Signs and Symptoms of Addiction to Look Out For

All addictions involve physical and psychological processes, whether to substances or behaviours. Each person’s experience of addiction is slightly different but usually consists of a cluster of some of the following symptoms. You can be addicted even if you do not exhibit all of the symptoms.

There are many different addictions, but similar symptoms span them all.

Some of the common symptoms of addiction are:

• Tolerance – the need to engage in addictive behaviour more and more to get the desired effect
• Withdrawal happens when the person does not take the substance or engage in the activity and experience unpleasant symptoms, which are often the opposite of the effects of the addictive behaviour
• Difficulty cutting down or controlling the addictive behaviour
• Social, occupational or recreational activities are becoming more focused on addiction, and important social and occupational roles are being jeopardized
• The person becoming preoccupied with the addiction, spending a lot of time on planning, engaging in, and recovering from the addictive behaviour

Signs of addiction

Only the person with the addiction can feel the symptoms, but other people can see the signs. You can never know what someone else is experiencing unless they tell you, so if you are concerned that someone else may have an addiction, look for signs and symptoms.

You might see some signs in an addicted person but not others. These are signs that occur across many—but not necessarily all—addictions:

• Extreme mood changes – happy, sad, excited, anxious
• Sleeping a lot more or less than usual or at different times of day or night
• Changes in energy – unexpectedly and extremely tired or energetic
• Weight loss or weight gain
• Unexpected and persistent coughs or sniffles
• Seeming unwell at certain times and better at other times
• Pupils of the eyes appear smaller or larger than usual
• Secretiveness
• Lying
• Stealing
• Financially unpredictable, perhaps having large amounts of cash at times but no money at all at other times
• Changes in social groups, new and unusual friends, odd cell phone conversations
• Repeated unexplained outings, often with a sense of urgency
• Drug paraphernalia such as unusual pipes, cigarette papers, small weighing scales, syringes
• “Stashes” of drugs, often in small plastic, paper or foil packages

Addiction is a complex disease that requires professional support for recovery.

If you or a loved one is struggling with addiction, call 90008 50001 or click www.hopetrustindia.com/dev for an appointment with a professional.