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People often start to experiment with drug use. If they like the way the drugs make them feel, they will be tempted to use again. This increases the body’s tolerance to the drugs meaning they will need to take more drugs to get the same effect. This is when addiction becomes a problem.

It’s hard to spot the earliest signs of drug abuse in someone – often people only notice when the addiction has taken hold.  People with drug addiction tend to spend quite a lot of time by themselves so that other people won’t recognise the situation. 

If you are worried about someone, it’s important to look out for the obvious signs. 

Although the signs of drug abuse vary depending on the drug being abused, there are some common symptoms that indicate a problem may exist. These can include:

• Severe mood swings -depressed one minute and then  happy and carefree
• Becoming isolated and withdrawn and spending more and more time alone
• Suddenly finding a new group of friends
• Neglecting personal and oral hygiene and grooming
• Losing interest in activities and hobbies they previously enjoyed
• Trouble sleeping or sleeping more
• Glassy or watery eyes
• Dilated pupils
• Runny nose
• Loss of appetite or suddenly ravenous

Drug abuse is different to drug addiction: you can abuse drugs without being addicted to them. Drug abuse is when you take a drug where you can harm yourself or other people – but this isn’t necessarily the compulsive, repeated drug taking which indicates addiction.

Drug abuse can be a one-off event–you may abuse a given drug and never take it again, or even take it repeatedly – without getting addicted.  However, the more often you abuse a drug, the more likely it is that you will become addicted.

Most people think of substance use when they hear about addiction, but that’s not the only type of addiction.

That’s not the case.  Addiction to drugs works like other types of compulsive behaviour, such as gambling (see GamblingDrive) shopping, exercising or fasting.   You can see research from the US National Library of Medicine here.

Today, most experts recognize two types of addiction:

Chemical addiction. This refers to addiction that involves the use of substances.
Behavioral addiction. This refers to addiction that involves compulsive behaviors. These are persistent, repeated behaviors that you carry out even if they don’t offer any real benefit.

See more on these in the next tabs.  Addiction works by affecting these elements:

Reward system – when you do something you enjoy, whether it’s having fun with friends at a party, drinking wine or using cocaine, the reward system releases the neurotransmitter dopamine,  with some other chemicals.

This reinforces the link between what you’re doing and the feelings of pleasure, meaning you want to do it again.

Cravings – because you want to do this again, especially in the same circumstances (like the party), you experience cravings for the substance or behaviour.

Tolerance – as you continue, you produce more dopamine, and your brain realises there’s plenty there and stops producing as much in normal situations. But your reward system needs it and so you need to use MORE of the substance or behaviour to make up for what your brain isn’t producing – which we call tolerance.  

Disinterest –  in other stuff. As addiction grows, you lose interest in other things, such as hobbies, being with friends, even sex, as your brain isn’t producing dopamine doing these things.

Loss of control – you can’t stop doing it, which makes it difficult to stop and can cause real problems – loss of job, friends, family.

Substance Use Disorder (SUD) is a condition in which there is uncontrolled use of a substance with a detrimental outcome. This causes changes to the brain’s structure and function that cause cravings, personality and behavioural changes, and more.

The brain is made up of circuits of neurons which are responsible for specific functions. The Reward Circuit is the basal ganglia and this is responsible for motor control, eating, sex, behaviours and habits. Drugs activate neurons that copy natural functions and send abnormal messages through the brain and produce euphoria. 

Repeated use causes the circuit to adjust, reducing sensitivity and making it harder to get other forms of pleasurable stimulation.

Addiction Treatment Centres define behavioural addiction as:

“Behavioural addiction – also known as process addiction – is a type of addiction characterised by the compulsion to engage in a specific rewarding behaviour (other than substance abuse) regardless of awareness on the part of the affected individual of any negative consequences of that behaviour to themselves or others. Over time, repeated engagement in the addictive behaviour creates a vicious circle whereby the addict becomes more and more dependent upon that behaviour in order to experience positive thoughts and feelings and to stave off negative ones, until they may be unable to stop engaging in it without professional assistance. “

Basically it’s similar to substance addiction. Certain behaviours stimulate the brain’s ‘Reward Centre’ by causing a spike in levels of dopamine and other chemicals while doing these activities, and the same results of less being produced when doing other things, the brain adjusting the levels meaning MORE activity required, etc.