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Types of Addiction

When you experiment with substances like alcohol, opiates, or benzodiazepines, you’re placing yourself at risk of developing an addiction. Addiction is a progressive and chronic disease, meaning that once you develop one of the two types of addiction, it can become very difficult to recover without help. As symptoms become worse, substance abuse disorders can cause increasingly severe consequences. Once your drug of choice becomes the main priority in your day-to-day life, you can devote the majority of your time and money on using and acquiring your drug of choice. This can result in isolating yourself from friends and family members and having difficulty maintaining a normal and healthy life.

What Types of Addiction Exist?

The two types of addiction have one major thing in common: they cause you to compulsively use and abuse your substance of choice despite acknowledging your use is causing problems in your life and want to stop your use. The two types of addiction that you can develop are psychological and physical. You can develop both types of addiction at the same time, which can make it even more difficult to recover. Psychological dependence means that your brain, but not your body, is dependent on your substance of choice in order to release the proper amount of neurotransmitters and function properly. Physical dependence occurs when your body relies on your substance of choice and causes you to experience withdrawal symptoms when you don’t use your substance of choice. Both types of addiction can cause:

  • Diminished quality of life
  • Damaged personal and familial relationships
  • Employment problems
  • Emotional issues
  • Medical and mental health problems

All psychoactive substances can lead to addiction, meaning that there is no such thing as a “safe” drug. Some substances, like opiates and alcohol, can also cause fatal overdoses. When you develop either of the two types of addiction, early treatment is the best way to fully recover.

How Is Addiction Treated?

When you become dependent on a substance, you develop an addiction. Substance abuse treatment provides you with the structure, support, and education you need to navigate recovery. An important part of both inpatient and outpatient programs is identifying and changing negative thinking patterns and behaviors. During treatment, you’ll learn how addiction progresses, which can improve your understanding of how to avoid relapsing. Since it takes time for your brain and body to heal and adjust during treatment, it’s important to surround yourself with people who are supportive of your recovery. That can mean ending relationships with people who continue to use and abuse drugs and alcohol, as exposing yourself to those behaviors increases your risk of relapsing. Because addiction is chronic, relapsing is possible even in the late stages of recovery. Treatment programs are your best resource to better understand how to cope with triggers and cravings.

Connecting with a Treatment Program Today

If addiction has taken control of your life, you can feel alone and hopeless. Although addiction is a chronic and serious condition, recovery is always possible. To begin your road to recovery and learn more about different types of addiction, reach out to us today at 844.875.5609 to learn more about we can help you achieve sobriety.

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