The signs of heroin addiction may or may not always be easy to spot if you’re unfamiliar with substance abuse. Your spouse, child, family member or friend may have a problem with heroin, but you’re not sure what to look for. You’re about to learn how a heroin addiction develops and what you can do to help your loved one. The first thing to understand is that addiction is an extremely powerful and progressive illness.
How Signs of Heroin Addiction Develop
Studies show that about 80 percent of all people who need a heroin addiction rehab started out with prescription medications. Opiates and opioids are narcotic medications that doctors provide to people experiencing moderate to severe pain. Eventually, the person develops a tolerance and dependence to these medications, and that’s when they may begin using heroin. Heroin is a much cheaper, more powerful drug that people often turn to to get high.
Various Signs of Heroin Addiction
If you’re looking for the signs that your loved one is using heroin, it’s of the utmost importance that you understand it comes in many forms. There’s a common misconception that anyone using heroin is using needles and shooting up the drug. The reality is that there are different ways to use heroin, so you may not always see track marks if someone is using. The three primary methods that people use a drug like heroin include the following:
- Using the drug intravenously
- Snorting the drug
- Smoking the drug
If the person is using the drug intravenously, there will typically be signs of bruising on the arms, but not always. Many people try to hide their use of the drug by shooting up in other areas like their legs, neck and other places. Those who are snorting the drug may sniff or sneeze a lot, and they’ll most likely have discolored nostrils. When smoking the drug, the typical way is freebasing the drug so that the person will be using tin foil sheets.
Social Signs of Heroin Addiction
Your loved one may need addiction recovery services if they begin showing the common social signs of addiction. When a person is using heroin, they often know that what they’re doing is wrong, and they feel terrible. Those with a heroin addiction will usually have a shift in behaviors and become very isolative as well as depressed. It’s also common or a person to become very irritable with the people who care about him or her the most.
Steps to Recovery offers a variety of drug addiction rehab programs to help your loved one get back on the right track. Addiction is a family disease, but it’s possible for people to recover and rebuild great lives entirely. Through the process of addiction treatment, the person will not only learn how to stay clean but can repair relationships too. Some of the forms of therapy we use include:
To learn more about the signs of heroin addiction and find help for your loved one, reach out to Steps to Recovery today. Call now at 267.719.8528 to begin treatment.
