Stages of Addiction

The Early Stages of Addiction

In the early stages of addiction, many addicts drink or use drugs to relieve problems. If they get high, the problems don't seem as severe. This can quickly escalate to the addict needing more and more alcohol to feel drunk or more drugs to feel high. They may start experiencing periods of blackouts, which is not being able to remember blocks of time or events that happened when they were under the influence of a substance.

Because their addiction is starting to take hold they may start hiding their alcohol or drugs and sneaking "out" to use. Soon, instead of thinking about the normal things in life, the addict will be consumed with thoughts about drinking or using drugs. They will begin to start planning their life around when they can drink or when they can use drugs.

The Middle Stages of Addiction

When a drinker or drug user advances to the next stage of addiction, people will have started to notice this problem. However, the addict won't admit that they have a problem and it usually causes friction between friends and loved ones. They may go to a family function and drink more than they planned to even if they have promised to stay within a limit. The addict will also start playing games with themselves and make promises to others such as not having a drink before a certain hour of the day, or only going out to party a certain number of nights a week. Of course, those promises nearly always are broken.

You'll also notice a strong change in moods and personality in this stage. Constant mood swings are common as the body is trying to balance the levels of alcohol or drugs. You will see this person withdraw, drink or use drugs alone, and start to have their daily life adversely affected by their addiction.

The End Stages of Addiction

In the late stages of addiction, the addict will start to have severe withdrawal symptoms when alcohol or drugs are denied. This is known as delirium tremens or the DTs. Alcoholics or drug addicts who go into treatment will experience the DTs in the first few days of rehab. It can be quite painful, which is why many addicts don't want to go into treatment or don't stay in treatment.

If an addict continues to abuse drugs or alcohol, their life is at risk. Serious health consequences result from addiction, which is why it is so important for people who have fallen victim to addiction to seek treatment.

Many people believe that an addict needs to go through all three stages over a certain period of time before their addiction becomes "bad." But that's not true. Addiction can happen over a period of months or years. It can quickly escalate or be such a gradual process that the people around the addict don't notice that it's happening until the addict has reached the end stages of addiction.

Addiction does not discriminate and knows no age, race, or social status. All you have to do is walk into an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and you will see people from all walks of life. It is never too late to seek treatment, although the earlier a person does seek treatment the better. Prolonged abuse of drugs and alcohol will only deteriorate the body faster.

While alcoholism and drug addiction tend to run in families, most experts agree that it is not an absolute sentence. Just because a parent was an alcoholic doesn't mean that the children will become alcoholics or drug users. The key to combating alcoholism and drug addiction within families is support and knowledge.