The Signs and Symptoms of Drug Withdrawal
The Signs and Symptoms of Drug Withdrawal
Drug and alcohol addiction has a very bad and in fact, devastating effect on the people who experience addiction or a family member’s abuse. Substance abuse sadly affects a huge portion of the United States population, making this a nationwide epidemic. However, this also means that when a person is going through drug withdrawal, they will have the support of family. Of course, having the family’s support is a significant benefit for someone trying to stop abusing drugs or alcohol.
- In 2017, 30.5 million people aged 12 or older used an illicit drug in the past 30 days (i.e., current use), which corresponds to about 1 in 9 Americans (11.2 percent).
- About 1 in 4 young adults aged 18 to 25 were current illicit drug users.
- In 2017, about 140.6 million Americans aged 12 or older were current alcohol users.
It’s easy to see that substance abuse in the United States is a tremendous problem. And these figures only reflect the number of people who are actually using these substances. It doesn’t include all those individuals that substance abuse affects in other ways.
Addiction Affects More Than Only the Abuser
Something on the order of twenty-three million Americans are heavily addicted to drugs and alcohol. For every drug addict who is affected, that also means that there are about another four to six people who are intimately connected to that individual. That person’s addiction negatively impacts these lives. What this means is that about 150 million Americans are in some way closely connected to someone who is addicted to drugs and alcohol.
With drug and alcohol addiction being such a common and concerning aspect of our society these days, it becomes all the more necessary to have a good understanding of the problem. However, before anyone can start thinking about how to help someone who is struggling with addiction, they need to be able to identify the signs. The signs include what addiction looks like, how to tackle and confront addiction, and how to spot someone who is going through an addiction withdrawal.
What are the Signs of Drug Withdrawal?
- A person will experience muscle spasms, twitching muscles, and achy muscles.
- They will also experience tremors and shaking and general muscular discomfort.
- An individual will go through hot flashes, cold flashes, and experience drastic temperature changes.
- Sudden loss of appetite and sudden weight loss
- Digestion problems such as diarrhea, vomiting, constipation, and stomach pains
- People will often feel like their skin is crawling, and they might get dry mouth too.
- Lack of coordination, wooziness, being unable to perform basic motor functions
- Total mental agitation, mood swings, violent outbursts, and raging
- Anxiety, fear, nervousness, paranoia, and other feelings of concern or fear about things
- Experiencing frustration, losing one’s temper, being irritable and difficult to deal with in general
- Total emotional breakdown. Feeling despondent, lonely, and worthless about themselves and the future.
Beating Drug Withdrawal with Inpatient Treatment
Though the above symptoms might sound grim indeed, there is a way to vanquish them. You can do this by entering an addiction treatment center. Such a rehab facility can offer a successful and reliable recovery option for finding your path to freedom and stability.
A Forever Recovery provides an approach to treating drug and alcohol addiction that is successful and comfortable. Our treatment center offers a full detoxification approach to help with those unpleasant drug withdrawal symptoms. Furthermore, our treatment programs can provide a whole plethora of rehabilitative counseling and therapy. Call today to learn more about the different treatment programs that we offer.
We can design a program that will fit your individual needs and preferences. Of course, not every person is the same and one generic treatment program will not fit everyone’s needs. To learn more about our programs and our facility, contact one of our informed representatives. They can answer any questions you may have. Don’t wait any longer.
- samhsa.gov – Key Substance Use and Mental Health Indicators in the United States: Results from the 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health
