Addiction remains a dangerous condition that can lead to serious issues and problems in your life. Addiction causes you to prioritize your addiction over other important responsibilities and aspects of your life. Naturally, you’ll question whether you have an addiction, especially if you can’t see the issues associated with it. Identifying addiction can pose some challenges if you don’t know what signs to look for during the process. That means you must consider what addiction involves, how you can identify it and what you should do if you face addiction. As you put in the effort and educate yourself, you’ll know if you suffer from addiction.
Defining Addiction
Understanding addiction requires you to know what it entails to help you avoid it. Make sure to review these key points to keep an eye on potential addictions and how they impact you.
- The inability to stop taking a substance.
- Feeling negative emotions when you don’t take the substance.
- Using the substance as your main form of joy.
Addiction naturally happens as you become completely reliant on a substance. While most people associate addiction with drugs, alcohol and similar substances, you can also form addiction to activities. You start to turn towards those activities or substances whenever you have a hard time in life or as a distraction.
Signs of an Addict
Now that you know what addiction entails, you must look into the signs of addiction. Knowing the signs will help you identify them in yourself, so you’ll notice if you form an addiction. While other signs do exist, these common ones will help you catch it and notice when you develop an addiction or identify a long standing one.
Prioritizing the Addiction Above All Else
When an addiction starts to strengthen and form, the person will make the addiction their priority. For example, an alcoholic may drink alcohol at the bar or at home rather than spend time with others. The same applies to other addictions people can form, such as drugs, narcotics and even watching TV. If you always focus on the addiction and don’t handle other priorities, you may need to seek help. Some addictions may even cause you to prioritize them over your work, family and other crucial parts of your life. If you find yourself slipping into these mindsets and putting your addiction in front of everything else, focus on overcoming it.
Feelings of Reliance and Lack of Control
Some people feel like they form a reliance on a substance when they become addicted. That involves turning towards your addiction and using it whenever you face difficulties in your life. Some people even relapse during difficult times, because they feel like they must turn to the addiction to help them through the hard times. You also feel like you can’t control your addiction. You may want to stop and turn away from it, but you end up relapsing and turning towards it even when you don’t want to keep using it. Make sure you see how you feel about the addiction since you may rely on it without realizing it.
Impacting Your Relationships
As people turn towards their addictions and face them, the addictions may have an impact on their relationships. For example, someone addicted to drugs may have a personality shift whenever they use them. That personality change can leave a bad taste in the mouths of those you care about, so it leads to problems. If you feel like your relationships keep falling apart, you may have an addiction. See what causes those relationships to collapse, so you can turn away from them and avoid those addictions.
Sometimes, you may need help to get through the addiction, so you can even turn towards those relationships to see if they’ll help you out. Focusing on the signs and understanding addiction will help you identify it in yourself. Make sure you do your research and apply those points to yourself, so you know whether you have an addiction. If you discover an addiction and want to overcome it, you can call us at 772-266-5320 for more information and help on the matter.
