There are a lot of people out there that really want to understand alcoholism and drug addiction. So the questions – ‘what is alcoholism or what is drug addiction?’ are very common.

So if you are one of those people, hopefully I can help. Now you need to understand that alcoholism and drug addiction can be quite complex to get a handle on.

The kind of things you would need to know to understand them in depth, would include things like whether drug addiction and alcoholism is a disease, the causes of alcoholism and addiction, and the genetic/hereditary impact on addiction and alcoholism.

But lets take it a step further back first and go deeper than that – so that we really get to the heart of the problem.

Whether you have a genetic predisposition towards alcoholism or drug addiction making you more susceptible – or whether life has just given you a few bad breaks so you use drugs or alcohol to help you cope, which has led you to addiction – there is an underlying reason that explains it all.

And I think it’s ultimately an emptiness and lack of wholeness that you feel, which you cover up or try to hide/suppress by using drugs and alcohol. I know – I’ve been there. You feel disconnected to life and question your purpose, which is something I used to do all the time. Still do actually, but it’s not nearly as bad.

According to Dr. Andrew Weil, who has a brilliant explanation for it in his book, Natural Health, Natural Medicine; addiction is not psychological or pharmacological problem and can’t be solved using these methods. He says it is at root, a Spiritual Concern, due to the fact that it represents a misdirected attempt at experiencing wholeness, satisfaction and inner completeness.

So in trying to understand, what is drug addiction and what is alcoholism actually? Remember that they are in essence a Spiritual ‘problem.’ And by doing that, you will be far more effective in treating and recovering from them successfully.

If you want to know if you or a loved-one is indeed an alcoholic or drug addict – it’s important that you know what the drug addiction signs and alcoholism symptoms are.

There are whole host of signs and symptoms of alcoholism and drug addiction, but I’m not going to list them here (feel free to visit my website for that). I rather want to give you a crucial one – that if you pick up early can make all the difference.

Unlike what many people think – drug addiction or alcoholism isn’t simply a function of how often you use or how much you drink.

There are naturally times when it’s obvious that someone is an alcoholic or drug addict. The addict’s life will revolve around their habit and doing anything from working to maintaining relationships is near impossible.

Similarly the alcoholic will be so far down the road with their alcoholism that they don’t have a life anymore – it’s totally fallen apart – relationships, job, practically everything.

Many drug addicts and alcoholics aren’t yet that advanced with their addiction, however. So the secret is to see the signs and symptoms of alcoholism and drug addiction, before it gets that advanced.

So the most important sign of alcoholism or drug addiction – is that your life starts to become effected by your using or drinking – and that you are increasingly struggling to cope with things on a daily basis.

You begin to become more preoccupied about your next drink or when you’ll use again, relationships begin to suffer, everyday stuff like work becomes more of a struggle – and so drinking or taking drugs becomes an emotional comfort that feels like it helps you manage better.

The problem is, that it is usually difficult to pick up on this alcoholism or drug addiction symptom, because it happens quickly and if often subtle. Denial usually prevents you seeing what is happening in your own case unless you are able to be really honest with yourself – or if it’s a person you care about, look out for changes in attitude, behaviour or mood.

Signs of alcoholism and drug addiction are numerous – but if you can see this one and hopefully catch the addiction early – treatment and recovery should be easier and your chances of success far greater.

Alcohol And Drug Abuse

Most people can tell the difference between alcohol and drug use and abuse, but ironically those who need to know most can not. Alcohol and drug abusers tend to suffer from addictive personalities, and they’re very good at denying when they have a problem. I was using drugs recreationally for quite a while before I realized that I had a problem. The thing is, most of my drug using friends didn’t. It was easy for me to hang out with people who would get high now and then and pretend that I was like them, but I wasn’t. I couldn’t simply take it or leave it. Soon, my alcohol and drug abuse dominated my life. Rather than simply getting high on the weekend as a harmless way to blow off steam like my friends did,I was getting drunk or high practically every day. Sometimes, it seemed like I could not go for more than a few hours without a fix!

When I finally realized that I had a problem, I decided to check into an alcohol and drug abuse treatment center. The funny thing was that I didn’t feel too bad until I got there. A lot of people who have dealt with alcohol and drug abuse will tell you that the worst part is getting clean. Many of them, in fact, live a reasonably normal life with pretty serious habits for many years. It is only when they bottom out and try to get off of drugs that they really realize how far they have fallen.

Drug and alcohol detox feels worse than anything you can imagine. Is like a really bad flu with a fever, only several times worse than that. You shake, you vomit, you feel sick all over, and sometimes you even hallucinate. Of course, the difficulty with detoxing from alcohol and drug abuse varies from person to person and from drug to drug. Some people can get off the stuff pretty easily, but I couldn’t. It was miserable, and it seemed to take forever.

The people in the drug treatment center recommended that I stay there for at least a month, but I actually ended up checking out as soon as I had come down off the drugs. I was confident that I could conquer the alcohol and drug abuse on my own as long as I had time to detox in the center where I could not get my hand on any more dope. I have to admit that it was difficult, but I did do it. Those couple weeks of treatment gave me the edge I needed to get started on my own. Once I checked out, I knew I never wanted to have to go through detox again. I got over my alcohol and drug abuse problems and have never looked back.