10 Common Types Of Drug Addiction

1) Alcohol Addiction occurs when someone cannot stop drinking alcoholic beverages without outside intervention. Alcoholics typically seek out only friends, relatives, and social occasions that allow them to drink. They also drink alone in order to hide how much they are drinking. The longer they drink, the more they need to consume to feel an effect from the alcohol. They begin to feel withdrawal symptoms if they go for too long without alcohol, and they remedy these symptoms by more drinking.

2) Speed Addiction occurs with the repeated use of stimulants that include speed, Dexedrine, bennies, uppers, crystal meth, or other substances. The user will feel euphoric and energetic but will also experience an increase in his heart rate and blood pressure. They also become very nervous and agitated, short tempered, and restless. Sometimes they cannot control feelings of impulsivity. Many drugs intended to treat attention deficity hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have the same stimulant effect. Mostly it's taken in pill form, but it can also be snorted or injected.

3) Marijuana Addiction results from smoking or eating marijuana. Most people who have this drug addiction tell anyone who will listen to them that scientists cannot prove that it causes any harm and that it should be legalized. However, it creates the same impaired vision, poor judgments, and reaction times as alcohol, so anyone under the influence of cannabis should not be permitted to drive. It also causes people to experience feelings at the extreme ends of the emotional spectrum. They get confused and paranoid.

4) Cocaine Addiction comes from repeated use of this white powder processed from the leaves of cocoa plants. Crack cocaine is the same substance formulated into small rocks or chunks. Either way, the user can snort it, smoke it, or inject it. It causes the same euphoria and energy as stimulants, but brings the user to addiction much more quickly. This type of drug addiction places the same stresses on the nervous system, and it also carries a higher risk of cardiac arrest. The effect of the high vanishes quickly and the user crashes unless he uses more of this powerful drug. It was originally developed as a stimulant and an anesthetic but was outlawed when its harmful characteristics were recognized.

5) Hallucinogen Addiction comes from a variety of illegal drugs. LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) and mescaline became popular in the 1960s but resurged in high schools within the past decade. Either of these manufactured chemicals can be ingested in pill form or placed by dropper into beverages or onto tiny paper squares. Psilocybin mushrooms, also called shrooms, create the same feelings of euphoric detachment from reality. Ecstasy is a newer drug, another manufactured chemical. It causes the person who has this type of drug addiction to lose all inhibitions and for this reason is known as a sexual stimulant.

6) Inhalant Addiction results from breathing in chemical fumes that alter the mind. Commonly known as huffing, abusers can find it anywhere. They will breathe in the chemicals from aerosol cans. They will empty out indelible pens such as Magic Markers. They seek out paint thinners and gasoline fumes. Canned air like that used to clean off your computer keyboard is like champagne for huffers. Symptoms are loss of coordination and blurred speech. Inhalants can cause brain damage and death.

7) Nicotine Addiction is a most difficult drug addiction to overcome. People can buy it legally in cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco, or snuff. It both calms and excites the central nervous system. When the rush of the tobacco use subsides, the user seeks out more. The physical harm it causes includes cancer, lung disease, and heart disease. The nicotine is the addictive substance in tobaccos, but it is intermingled with harmful tar and myriad other chemicals such as formaldehyde. Users who are denied nicotine become hostile and agitated.

8) Opioid Addiction occurs from use of specific pain medications. Some of them, like morphine, opium, and heroin, are remanufactured from organic origins. Others are based on codeine, including OxyContin and Hydrocodone. They serve to depress the central nervous system and so are also called downers. But like uppers, they create a feeling of euphoria. Some of these drugs are snorted or injected; others come in pill form. Overdose can quickly cause respiratory and then cardiac arrest.

9) Phencyclidine Addiction is from use of the drug most commonly known as PCP. Originally it was yet another drug developed as a white powder in a laboratory for medical anesthetic purposes but then banned because of its harmful side effects. Also known as angel dust, and often mixed with marijuana to give it an extra punch, it can be snorted, smoked, or eaten. It has a stimulant effect and is among those drugs that become addictive very quickly. Users can suddenly become violent and suicidal.

10) Sedative Addiction includes use of those drugs manufactured and prescribed specifically to treat anxiety, depression, and insomnia. Some of the most common types include any of the barbiturates as well as Lunesta, Valium, Xanax, or Tranxene. Sedatives depress the central nervous system and make the user feel relaxed and carefree. This type of drug addiction will deprive the person full use of his senses since he cannot reason well and often cannot walk straight or speak clearly. As with opioids, the user is lulled into euphoria and he does not recognize impending death from respiratory arrest.

The first step is recognizing that what you see in the person is the medical diagnosis of a drug addiction that needs to be treated, and not a crime to be punished. Most people think of intervention in terms of a family member talking to the substance abuser about his need to stop, but an intervention also occurs when the user backs up into the legal system from charges related to his use. So where do you go from there?

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