Diagnosing Substance Abuse

People begin experimenting with drugs for a variety of reasons. Psychology Today cites multiple potential reasons as to why a person might do so, such as “being genetically predisposed to starting these behaviors, as well as being peer-pressured into doing so” (Psychology Today). Some people are naturally impulsive in regards to poor decision making, and behave erratically in response to some environmental situations, and this could include participating in unlawful and harmful activities. Other people might develop this wrong approach through being exposed at an early age, such as through friends and family. Often a person might begin with legal prescription drugs that eventually become long-term addictions due to the chemical effects of dependency that the person’s body develops, and subsequently craves regular doses of, to feel what they perceive to be normal. Which could eventually lead the individual to …show more content…
As a result, a person could go down an extremely dangerous, if not lethal path. There are also people that turn to drug abuse to self-medicate because these people believe that they can heal internal problems with external substances, or perhaps to try and hide from an underlying issue. Substance abusers might have turned to drugs and alcohol to cope with negativity in their personal lives, and this eventually can become a full-fledged addiction. Multiple factors affect drug use, and these factors also affect what type of person might be susceptible to drug addiction. The availability of drugs is mainly dependent on the environment that the person lives in, and there are locations in the United States and the world that make it easier for a person to attain drugs, such as the culture surrounding the usage of them. Teens and college-aged adults find themselves in a society widely