Am I An Addict?

Addiction is a disease characterized by loss of control over your substance abuse despite the harmful consequences of the habit. For most people, the initial decision to use drugs or alcohol is usually voluntary but with time, repeated drug or alcohol abuse changes the brain leading to a loss of control and inability to resist the intense urge to continue taking drugs or alcohol.

The most important step in your journey of recovery is to first determine if you are addicted to drugs or alcohol and seek help. However, knowing when your substance abuse has become an addiction can sometimes be complicated. This is why medical professionals have criteria for determining substance abuse disorders known as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th Edition or DSM-5 in short.

The DSM-5 criteria is an addiction self-test that helps drug and alcohol users to determine if they need professional help to overcome addiction.

The criteria looks at some of the most common symptoms of addiction using questions that you can ask yourself to evaluate the changes caused by your habit to your health and wellbeing. Let’s consider some of the questions you need to ask yourself to find out if you are addicted. According to mental health professionals, if any two of the following symptoms have been present in your life for a period of 1 year or more, it is possible that you are an addict and should seek help as soon as possible.

Do you desire to be sober and may have even tried to quit but relapsed into drug or alcohol abuse? Does the craving overcome your desire to quit? If your attempts to quit only lead to relapse then you need to seek professional help for addiction.

One of the most obvious signs of addiction is increased tolerance to the substance you are using. When you find yourself using more of the substance than you intended then you could be living with addiction. You may be an addict if you start taking larger doses and using more frequently.

You could also be an addict if your substance use behavior has changed. For instance, if you initially only took drugs as a social activity but you now use them anytime the craving strikes then you are probably addicted.

Are you finding it hard to stop thinking about the substance whenever its effects have worn off? If you find yourself desiring or craving for the next chance to use the substance then you need to seek help for addiction.

Are you now working even harder to acquire the substance? For instance, do you prioritize the substance over other basic purchases such as food or paying bills? You may be an addict if you spend a large part of your day either getting the substance or recovering from its effects.

You may be an addict if substance abuse has become more important to you than other recreational activities that previously gave you joy and fulfillment. Seek help when you notice that you no longer enjoy social activities that do not involve substance use.

Have you endangered yourself and others while driving or operating machinery under influence? If the behavior is repeated more than once then you may be an addict.

Ask yourself if substance use has caused interpersonal problems with family, friends, employers, and colleagues.

Has substance use affected your productivity and probably made you less reliable to others? If you find that people who previously looked up to you as a trustworthy person no longer expect you to keep your word, you may be having an addiction problem.

Do you feel sick, restless, irritable, or experience other symptoms of withdrawal when the effects of the substance wear off? You could be an addict if you find yourself consuming a substance to alleviate its withdrawal effects.

Once you have evaluated yourself using a reliable self-test and recognized two or more signs of addiction, you will need to seek professional help. Help is just a phone call away.

Rather than attempt to go “cold turkey” on your own, find a safer and more effective addiction treatment program at a reliable facility.