The addiction to drugs arises more from psychological problem lurking in the back ground of the person. The impression that addiction is a disease caused due to pleasure seeking attitude of individuals has been considered as one side of a coin. There are other factors like genetic and biochemical predisposition which have to be taken into account. Hence we find that even if more people are exposed to the same environment only some are affected to it. We find a lot of psychological impact before and after the intake of addictive substances.

The drug addiction may begin from a young age when you are of an impressionable age and try to do it as a compulsion or out of thrill. These drug addict teens who have started early in life are easy to tackle by nipping the bud of the problem at the outset. But the people who have been into addiction for a long time, it has become difficult to handle as the physical and emotional dependence is more. In addition the habit clouds their mind from reacting to counseling and treatment.

The role of society in handling these issues is important. A lot of rehabilitation centre are working for the cause of these people. They consider social and philosophical factors as the prime reason for addiction and try to improve them by providing social status and changing their beliefs. This is the general way of treating them. But if we consider them individually it might give us an insight into the circumstances which has led them to embrace this habit.

Tips to Understand the Psychology of a Drug Addict

1. You can seek the psychiatric help at a very young age when you find some behavior problems or changes in a person.

2. We usually feel that our child or relatives may never come across such tendencies. Learn to accept the fact that anyone may be affected and always raise an eye brow in suspicion if you find anything abnormal in attitude of the near and dear ones.

3. Our first reaction is an outburst. Hence try to remain calm as blaming, mal handling and shouting will aggravate the situation.

4. Take the help of rehabilitation centre as many sessions may be required to come out with positive results.

The most important fact is that emotional support goes a long way in the treatment as we find addicts unable to give up the habit even after they have recovered.

The drug addiction is considered a thrilling experience by new addicts who face the brunt of its complications later in life. There are variable consequences of drug addiction reflected at the physical and mental level. The drug addiction causes dependence for a considerable length of time making the path to recovery a difficult one. The dependence to drugs along with the complications of drug addiction makes the recovery process a tedious job.

Complications at Psychological Level Include

- Inefficiency and falling performance at workplace and school.

- Legal problems due to crime committed in the form of stealing, driving with intoxication as a result of drug dependence.

- Family or marital discords are common in addicts. Family problems are caused by addiction or the addiction may be a resultant of such strife.

- Spending money on addiction can cause financial ruin due to the debts incurred during the process of addiction.

- As drug addiction is considered a social stigma we tend to lose our relations, friends and stand in the society.

- The drug abuser may fall a prey to unsafe sexual abuse and thus contract diseases like HIV and Hepatitis.

- The symptoms of seizure, coma, agitation, disorientation and psychosis are produced due to prolonged drug abuse. This condition if untreated can lead to cerebral hypoxia and hemorrhage or infarction.

Complication at Physical Level

- The physical complications are abundant in drug addicts depending on the drug which the abuser is used to. The drug addiction gets a tight grip on the addict as the euphoria after taking a drug does not wane easily and the overdosing risks are innumerable.

- The use of needles by sharing amongst addicts is the prime cause of life threatening infections like HIV and Hepatitis. The other factors like lack of hygiene, using subcutaneous route for injecting drugs produces infection on the site of injection like cellulites, abscess, gangrene, lymph edema, pseudo aneurysms etc.

- Since HIV produces a lack in immunity, opportunistic infections are common. The pneumocystis pneumonia is a common pulmonary complication.

- The infection like endocarditic, infarction of skin and muscle, amyloidosis, renal failure and shock are common among cocaine drug users.

- Septic infection and inflammatory process are common if infection is not tackled outright.

The drug addiction brings more interconnected problems after its use as compared to its pleasure giving nature. So addicts taking tentative steps towards falling for drugs must be addressed with pointed approach and be tried to prevent getting into addiction when it is still easy.

The problem of drug addiction has affected world over and office goers are easily lured into the trap as they have both money and stress. Nowadays, teenagers make money by working in menial jobs and in informal set-ups on a part time basis to quench their desire for easy money. If teenagers are exposed to drug addiction at work places, their inquisitive nature gets the better of them. Also work place is more liable for such adventures due to pattern of working hours. The night shifts involved in certain work outlets break the sleep pattern and the competitive nature makes the person to shift to addiction to maintain the alertness and energy. We hardly find the employers sensitive to the issues of employee because the major industries have a vast number of employees and to keep a tab on everyone is a difficult task.

Cause of addiction at work place

- Workaholism itself is a major cause of concern. Many people in their quest to get promotion, perks and praise try to create a barrier between themselves and their family. This produces strife and marital discord. To get away from family problems they are trapped in a vicious cycle of drug addiction and emotional aberration.

- Also individuals who have undergone emotional trauma from divorce, sexual abuse or bereavement from loved one are vulnerable to addiction as they have no one to turn to in their moments of depression.

- As friendship is easily developed at work place, an introduction to addiction by colleagues for the purpose of fun is common.

How to handle drug addiction at work place

1. The addiction of an employee is not understood until frank symptoms of addiction in the form of negligence, laziness or absence from work for a longer period of time is seen.

2. The best way to assess addiction is to get routine health check ups of employees. This is helpful both in understanding the health status of individual as well as to recognize the addicts.

3. Some readily available kits are present to check the type of addiction like the THC kit for cannabis addiction. The samples from blood, urine etc. can be examined to know the abused substance.

4. The organization should have health facilities along with psychiatric counselors to meet the physical and psychological conditions of the employee. Even though it may be a costly affair the reward in the form healthy working environment is a boost to the organization.

Adolescence is that phase of life when a person can be easily misled due to their credulous nature. Drug addiction shatters the dreams of such individuals and also has its effect on the near and dear ones. Adolescence is that aspect when we tend to soar high in the sky of success and never look back. The addiction to drugs shreds the wing of success making the abuser a puppet in the hands of drug substances. Since this is an impressionable age the process of weaning away from the drug substance is a tedious job for the relatives.

Stages of drug addiction

Since the progress of the addiction is variable depending on the signs and symptoms the drug addicts can be categorized into the early, middle or late stage. During the initial phase of addiction the addicts experiment with the drugs due to peer pressure and cultivate the habit of smoking, drinking etc. Inattentiveness, lying, stealing or demanding money, late night stays at friends place, poor performance at studying institutes are few of the beginning signs of addiction. Also they may come with symptoms of lack of sleep and appetite at the physical level.

As the addiction progresses the dependence on the drug makes them to avoid company and family members, blame others without any reason and lose control. Their do not maintain physical appearance and are unkempt and shabbily dressed. Any change from the normal attitude is the first indicator of addiction.

In the last stage of addiction there is no need to seek telltale signs as the addiction is evident in the behavior. Getting expelled from school, committing crime, mood swings and paranoia are the extreme signs which the addicts suffer from.

Initially drug addicts always hide from the relatives the fact that they are into addiction. They think the addiction can be left at any point of time. But they are proven wrong in the long run. It is better to learn from the sufferings of drug abusers and be alert in choosing company in the school and college.

In the current era many drugs are available to remove the toxicity of the drug substance and rehabilitation centre are reachable to de addict the abuser, but this is not enough for the completion of the course of treatment. What helps as a healing remedy is the psychological support given by family members. The awareness about the consequences of addiction should be created to keep the adolescence at bay from this evil habit.