When should you call time on your drug use? This question is one that should cause a lot of soul searching amongst regular drug users.
Let’s consider the origins of your current drug use, and then we will state some fairly harsh truths that need honest answers.
Recreational drug use – Those early days:
Take time out and think back to when you first tried an illegal substance. The circumstances and surroundings will differ depending on your location and surroundings at that time, but perhaps it was a toke on a spliff, a bullet of whizz ‘necked’, or maybe that visit to your first all-night party or Rave when you dropped an ‘E’.
For many millions of young people it is seen as a rite of passage. It is stepping up in life, being ‘grown up’ and it is undoubtedly both exciting and frightening at the same time.
Back then the world of drugs will have been a mysterious one for the novice taking their first tentative steps through its ‘welcoming’ doors, but one thing is for sure; this initial introduction to drugs will not be forgotten by the vast majority.
Why do so many try something that is clearly illegal?
There are many reasons. Curiosity and the relative ease of access are major factors. Then there is ‘peer pressure’.
Life can be tough during your teenage years and into early adulthood. Most young people want to fit in, to be associated with friends around their own age and if it happens that some of your more ‘influential’ peers are keen to sample illegal drugs then many are equally as keen to follow.
You want to be part of the group or ‘gang’. Many youngsters feel that saying ‘No’ to sampling drugs is tantamount to becoming an outcast within that group.
Thankfully as you grow and mature you begin to discover your own inner strength and are able to make decision based on what you feel is correct, not because you wish to curry favour from others.
Your decision not to continue experimentation with illegal substances, and to call time on your drug use before it has really begun is made for a strong reason.
You understand that by following the drug route it will lead to many more potential problems than any ‘benefits’ you could ever hope to receive.
What happens to those who develop a ‘taste’ for recreational drugs?
While a significant amount of young people experiment with some form of drug or another, many of these sensibly decide this is not something they wish to pursue. This decision will strengthen as their knowledge broadens on the devastating effects regular drug use can bring.
Unfortunately there are also a good percentage of people whose early experimentation with drugs continues. Gradually this extends and they move onto different drugs that initially give them higher ‘highs’ than previously experienced.
The problem with following such a path is that the new drugs they try are far more potent than they realise. They are also unaware of how quickly their mind and body accepts them.
This acceptance creates a dependence which requires larger, more regular doses just to achieve the same high as previously experienced.
The drugs merry-go-round is very easy to step on, but…..
Make no mistake, increasing regularity of use and the amount of drugs consumed is a ‘free entrance ticket’ onto the ever spinning drugs roundabout.
‘Friendly’ dealers will welcome you with open arms. They will be full of ’helpful’ suggestions regarding the colourful selection of illegal substances available. They will also enthuse about the cracking sensations and ‘pleasure’ each one offers.
Of course they will neglect to warn you that the selection of ‘goodies’ they have for sale contain devastatingly addictive properties which will quickly have you hooked.
This carousel may be very easy to get on, but with each turn it becomes more difficult to step off.
If you are aware your drug intake is creeping up in terms of regularity of use, or you are beginning to use ‘just a little bit more’ each time just to achieve that expected high then PLEASE call time on your drug use NOW.
DO NOT kid yourself that you can quit ’just like that’
Many regular users falsely believe they can stop using their drug(s) of choice as easily as they can turn a tap on and off. If only this were true.
What needs to be clearly reinforced is that regular drug use creates a dependency. Your body and your mind take to the drugs you are feeding them like a duck to water, but they do so at a price.
This price is that they are not satisfied with simply receiving the same amount at the same regular intervals, they need more of the same and they need it more regularly.
If you are a user that has progressed to this stage you will not be able to quit ’just like that’. To call time on your drug use at this stage requires the inclusion of professional drug rehab services.
So, where to next for those who continue to deny the fact that serious drug issues are now on their doorstep?
Next stop, a new ride at the drug ‘fairground’!
Continued and increased drug use will lead to dependence, dependence to addiction and a private seat will be yours on the drug roller-coaster.
Once you have ‘fed’ your habit you will be on the fast track up the rail and heading for those bright blue skies. Miss a dose or go too long without one and you will be plummeting down the even faster track to the gloomy depths of despair!
In denial – You are fooling yourself:
Users who know full well they have serious drug dependency issues generally have a standard response to such issues. This response is to deny the truth and then bury such thoughts under their next hit.
They will also continue to convince themselves that they are in control of their drugs use. The sad reality is that drugs are firmly in control of them.
You MUST overcome your self-denial and fear:
If you are to call time on your drug use before it is too late you MUST admit to yourself things have gone too far. You need to concede that this serious problem needs urgent attention, and you must also overcome a deep-seated fear.
This is the fear of how you will possibly survive without your regular supply of drugs.
While such fear is completely understandable, it cannot and should not prevent you from seeking urgent drug rehab assistance.
There are several options open to you. These include your health practitioner, registering with a local outpatient rehabilitation centre, or taking the sensible route that many addicts choose; a stay in a residential rehab establishment.
Whatever you do, DO SOMETHING!
It is imperative that you call time on your drug use before its potentially fatal effects call time on you. Harsh words indeed, but very true all the same.
Whichever drug rehab option and treatment you decide upon MUST be decided NOW.
You owe this to yourself and to those closest to you. They are going through untold anguish and deep concern over your addiction.
The professional help available can help you kick your habit. It also encourages you to plan for a future that is free from the shackles drug addiction brings with it.
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