Chemical Dependency is any addiction that involves drugs, street or prescription, or alcohol. Individuals with chemical dependencies are malnourished and can suffer from different varieties of psychosis, which will require the services of a Tacoma drug detox to overcome.
Many people with dependency issues have a feeling that they cannot be helped, or that they are trapped. However the fact is that this is not the case, as there are a number of treatment options available for anyone suffering from a chemical dependency in Tacoma, WA. Here are a few facts involving chemical dependencies and the people who have them.
Reasons for Dependency
While there is not a definite cause of why a person becomes chemically dependent, there are many factors that have a clear effect on the individual’s proclivity to addictive behavior. If a person has a family history of substance abuse, the risk of them developing addictive tendencies is much higher, than a person without such a family background. Other things including peer pressure or the actual availability of the drugs will play a huge role in the individual’s likelihood to develop an addiction. In addition, many studies have shown that almost half of the people addicted to drugs usually had an undiagnosed mental illness before they starting using the drugs. This means that with proper mental health evaluation and treatment half of the drug addicts in the world would not exist.
Different Stages of Dependency
Many people will not be addicted to a substance the first time they try it, usually it takes a number of times to develop a dependency. Not everyone goes through the same stages of dependency and studies have also shown that young people have a higher rate of addiction than older people.
The first stage of dependency starts with an individual experimenting with the drug usually in a social setting. This harmless experimentation can quickly develop into a regular habit, which will result in the user’s tolerance to the drug increasing, therefore requiring more of the drug to achieve the desired high. The next step is daily use of the drug, which usually results in poor performance at school or work due to preoccupation with the drug. The last and final step is full blown chemical dependence on the drug which can result in erratic and dangerous behaviors. The dependency affects the user’s health and if continued use occurs it can result in overdoses or death in severe cases.
Effects of Dependency
An individual putting themselves in dangerous situations is one of the most common effects of chemical dependency. The desire to score more of an individual’s drug of choice causes them to make bad decisions and to go to extremes to get their fix. Also, too much of any drug will cause an overdose.
Generally, a stimulant overdose can cause heart attack or stroke and in some cases cardiac arrest. A depressant overdose can cause you to go into a catatonic state and may cause you to stop breathing altogether. Many users take multiple drugs at one time, which only increase the chance of damage to your body.
