Drugs are chemical substances that change how the body and mind work. The word covers prescription and over-the-counter medicines, alcohol, tobacco and illegal drugs.
What counts as drug use
Drug use, or misuse, includes:
- Using illegal substances, such as anabolic steroids, club drugs, cocaine, heroin, inhalants, cannabis (marijuana) and methamphetamines.
- Misusing prescription medicines, opioids among them — taking them other than as your health care provider prescribed:
- taking someone else's prescription;
- taking a bigger dose than you should;
- taking it a different way, such as crushing tablets to snort or inject instead of swallowing them;
- taking it for another purpose, such as getting high.
- Misusing over-the-counter medicines, by using them for another purpose or in a way they are not meant to be used.
Drug use is dangerous. It can harm the brain and body, sometimes permanently, and hurt the people nearby — friends, families and children. During pregnancy it can harm the fetus. It can also lead to mild, moderate or severe substance use disorders, sometimes called addiction.
What addiction is
Drug addiction is a chronic brain disease that drives a person to keep taking drugs despite the harm they do. Repeated use can change the brain, and those changes can last — which is why addiction is called a relapsing disease. People in recovery remain at risk of using again, even after years without drugs.
Not everyone who uses drugs becomes addicted. Bodies and brains differ, so reactions differ: some people become addicted quickly, some gradually, some never. Genetic, environmental and developmental factors all play a part.
Who is most at risk
| Risk factor | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Biology | People react differently. Some like how a drug feels the first time and want more; others hate it and never try it again |
| Mental health problems | Untreated depression, anxiety or ADHD raise the risk, because drug use and these conditions affect the same parts of the brain — and people may use drugs to feel better |
| Trouble at home | An unhappy home, now or in childhood, makes a drug problem more likely |
| Trouble at school, work or with friends | Drugs can be a way to escape these problems |
| Friends who use drugs | They may encourage trying them |
| Starting young | Drug use affects how a child's body and brain finish growing, raising the chance of addiction in adulthood |
Signs of a drug problem
- changing friends often, or spending a lot of time alone;
- losing interest in favorite things;
- neglecting self-care, such as showering, changing clothes or brushing teeth;
- being very energetic, talking fast or saying things that don't make sense;
- swinging quickly between feeling bad and feeling good;
- changes in eating or sleeping habits;
- missing important appointments;
- problems at work or school, or in personal and family relationships.
Treatment
Treatment uses counseling, medicines or both — and research shows the combination gives most people the best chance of success.
Counseling can be individual, family or group therapy. It helps a person understand why the addiction began, see how drugs changed their behavior, learn to manage personal problems, and avoid the places, people and situations where drugs are available.
Medicines can ease withdrawal, the symptoms — different for each drug — that come from stopping or cutting back after using a drug for a while. For addiction to some drugs, medicines can also help restore normal brain function and reduce cravings.
Someone with both a mental disorder and an addiction has a dual diagnosis; treating both improves the chance of success. Severe addiction may call for hospital-based or residential treatment, which combines housing with treatment services.
Prevention
Drug use and addiction can be prevented. Programs involving families, schools, communities and the media — including education and outreach about the risks — may prevent or reduce them.
Sources
Based on the MedlinePlus health topic "Drug Use and Addiction," National Library of Medicine, with a summary from NIH's National Institute on Drug Abuse; a work of the United States government in the public domain.
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from medlineplus.gov
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