Drug Addiction Risk Factors
Drug Addiction Risk Factors
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Drug Addiction Risk Factors
Listed below are some of the major factors that can cause drug addiction. Some of these risks are controllable others are not. Some people are much more prone to addiction and alcoholism others not so much.
Genetic/Inherited
We are all a product of our parents. If your parents have addiction struggles, chances are you are more susceptible to addiction. That’s why drug addiction is more common in some families than in others. If your parents smoke, chances are good you will smoke. If your parents used alcohol, you’ll probably follow and use that drug in much the same way. If your father was an alcoholic, you have a predisposition to abusing that drug.
Drug addiction causes one generation to pass it on to the next.
Personality
Aside from the inherited factors, some people have a personality that is more likely to become drug dependent.
– People are curious, so that alone can lead a person to try a drug. We experiment and see what happens.
– We are looking to relax and have pleasure.
– We all want to feel good, and we’re by nature impatient. Drugs give us an instant gratification that other things do not, so for that moment or hour of for whatever time frame, we feel good.
– We want what we want.
– Someone diagnosed with depression, attention deficit disorder, or hyperactivity.
– Maybe there has been some stress, or anxiety in their life. Whatever the case, these are the drug addiction risk factors.
Even some common personality characteristics, such as aggression, may be a factor. Children who do not have confidence, healthy self-esteem may be prone to turning to drugs to fill the void.
Drug addiction causes negative changes in personality that can lead to an even more destructive behavior.
Peer Pressure/Social
We are all wired to have relationships, and sometimes those relationships cause us to give in to something we otherwise would avoid in order to maintain the relationship. Peer pressure is huge and nowhere is this greater than during our teen years. Kids want to be cool. It begins as a social action, to take the drugs to be a part of the group, to be accepted. It’s not just teenagers, as peer pressure takes so many different forms. There is social etiquette, for example, to take a drink during a party. “I’m a social drinker.” How many times have you heard that? Some people actually believe that drug addiction causes you to be accepted and part of the ‘popular’ group. These is probably the most common drug addiction risk factors.
Easy Access
If you want to get drugs, you won’t have to look far because they are everywhere. High school students can tell you this. Drug addiction causes people to sell drugs to the most vulnerable population, children. It’s not just the stereotypical poor sections of the inner city that serve as the hotbed for drugs. Drugs are found in suburban shopping malls, rural schools, well-to-do private school, on the job in factories, offices and remote job sites.
Race, Ethnicity not a factor!
We include this heading because we want to stress that there is no data to support any claim that one race of people or any particular cultural group is more prone to drug addiction than another. Drug addiction is a human problem and crosses all boundaries. Drug addiction causes do not include race.
Loneliness, Depression
We want to feel good physically and emotionally. Sometimes drugs are the substitution for a healthy life experience. The person in pain and they want to numb the pain. The drug numbs the pain and for a moment they don’t feel as poorly. The person needs to escape the pain of the life experience, and for a short while, the drug takes them away and they feel “better.”These the drug addiction risk factors are usually present to some degree.
Anxiety
Sometimes people need some help coping with life. Everyday life becomes a struggle and simple things become too much to handle. Drugs are used to deal with it. In the case of addiction, we are not talking about the use of medication, under the care and observation of a doctor. People who have been clinically diagnosed with anxiety can lead a very good life. We’re talking here about people who just need to escape. Their drug of choice facilitates that escape.
For more drug addiction risk factors to Effects of Drug Addiction
I WAS HOPELESS, BUT FOUND MY HOPE IN CHRIST!
by ALLY
( SOUTH AFRICA, CAPETOWN)
Hi my name is Alison and I’m a ex drug addict,and I’m going to share my story of how i got healed from my addiction.
I
was your typical 16 year old teenager,grew up in a Christian home were
my mum ,dad 2 sisters and brother were all born again Christians. I
attended church regularly with the family went to youth and all the
other activities i had to do.
Never really understanding the bigger picture about it all
Being
the youngest of four children i was spoiled a lot and i got basically a
lot that i wanted my dad had a good job and my mom was at home taking
care of the household.
