Can Stress Lead To Addiction: Five (5) Warning Signs

If you’ve read my book OCD: A Life Among Secrets then you already know that as a teen I lived on the streets of Las Vegas. It was there I experienced the hard core realities of addiction for the first time. I remember pulling the needle out of my “best friend’s” arm on many occasion because he had passed out while injecting his fix. It was the daily stress of living that “life without hope” that lead him to choose the only escape he could find. In this installment of our resident addiction specialist, Richard Zwolinski investigates how stress can lead to addiction and reveals the top five warning signs to look out for.

Can Stress Lead To Addiction: Five (5) Warning Signs

By: Richard Zwolinski LMHC, CASAC

Do you have a glass of wine each evening to unwind??

Don’t worry not everybody who uses alcohol or even drugs becomes an addict or an alcoholic.

Many addiction experts agree: you have to have a specific genetic predisposition to become an addict.

However, stress can lead people to try substances that they otherwise wouldn?t. Many times people (with and without genetic predispositions for addiction), first pick up a drink or try a drug in response to a stressor. However, some people can drink frequently or even use some drugs and stop whenever they want! That’s because an addiction, including alcoholism, is not acquired according to most medical evidence you simply can’t catch alcoholism or addiction unless you have that genetic code.

According to current official descriptions, substance abuse is indicated by daily or weekly abuse (or other episodic abuse), without signs of changing tolerance or marked withdrawal symptoms. Addiction is indicated by having signs including increasing or decreasing tolerance to the substance as well as marked withdrawal symptoms.*

So how can you tell if stress might be leading you to abuse chemical substances and placing you on the path towards becoming addicted to alcohol or drugs?  If you find yourself frequently or regularly:

• Using alcohol or drugs to relax (for example, using them to relieve feelings of tension or frustration).
• Using alcohol or drugs to relieve anger.
• Using alcohol or drugs to socialize (for example, if you find that they ?help? you loosen up or release social inhibitions).

Or, if you find yourself at any point:

• Lying to your doctor or other medical professional or others in order to get painkillers or other drugs so you can cope.
• Always being sure to have what I call a “break glass in case of emergency” drink or drug in the house just in case.

There are other signs of alcohol and drug abuse and addiction but I often see these five in people who habitually use alcohol or drugs to cope with stress. **
It is important to remember that the injurious effects of too much stress hormone cortisol is definitely compounded by drinking or drugging. High cholesterol, high or imbalanced blood sugar, inflammation and pain, and many other health problems are made much worse when alcohol or drugs are added to the mix.

If it seems you can’t get through a day, a weekend or any stressful moment without self-medicating you may want to consider getting a professional evaluation from an addiction professional. If you feel you might meet the criteria for substance abuse or addiction, you may want to consider checking out a 12-step meeting or making an appointment at an outpatient addiction treatment center.

Interestingly enough, there isn’t really a typical substance abuser or addict doctors, lawyers, those in the financial world, and others are as likely to have problems with this as anyone else. A stressful lifestyle or job or a low tolerance for coping with stressors can lead anyone to try to find relief. It’s important to remember that feelings of guilt or shame might but really shouldn’t prevent you from getting help.

*In addition to 12-Step programs an excellent resource for those wanting to explore this topic is the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration web site, www.samhsa.gov.

**I have been working in the fields of mental health and addiction for over 25 years. In the past decade many positive changes have occurred, including the recognition that substance abuse and mental health issues have a complex relationship.

For More Information Please Visit:  www.richardzwolinski.com.

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