What is drug use and addiction?
What is drug use?
The use of illegal drugs and other substances, like alcohol and cigarette, may not majorly disrupt a person’s life, but this does not mean that substance use is okay. Besides the legal implications associated with it, the use and abuse of drugs and other substances can cause serious damage to the body, mind, and spirit.
What Is drug addiction?
Addiction is a chronic disease characterized by drug seeking behaviors and the compulsive use of drugs and other substances despite the harmful consequences.
Drug addiction affects the brain which causes difficulty in self control and making sound decisions. It is considered as a “relapsing” disease because addiction worsens one’s ability to resist the urge to use harmful substances such as drugs. Because of this, people recovering from drug use disorders are at risk for returning to drug use even after years of abstinence.
While it is common for a person to relapse, it doesn’t mean that treatment doesn’t work!
Can drug addiction be cured or prevented?
As with most other chronic diseases, such as diabetes, asthma, or heart disease, treatment for drug addiction generally isn’t a cure. However, addiction is treatable and can be successfully managed.
More importantly, drug use and addiction is preventable. Teachers, parents, and health care providers have crucial roles in educating people to prevent drug use and addiction.
Reference:
NIDA. 2018, June 6. Understanding Drug Use and Addiction Drug Facts. Retrieved from https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/understanding-drug-use-addiction on 2021, March 5
Bradford Health Services. Substance Abuse vs Addiction?. Retrieved from https://bradfordhealth.com/substance-abuse-vs-addiction/