Drug use is a very common reality in all cultures worldwide. Rave parties, dinner parties, birthdays, New Year, office parties: often we celebrate these occasions with social drug use and alcohol abuse. Many people use drugs such as cocaine and marijuana without considering that they could become addicted.

It is true that not everyone who uses drugs is an addict or will progress to horrendous levels of dependence on narcotics. Popular belief has labelled an addict as a heroin or crack addicted junkie, lying in a bare room with a needle stuck in their arm, stealing car radios to fund their habit. However, drug counsellors and other professionals now view drug addiction in a different way.

Drug addiction is driven by a disease, which is possibly genetic. The disease is incurable, progressive and fatal if not arrested. Nor does it distinguish between class, race, gender or sexuality. The disease does not distinguish between drug types either. For example, alcohol is consumed in vast qualities and could be classed as a drug as it has mind altering effects, is physically addictive and is extremely harmful to one’s body and can cause death. Yet many people, who view alcohol as socially acceptable and see nothing wrong with abusing it every weekend, frown on those who use cocaine or LSD on weekends.

How do drug users discover if they have the disease of addiction?
Not every person who uses drugs is necessarily an addict. Ultimately, drug addiction is not only about the drug use; it is a symptom of something very wrong inside a person. However, when addicts seek treatment the symptoms bring them to a rock bottom and help to distinguish whether or not they have the disease of addiction. The symptoms include behavioural traits in connection with drugs as well as actual drug consumption.

Am I an addict?
The following questions can be answered as a self-evaluation concerning addiction:

• Do you use drugs alone?
• Do you lie about your drug use, i.e. how much, how often?
• Do you think about drugs/getting high a lot?
• Do you frequently use more than you intend to?
• Do you put drugs ahead of your financial responsibilities?
• Have you missed work or school because of your drug use?
• Do you use drugs after you wake up or before you go to bed?
• Have you ever been arrested or had other legal trouble because of your drug use?
• Do you fear the moment when your drugs run out?
• Have you ever tried to stop your using?
• Is your using causing problems at home?
• Do you feel that one particular drug is a problem and that others are ok to use?
• Has your tolerance increased, also increasing your consumption?
• Do you avoid social engagements and activities where you cannot use drugs?
• Have you begun to avoid your family and friends who do not use drugs?
• Have you stolen to finance drugs?
• Have you stolen drugs?
• Have you taken drugs which you know you do not like, but take them anyway?
• Is your drug use affecting your relationships with family and friends?
• Do you feel ashamed about your drug use?
• Do you feel that you can't have fun without drugs?
• Has your drug use affected your sleeping patterns or weight?
• Have you experienced negative consequences because of your drug use, yet still carried on using?
• Have you ever overdosed on drugs?
• Do you use one type of drug to combat the effect of another?
• Do you take drugs when you feel emotional pain or distress?
• Have drugs affected your sex life or sexual relationship?
• Have you even been in a rehabilitation centre or hospital because of your drug use?
• Do you feel like you cannot live without using drugs?
• Have you tried to stop using drugs and found you could not?

If you have answered yes to any of the above then you may have an addiction problem.

Each individual can only say whether they are an addict or not. These questions are a way to help those confused about whether they have a drug problem or not - to discover whether they have the disease of addiction.

Addiction is fatal if not arrested. When a person suffers from the disease of addiction, the condition will worsen progressively. In-patient treatment is a helpful option for those who feel that they have an addiction problem and are an addict. Contrary to popular belief, an addict is not necessarily the stereotypical junkie. Chronic weed smokers, cocaine bingers or pharmaceutical drug abusers all have the possibility of having the disease.

Getting help if you have a drug problem
Those who have reached a rock bottom state in their lives due to drugs, who have come to the realization that their drug use is out of control and who cannot stop using no matter what the consequences, are in need of help. Addiction counselling centres are a successful aid to arresting a person’s drug use and teaching them the skills they require to remain abstinent once they have left the centre.

The most successful addiction counselling centres offer individual and group therapy, a 12 Step Programme and endorse a healthy lifestyle. Extended treatment is also considered to have a much higher success rate than the standard 28-day programme. Three months as an in-patient at a facility which offers a Primary Care programme (known as "Extended Primary"), gives addicts a longer period with which to grow accustomed to life without drugs, to learn skills necessary to cope with life and deal with pertinent psychological issues through therapy.

Am I an Addict? The Symptoms of Addictive Behaviour