You can understand when a habit becomes an addiction. It is when you start to have problems with your mental and physical health and everyday functioning because you obsess over that habit.
Addiction causes changes in the brain that motivate you to engage in harmful actions.
You may have an addiction if you feel unable to stop. Your mind is captivated by the desire to engage in the addictive habit even when you know it’s harmful.
Impact of Drug Addiction
Drug abuse affects people of all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds.
At first, you will develop tolerance, patterns of increased use, physical dependence, and, eventually, an addiction towards that substance. Unfortunately, sometimes even before the user recognizes the addiction, he becomes an addiction victim.
It can be exceedingly difficult to stop using drugs without professional help when a full-blown substance use disorder (SUD) develops.
Drug abuse may wreak havoc on the body and psyche, and it can even be fatal.
It’s critical to seek treatment as soon as you notice you or someone you care about has a problem. There’s no shame in admitting that you need drug treatment; it could save your life.
What Are The Probable Signs That Indicate If You Are Suffering From Addiction?
Drug addiction treatment can only begin when you know you are suffering from it. But, how do you identify that?
Well, we have put together a few signs for you that are the tell-tale indications of an addiction problem. Let’s check them out:
1: Obsessive Thoughts
Do you spend a lot of time thinking about addiction?
If your answer is YES, it means you are suffering from an addiction problem.
Suppose you are always looking for places to hide the substance, seeking companions to join you in the drug intake session, or constantly thinking about the amazing hallucinations. It clearly means you are obsessing over it.
2: Losing Interest in Other Activities
When people undergo an addiction, they often lose interest in what they used to love.
They constantly seek refuge in the substance and therefore can spare no time for their hobbies.
Not only losing interest in hobbies, but also you may have trouble completing your daily chores. If these signs seem familiar, you must get professional help right away.
3: Physical Symptoms
The physical symptoms of addiction are always prominent.
When the drug wears off, you will feel your hands are shivering, your body is unnecessarily cold, you have headaches, or you may be sick to your stomach.
In severe cases, you may have seizures, slurred speech, high fever, or be confused after you wake up from the dozed-off zone.
4: You Steal Money
As harsh as it sounds, drugs are expensive, and if you are addicted to them, you will go to extreme lengths to collect the money.
At extreme lengths, people also steal money from others’ wallets.
5: You Look Different
Apart from the physical health symptoms, drug addiction can also take a toll on your appearance.
You will always have bloodshot eyes, bad breath, bad body odor, messy hair, and you will not hesitate to walk around in dirty outfits even.
You can also have unexplainable nosebleeds, or you may lose or gain weight suddenly. If these signs are present in you, you are likely suffering from an addiction.
6: You Avoid Socializing
You may not be a people person, but when someone is under the influence of drugs, he always feels the need to avoid social situations.
The addiction victims always feel that people will figure out that they are high if they behave awkwardly in front of others.
“Cigarette smoking is injurious to health.”
We all have seen or heard this kind of disclaimer at several places. Still, some of us end up developing an addiction to it. Often the person does not get to understand they have already developed an addiction towards it.
As per the study data of 2019, 14% of the United States population who are aged 18 years or above smoked cigarettes. Plus, 14 million Americans are living their lives with at least one smoking-related disease.
So, you are not the only one.
When you are finding solutions for quitting cigarettes, you can take help from detoxification centers, like Gallus Detox. To know more, you should check Gallus Detox info.
Why You Should Stop Smoking Cigarettes
The disclaimer we have mentioned above often continues with another caution, “Cigarette smoking causes cancer.”It is the final stage of the bad effects smoking leaves on our health. The list also continues with some other health issues.
They are,
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease or COPD.
- Lung cancer.
- Diabetes.
- Asthma.
- Stroke.
- Reproductive effects in women
- Premature or low-birth-weight babies.
- Cataracts, blindness, age-related macular degeneration.
- Several types of cancers, including colon, liver, cervix, stomach, pancreatic, and many more.
10 Helpful Ways to Stop Smoking Cigarettes
So, you see, smoking cigarettes causes some serious damage to our bodies. It is really great that you are planning to quit it and start a healthy, addiction-free life, and we are with you on this journey.
We always try to offer you the best solution when you are making up your mind to come out of addiction. Here are some remedies for you, you can try when you are really willing to quit smoking.
Intervention
Intervention is the most basic but effective way of taking the first step of quitting any type of addiction. After all, your family and close ones are the ones who can inspire you and motivate you the most when it comes to any type of challenge.
Ask your loved ones, family members, and closest friends to conduct the intervention. You also can opt for nicotine replacement therapies.
