needles will appear on arms and other veins. Good hygiene may also not be a priority, if not completely neglected.
- Behavior: Users will have slow breathing and would feel sleepy.
- Mental state: Mental activity declines as users experience lethargy.
5. Meth
- Appearance: Skin sags and becomes acne-prone. Gums become infected and teeth start to rot, resulting to meth mouth.
- Behavior: Staying awake at odd hours and having irregular sleep patterns. Loss of appetite also happens, as well as obsessive effort on random, repetitive tasks. They also have increased aggression and even violent streak as well as over-confidence and loss of inhibitions.
- Mental state: Restlessness, agitation, paranoia, heightened alertness and focus happens.
Though these and many other drugs seem to have different effects to the mind and body, at the end of the day, they all resort to desperate measures to continue and fund their addiction. These measures include lying, deception, manipulation, stealing, and many more. They may also lack interest in people and activities they used to be passionate about.
However, remember that these signs must not be taken in isolation. The best way to determine if your loved one is using a specific type of drug is to look for a combination of signs as given above. This will help you take the first step to helping them find recovery and a life free from addiction.
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