It can be hard to understand why someone misuses drugs and or alcohol. The reasons are often complex. It is normal to feel frustrated, scared, angry and confused when you find out that a family member is misusing drugs and or alcohol.
Drugs and alcohol are substances which people take to change the way they think, feel and behave.
There are many reasons why someone may want to change their thoughts, feelings or behavior:
- They may find the experience of altering their perceptions fun. They might enjoy the feelings of excitement and confidence, which some drugs and alcohol can bring.
- They may use drugs/alcohol as a means of escape. Some people use substances to forget about their problems.
- They may be under peer pressure or find themselves in a situation where substance use seems quite ordinary. For example, many people first misuse alcohol as part of a friendship group where others are drinking.
- Most people experiment with drug/alcohol use in some way, at some point in their lives. Trying drugs/alcohol is often a way of experimenting with the adult world so is common among young people.
- Some people move from this experimental use to regular use, what is sometimes called ‘recreational drug use', as part of their lifestyle. There are risks associated with this, but most people come to little harm. Many people in the UK use alcohol in this way.
- Some people regularly misuse drugs/alcohol in ‘binges' where they deliberately take large quantities of something, typically with many others. People may do this as a release from the stresses and strains of everyday life, from a belief that this is how you ‘have a good time', peer pressure and as an ‘excuse' for antisocial behavior such as violence.
All of the above reasons for drug/alcohol misuse have one thing in common: the person who uses has not become ‘dependent' upon using that drug/alcohol. They can choose to stop using drugs/alcohol relatively easily, even if only for a few days. However, about 5 to 10 % of people who misuse drugs/alcohol in a ‘recreational' way go on to become dependent users.
‘Dependency' is where someone's ability to control their drug/alcohol use has become impaired. Why this happens is not fully understood, but it would seem that it is a side effect of drug/alcohol misuse and also that genetic factors play a part.
Additional factors seem to be poor socio-economic circumstances, such as poor housing and unemployment; a history of childhood trauma such as sexual abuse; and using as a way of coping with unbearable feelings and pain.
Dependent drug/alcohol use is therefore much harder to control and to stop, someone cannot simply choose to stop in the same way as a non-dependent user. Typically they need specialist treatment to stop using.
Some drugs are more addictive than others – for example nicotine and heroin are amongst the most addictive.
To find out more about different drugs, their effects and consequences, and what the laws are surrounding them.
Click here to look at the
A-Z of drugs on the FRANK website.
Please visit
Drug Info section of our website for FARS's English and Farsi translated Information about drugs.
The source of above information is with the permission of ADFAM. For the direct link to the source of this page click on:
http://www.adfam.org.uk/index.php?content=family_help2&include=no
