| Addiction of one type or another is a part of life | | | | or occasional users who only intend to try a drug, |
| whether in the form of gambling, drinking, caffeine | | | | find great pleasure and relaxation in its use. The |
| or tobacco and yet it is only for the addiction to | | | | casual use then becomes a daily habit and the |
| illegal substances that people are ridiculed, shamed | | | | daily habit eventually leads to a full-blown, out of |
| and abandoned. Today, scientific evidence proves | | | | control addiction. It is the rare drug abuser who |
| that brain function is actually altered by addiction, | | | | intends to end up a powerless addict. |
| making sobriety extremely difficult to achieve. | | | | Drug testing is often used to effectively motivate |
| Thought to be caused primarily by environmental | | | | a drug abuser to accept treatment because it is a |
| factors such as a family's belief system, | | | | factual, scientific measurement of toxins in the |
| involvement with a drug using peer group or | | | | body that is difficult to deny. Drug testing is |
| passed from generation to generation through | | | | frequently used during treatment as well to help |
| genetics, addiction is frequently caused by a | | | | ensure that a person is maintaining their sobriety. |
| traumatic event or a series of events that create | | | | It is not uncommon for relapses to occur four, |
| an emotional pain so intense that a person | | | | five or even more times. |
| chooses to use drugs as a means of mental and | | | | It is during these long, dark days of loneliness and |
| emotional escape. Once a physical addiction has | | | | struggle that a person needs support, |
| been established, the feeling of pleasure that is | | | | encouragement and understanding more than |
| received by the brain is altered, making it | | | | ever. Friends and especially relatives may find it |
| extremely difficult for a user to quit even when | | | | difficult to continue supporting someone who they |
| they want to. | | | | have judged as being too weak or lazy to |
| Effective prevention is the preferred method of | | | | overcome an addiction. It often requires a team |
| dealing with addiction and can be achieved through | | | | consisting of doctors, an ongoing support group |
| parenting that emphasizes open communication | | | | and close friends and family to aid in the recovery |
| with children, anti-drug programs through school | | | | of a loved one. Successful, sustained sobriety is |
| and state and random drug testing. Also effective, | | | | greatly influenced by a high level of continuing |
| but underutilized, is abstinence. Frequently, casual | | | | support. |