How can people with drug problems seek help?
Signs of a drug problem
Drug more important than family or job
Nervous tension
Memory blackouts
Using drug a daily necessity
Very irritable and very tense
Harder to feel “high” no matter how much consumed
Uses drugs in the morning
Uses drugs alone
Signs of drug use are more noticeable
Personality changes/mood swings
Tremors
Uses drugs at work or school
Loneliness and isolation
Hallucinations
Makes promises to quit and can’t keep them
Weakness due to malnutrition
Forgetful
Tries to deny a drug problem
Lives for the drug
Isoaltion from friends and family
• Alone, these signs may not indicate a drug problem. However, when a few of these signs are present, a person may have early or late signs of a drug problem and should get help.
Denial and Enabling
Denial: When a person makes excuses for his or her drug use, lies about it, or tries to hide it.
Enabling: When family members or friends make excuses for another person’s drug use.
Denial is a symptom of a drug use problem. Enabling contributes to drug use problems
By not directly confronting drug use, family members and friends contribute to the problem by enabling the drug user’s behavior. Its unlikely that a user who’s in denial will seek help.
What are some reasons people deny that either they or someone they care about has a drug problem? Discuss student answers.
Reasons for Denial and Enabling
People in denial may be:
Afraid of dealing with real-life problems
Surprised at how quickly the problems developed
Afraid people won’t like them if they admit they have a problem
Unsure about where to go for help
People who enable may be:
Trying to protect the drug user
Unwilling to admit there’s a problem
Unsure about where to go for help