At school i was teased and mocked a lot by
the other children and over the years i developed a deep hurt inside
myself never feeling good enough, never liking myself, wishing i was
somebody else. Wondering what GOD was thinking when he created me.
I
experimented with drinking and smoking at aged 15. I would regularly
would spend time with friends drinking and smoking. Then my mum got
concerned because i stayed out late nights partying. Finally, i stopped
spending time with those fiends and just continued my life further still
smoking cigarettes by that time i was addicted to that.
At
aged 17 i was introduced to crystal meth or tik as its know as, by a
friend of mine, the first time didn’t really do anything to me probably
because i didn’t really know how to inhale it properly. Then after a few
months i saw some other friends doing it and i joined in, i was taught
how to smoke it the right way and from there on I’d smoke every weekend.
The feeling it gave me yoh, it was great feeling on top of the
world and in that i didn’t feel any hurt i felt invisible and ready for
anything. I’d always get a lot of pocket money so most of the time i
would buy the drugs for my friends, that made me feel important and
liked.
In that time i met my 1st boyfriend. We met through mutual
friends that smoked, we dated for 2 years and i got pregnant with my
daughter Alexandra. After her birth we both swore that we’d stop for the
sake of our child but never got so far. We loved meth more than our
child.
Then it went from smoking over weekends, to me bunking
school and even lying and stealing to my family to get money to go and
smoke with my friends. I was never suspected, things went missing, my
parents just thought things were misplaced or that my uncles that were
staying in our back yard took them.
Then
i got worse and my family picked up that i was on something and then
the seeking help for me i went to drug-support meetings with our youth
pastor but at that time i wasn’t ready to stop. I only did it to please
my parents.
Then it got worse so worse that i dropped out of
school and became a full blown addict , and in that time i lost my
boyfriend through somebody stabbing him so i smoked a lot.
Until
one night coming home from smoking with a friend of mine i felt
different, i felt like i was losing my mind i imagined all sorts of
stuff that was not real. Then and there at that moment there i heard a
preaching on the Christian network channeland, it was about healing
from GOD, it was like GOD was speaking to me through the
preacher.(there’s my hope i was thinking)
There and then i decided that i needed GOD and i gave my life over to GOD.
AS
TIME WENT BY I ATTENDED DRUG SUPPORT MEETINGS AT OUR CHURCH I REMEMBER
RELAPSING QUIET A FEW TIME BEFORE TOTALLY STOPPING BUT AT LEAST I KNEW I
WAS NT ALONE I WAS IN THIS WITH GOD AND THE SUPPORT GROUPED PRAYED FOR
ME.
By that time I’d stopped hanging out with those who smoked,
I’d changed my music and I’d attend church regularly. This time really
knowing why I’m doing and not feeling obligated to come to church but
because i had a personal relationship with GOD and because i knew it was
only him who truly set me free from this addiction.
It’s just great just serving GOD and knowing Him daily. I learn something more about our awesome GOD, his goodness and love.
So
my encouragement is that the things of the world is only for a short
while(having fun drinking smoking what we ‘think of as ‘fun’ things to
do) but being with GOD in heaven is forever. So young people forget the
things of this world and concentrate of sorting you life out for heaven
and serving GOD.
Because our purpose on earth is to serve GOD i
learned that the hard way many times GOD allows things to happen so that
we can call out to him.
JOHN 3V16:
FOR GOD SO LOVED THE
WORLD THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON TO DIE ON THE CROSS FOR OUR
SINS SO THAT WHOSOEVER BELIEVED IN HIM WOULD NOT PERISH BUT HAVE
EVERLASTING LIFE.
Today I’m happily married to an amazing man and
we’re happily serving GOD TOGETHER WITH OUR 3YEAR OLD CHILD ALEXANDRA.
When all hope seems lost, seek for hope in GOD!
Amen
by: Ned Wicker
Dear Ally,
It is very gratifying to hear a success story and we are very appreciative that you chose to share yours with us.
In
Christ there is always hope, and as you experienced, even when you are
at the end of your rope, that’s where God’s rope begins. Many people
have had a deep spiritual experience going through 12 Step, or other
recovery programs.
God works. You just let him love you and your family. Blessings.
and Finally Remember:
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”
– Matthew 7:7-8
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