Try Home Remedies for Gallus Detox
We have already mentioned in your journey of quitting smoking; we will always be there for you even when you are willing to do it at your home. We can offer you some amazing home remedies for Gallus detox to accelerate the process of quitting cigarette smoking.
Delay
Just when you are craving just one smoke, you need to tell yourself to wait for 10 minutes. After that, indulge or keep yourself busy in doing some work to distract you. You can consider going to public places, smoking-free zones. Repeat it whenever needed.
When you are searching for ways to delay your craving opting for nicotine-free chewing gums, black pepper, and angelica oil can really help you.
Do Not Go For “Just One”
“Just one smoke.”
It can actually ruin all your efforts and take you back to the old version of yourself when you feel like you can not live without smoking cigarettes. Do not fool yourself that you actually can stop after having just one smoke or one puff. Often one leads to another.
We know you do not want to start smoking again. If any of your friends or colleagues are smoking and inviting you for just one puff, leave the place, as it will increase your tobacco cravings.
Avoid Triggers
Avoiding triggers is the most effective and also easy way to quit smoking. Triggers include some places like parties and bars, friends or colleagues, who also smoke, are stressed out, or sipping coffee. Identify your triggers and keep avoiding them.
Often people smoke when they drink or after having coffee. So, in order to quit smoking, you also need to avoid these things.
Try Black Pepper
You might be surprised to know that black pepper oil is really effective in reducing the sensitivity of cigarette cravings. Black pepper oil and angelica oil can help you handle the craving for longer. Inhale a drop of both oil by taking them on tissue paper.
When black pepper oil reduces, the craving and angelica oil will increase the time period of not getting the cravings again.
Be More Physically Active
Physical activity and exercises are really effective in keeping any type of addiction at bay. Even short bust physical activities like running up and down the stairs and running can effectively decrease the intensity of tobacco craving.
In case you are stuck at home or office, try deep knee bends, quotes, running in place, pushups, and any other physical activities that excite you.
Practice Relaxation Techniques
You might be smoking just to deal with stress. Plus, resisting tobacco cravings and quitting smoking is itself a stressful task. Practice some relaxation techniques, like deep breathing exercises, yoga, listening to calming music, massage, muscle relaxation, and visualization for taking the edge off stress.
Start practicing these relaxation techniques. Whenever you are craving tobacco, start the breathing exercise as it can be done anywhere, anytime.
Search Supports Online
You also can think of joining an online stop-smoking program. There are a lot of blogs available on the internet which will tell the story of some smokers who have successfully quit smoking. All these will encourage you and motivate you.
Keep Reminding Yourself about the Benefits
Say out loud, or write down the reasons why you want to quit smoking. Keep reminding yourself about those reasons. They can include
- Saving money.
- Getting healthier.
- Feeling better.
- Rescuing your loved ones from passive smoking.
Quit Smoking Cigarettes
Start your quitting journey by following these tricks and techniques. If things become really tough and challenging, you can consider opting for a tobacco-quitting program. The professionals know too well what needs to be done.
Try to take as little stress as possible. In most cases, stress is the reason why people tend to smoke cigarettes. So, start your journey now.
All the best!
The fear is legit, but if you have these kinds of feelings, you are walking on the path of addiction.
7: Sleeping Pattern Changes
This is another prominent indication of drug addiction. You will either sleep too much or too little, depending on the substance you are abusing.
If you are abusing Caffeine pills, Adderall, Ritalin, Modafinil, it will probably keep you awake at night.
On the other hand, if you are abusing anti-depressants, blood pressure pills, and anxiety medications, you will always feel tired, and drowsy.
8: Lack of Control
If you are suffering from an addiction, your drug abuse habits will always go out of your control.
You may feel that you have had too much, but your body and brain won’t permit you to stop.
For example, if you plan to take 2-3 drinks but end up having 5-6 without even realizing it, you suffer from alcohol addiction.
9: Ignoring Risk Factors
When you are suffering from an addiction, you tend to be more adventurous and ignore the risk factors of certain activities.
For example, if you have always been a cautious driver, and you tend to go for a drive when you are drugged or drunk, it means you are addicted to it.
You may also go to the gym and lift heavy dumbbells or try to operate heavy machinery, which may be life-threatening at that moment.
10: Mental Health Symptoms
When you suffer from an addiction, you will have sudden mood swings, a heightened sense of paranoia, anxiety, depression, etc.
These mental health disorders are evident with addiction, be it drugs or alcohol.
Hence, if these symptoms are knowledgeable, make sure you seek medical assistance immediately.
Wrap Up
There you go.
We have enlisted the tell-tale signs of addiction, and if any of these symptoms seem familiar to you, don’t hesitate to seek professional help right away.
Acknowledging the addiction and asking for help to overcome it means you want to get back at the mainstream track of life.
