Recognizing the Signs of Addiction
Before is Too Late
Addiction does not develop or occur overnight. In general, the road first leads to abuse, and then to addiction. So the most important thing you can do is to avoid that path or get help to avoid it as soon as you recognize the possible problem. In most cases, addiction usually begins with experimental use and progresses over time to the need to be used regularly, even at the expense of health and safety.
After a certain period of time (how long depends on the individual and the substance or behavior), the addicts compulsively search for it and yearn for the substance, and need more and more to achieve euphoria or “high.” At this point, the addict can no longer stop using. Because dependence is severe, treatment and ongoing support are necessary, and in many traditional rehab programs relapses are common and are expected.
It may be extremely difficult to recognize a possible problem—and more difficult for an addict to admit that he or she is addicted.
Some of the most common signs of addiction
If you are trying to find out if a loved one is abusing drugs, print this page and check off the items as you observe them.
Change of friends and places where they go
Change in mood, motivation and the attitude
Absence from work or school
Increased need for money
Bloody eyes or enlarged pupils
Sudden weight changes (increase or decrease)
Mysterious behavior and lying
Hands tremors
Ignoring once-loved activities
Other signs
Glassy look
Very pale and sweating
Extreme thirst
Increased activity or craziness
Lethargy
Dizziness
Anxiety
Irritability
Nervousness or aggression
Murmuring, incoherent conversation
Dry lips
Permanent licking of the lips
Continuous sniffling despite not having a cold or allergy
No appetite
Sharp smell of drug
An empty, vacant stare
Narconon Education Mission
Our mission is to provide parents with useful information and effective methods for keeping their children away from drugs.
Today children and young adults are flooded with false data and information on drugs.
They are confronted with peer pressure from their friends and various influences from the media and the Internet, paving the way for the use of drugs.
The message that children receive today is to seek a quick solution, that less effort is better and that they should not have to work hard to achieve what they desire from life.
This leaves them with little ambition and a feeling that there is no game in life. Drugs can be used for the feeling of boredom they often feel, or even as a solution to the hopelessness they may feel. A quick getaway. The risks and effects of the drugs themselves make life more exciting again—at least for a short time.
Global corporate advertisements fill children every day with messages to drink beer, smoke cigarettes to solve any pain, discomfort, inability to sleep or any emotional or physical problem with any medication at once and immediately. Children also see in films that drugs and alcohol are used everywhere around them, but they are told that ”they” should not try drugs.
Helping children reach a rational, intelligent and self-determined understanding of the truth about alcohol and other drugs can keep them and the world from huge future troubles.
Key points in keeping your children away from drugs are knowledge, responsibility, and control. If your child has knowledge of what drugs are and what they can do to a person, they can take responsibility for their own actions and make responsible decisions, and they will be able to control their own lives (and those of their friends) and to remain free in life from drugs.
Each student in the Narconon rehabilitation program has a chance to solve and handle the problems that led to the use of drugs. They are guided through the process of recovering from the destruction of the body, soul, and relationships caused by drug addiction. In the end, they acquire skills in life that will help them stay clean and committed to the goal of living a healthy, happy life and to become productive members society.
