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stigma is a barrier

Addiction is a chronic, yet treatable brain disease that affects people of all ages, religions, cultures, education and income levels. Hundreds of thousands of people in Massachusetts currently struggle with addiction, yet only a mere fraction will seek help this year.

Addiction affects the part of the brain that helps tell a person when to stop. People who are addicted are unable to control their need for a substance such as drugs, tobacco, alcohol or gambling. A person struggling with addiction has difficulty weighing the outcomes of their actions, even if those actions could be dangerous or illegal.

A person does not become addicted overnight. An addiction may begin with experimental or occasional use of a substance such as drugs or alcohol, and progress to the inability to control the use of the substance.

If not treated, an addiction can potentially worsen over time. An addicted person often feels the need to use more of the substance to get the same effect as when they began using the substance. This, in turn, can cause other health-related problems, such as the development of liver disease after too much alcohol consumption.

The addictions
This website addresses addictions to five different types of substances: alcohol, tobacco, illegal drugs, prescription drugs and gambling.

Alcohol
Nearly 14 million Americans have problems with drinking. More than 3 million Americans receive treatment annually. Alcohol abuse in the U.S. costs society up to $60 billion annually due to lost production, medical care and crime.

Illegal drugs
It’s difficult to put a number on how many people in the United States are addicted to illegal drugs. We do know that nearly 20 million Americans use illicit drugs in any given month. The most commonly abused illegal substance is marijuana — with more than 14.6 million Americans habitually using — while 2.4 million Americans use cocaine regularly. Heroin use is also rising sharply in Massachusetts.

Prescription drugs
Prescription drug abuse is on the rise in Massachusetts, and is rising the fastest among the 12-to-25-year-old age group. Nationally, nearly 17 percent of people aged 60 and over abuse prescription drugs — many of them without even knowing.

Problem Gambling
Recognized by the American Psychiatric Association as a “disorder of impulse control”, problem gambling is characterized by three phases: the winning phase, the losing phase and the desperation phase. More than 250,000 adults in Massachusetts currently have a problem with gambling.

Tobacco
According to the American Heart Association, an estimated 25.1 million men (23.4 percent) and 20.9 million women (18.5 percent) in the United States are smokers. Tobacco use has been strongly linked to heart disease and stroke, America's No.1 and No. 3 killers.

Addiction is treatable
Like other chronic diseases, addiction is treatable and treatment does work.  In fact, the rate of success for addiction treatment is similar to other conditions like asthma, high blood pressure, and diabetes.  As with any disease, the earlier someone gets treatment for addiction, the better.

Addiction treatments typically include three stages of care including detoxification and stabilization, rehabilitation, and continuing care. The most successful treatments help people reduce substance use problems in their daily life and change their lifestyle in order to prevent future use.

Even with a good treatment plan an addicted person may feel a lack of control during their recovery and start using the substance again. This is It’s called a relapse.  There are many factors that can cause a relapse including stress, sights, sounds, smells and social situations associated with substance use. Relapses are extremely common during treatment and recovery from addiction.

If a person relapses this does not mean he or she has failed.  Just like someone who may be trying to exercise more as part of a treatment plan for managing their diabetes, if they choose not to exercise, they haven’t failed. It is all part of learning how to care for yourself and make better lifestyle choices.



 

It is hard to know exactly why some people become addicted, but there are some risk factors that increase the chance of someone developing the disease of addiction. Not everyone who has these risk factors becomes addicted.

It runs in the family. Genetics play an important role in addiction. For example, more than 60 percent of alcoholics have family histories of alcoholism.
 
Mental illness. Many people who have a history of addiction also have mental health disorders such as anxiety disorders, depression or schizophrenia.
 
Early use. A person who begins drug use early in life is more likely to become addicted as a teenager or adult.  This is why preventing alcohol, tobacco and drug use early on is so important.
 
Environment. A person who lives, works or goes to school in a place where substance use is common is more likely to become addicted.
 
Trauma. A person who experienced or witnessed trauma such as neglect or physical, emotional, or sexual abuse early in life is more likely to develop an addiction.
 
 

Many addicted people deny they have a problem. Even when faced with painful situations that result from their addiction, people with this disease cannot control their use of alcohol, tobacco, drugs or gambling.

The American Psychiatric Association states that a person is addicted to a substance if they experience three or more of the following in a 12-month period:
 
They become more tolerant of the substance.  A person develops tolerance when they need more of a substance to get the same high.
 
They suffer from withdrawal when trying to stop or they take a closely related substance to avoid withdrawal symptoms. 
 
They are not successful when they try to cut down, control, or stop substance abuse
 
They think a lot about when they can drink, smoke, use drugs or gamble again or how they can get more in the future.

 
They withdraw from social activities and interests like sports, clubs, crafts and hobbies. 

 
They continue to use although they know many of their current problems are caused or made worse by using the substance.

 
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