A single test can’t diagnose substance use disorder. Instead, healthcare providers rely on a thorough evaluation of your medical history and behaviors surrounding substance use.

Keep a positive, non-confrontational tone – you’re here for them. Try not to make hurtful comments or personal attacks, but instead focus on specific examples of how his drug use has affected them, you and their other loved ones. Psychological signs include paranoid thoughts, negative self-image, lack of motivation and feelings of apathy. Learn how talk with your child and have a productive conversation addressing their substance use. Are they particularly loud and obnoxious, or laughing hysterically at nothing? Unusually clumsy to the point of stumbling into furniture and walls, tripping over their own feet and knocking things over? Sullen, withdrawn, and unusually tired and slack-eyed for the hour of night?

Opioid painkillers

Excessive use and abuse of these drugs can cause intense highs characterized by hyperactivity and periods of insomnia or intense lows that cause long periods of sleeping or drowsiness. Addictive substances alter the brain’s natural circadian rhythm which can actually cause sleep disturbances well after someone has stopped using the drug. Increased drug abuse can lead to anxiety or paranoia, especially if the drug has left their system and they are experiencing withdrawal. When drug use becomes a priority in someone’s life, hygiene and outward appearance may become less and less important. Some may forget they haven’t taken care of themselves because of the mental effects of their drug use. Others simply stop caring as their time is consumed by the high and then getting more of their drug so they can get high again.

• Paranoid thoughts can happen in people who struggle with substance use disorders.
• Decreased inhibition, slowed motor coordination, lethargy, relaxed muscles, staggering gait, poor judgment, slow or uncertain reflexes, disorientation, slurred speech.
• Problems in your relationships, such as fights with your partner or family members, an unhappy boss, or the loss of friends.
• The presence of some of these behaviors could be the product of adolescent stress.

There are many well-known brands of benzodiazepines, including Xanax, Diazepam, Valium, and Klonopin. These pharmaceuticals can be acquired in numerous ways. Some people have legitimate prescriptions but may have used deceptive means to get them from more than one doctor.

Behavioral Signs

Addiction is a chronic disease, physically changing the brain and making it harder to stop. Blaming them for their sickness won’t give them any motivation to stop using drugs. In fact, it may promote feelings of shame or guilt that further feed the addiction.

Drug addiction symptoms, much like addiction itself, do not discriminate. Men, women, old and young people, and persons across socioeconomic lines can all become addicted. But there signs of drug use are certain risk factors that increase an individual’s chances of developing an addiction. Advanced Recovery Systems has over 30 years of treatment and referral experience.