Really understanding and getting to the root of the causes of alcoholism and drug addiction isn’t straightforward – because they are complex illnesses by nature.

Genetic factors and the fact that alcoholism and addiction is hereditary in many cases, certainly does play a role. But that only explains part of the story because ultimately we’re all shaped by our environmental influences – parents, family, peers, experiences, media etc.

Now when looking at the role psychology plays in alcoholism and drug addiction – a large part of our psychological makeup is formed in our early childhood years. Primarily through our parents and family environment.

Generally speaking – if we come from a generally loving, stable and supportive family environment (especially in our early childhood years) – it usually means we grow up with better self confidence and are more comfortable with ourselves and who we are.

Or if when we’re young we, we have a more traumatic childhood – which could mean anything from losing a parent, having one of our parents addicted to drugs or alcohol, our parents divorcing, or anything that really effects us emotionally – it could result in us developing various ways to cope with that, which can then manifest in our lives in all sorts of different ways.

This could mean you find yourself developing a whole bunch of stuff – which could be anything from depression to anger, anxiety, different kinds of eating disorders and naturally various forms of addiction, including drugs and alcohol.

Chances are – speak to an alcoholic or drug addict – that there will be a significant trauma or event that affected them, most likely when they were young. In my case it was having an alcoholic parent and the strain that put on our family.

Naturally it doesn’t always happen that way. You’ll find many cases, I’m sure, of alcoholics and drug addicts that were brought up in a loving, stable and supportive environment. But hopefully when considering alcoholism and psychology and trying to understand the psychology of addiction – everything will make a lot more sense for you.

Drug and Alcohol addiction are amongst the most serious and destructive diseases known to man. They are so severe and devastating that more people are killed as a result of them than all other chronic illnesses combined

If you can, you want to try and catch an addiction early ” because it gets progressively worse the longer you leave it until it even becomes life-threatening.

Three of the most obvious warning signs of alcoholism or drug addiction are experiencing withdrawals when you stop drinking or taking drugs which can show up in anxiety and getting the shakes, developing an increased tolerance so you need to use or drink more to get the same effects, and trying unsuccessfully on numerous occasions to cut down or quit

So ideally you want to get help as soon as these symptoms start manifesting. Problem is, alcoholics and drug addicts tend to live in denial and are therefore resistant to want to receive help until things are often really bad.

Acknowledging your addiction, whatever it is, is the first step in successful recovery. You use that as the foundation on which you build your recovery because then you are ready to receive help.

Performing an intervention is one of the most effective ways for helping someone you love break through their denial and ensuring they get proper help ” so thats the route to follow if its not you but someone you care about struggling with addiction.

The two biggest weapons you have in your arsenal to combat an addiction are knowledge ” and then putting that knowledge into practice. Do that ” and any addiction can successfully be overcome.

There are a number of different ways to pick up on the signs and symptoms of alcoholism or drug addiction. Usually your instincts will tell you something is wrong, but we have a tendency to second-guess ourselves so some ‘hard facts’ are usually required.

Your opinion can also be affected depending on what perspective you’re looking at the problem from. Is it you that you’re worried about and so want to be able to recognize the signs of addiction for your own understanding?

Or are you concerned about a spouse, child, lover, or friend? There aren’t necessarily any infallible guidelines, but hopefully I can provide you with a few things to look out for and should you then want more information, just visit the links provided to my website.

A couple of the main physical signs of alcoholism or drug addiction are liver problems and high blood pressure, which can cause severe tiredness or even result in things like strokes and heart attacks. But unless you see a Doctor in time, you often won’t pick on them until it’s too late.

Signs of alcoholism and drug addiction that you are possibly likely to pick up on sooner – are for example making promises (even if it’s just to yourself) that you’re going to cut down or stop, which are obviously not kept; needing more and more to get the feeling you want; and withdrawals that become worse and worse.

For me the key indicator of a real problem is when your using or drinking starts to impact your sense of self, and when day to day things that have been fine before become effected – like work, school, relationships etc.

Another good way to test for addiction is to use psychometric type addiction and alcoholism tests – which are mostly very accurate in identifying a genuine addiction problem. I don’t unfortunately have enough space to put them here – but feel free to visit my website to try one.

So, being able to identify an addiction in yourself or someone you care about, can be done in a few different ways. Read up on the various symptoms and signs, try a psychometric type test, and you should then have a reasonably good idea if indeed there is a genuine problem.

If you’re struggling with an addiction to alcohol or drugs – there are basically a couple of ways you can try and overcome your addiction. You can either try and beat it yourself – or can you look to get professional treatment and help.

I definitely don’t think you should be trying to overcome your addiction by yourself. It’s just so much harder and the cost of getting it wrong, just too high, because your life (or that of a loved one) is literally at stake.

I reckon the reason many of us alcoholics and drug addicts will look to overcome an addiction by ourselves is twofold. We feel a certain shame or embarrassment to admitting to an addiction, especially because it has a certain stigma attached to it, and so would rather just keep our problem to ourselves due to the fear of it ‘getting out.’

Don’t believe that for a second though. There is no shame in admitting to an addiction to alcohol or drugs. Tens of millions of people struggle with addiction. It is now medically regarded as a disease after all. Any more importantly – by taking ownership of your problem, you’ve taken the most important step to coming clean. Because without doing that, you’d just be living in denial – and then you’d have no chance.

The second big reasons I think many alcoholics and drug addicts don’t look to get professional help and treatment – is the belief that it is simply not realistic from a cost perspective. But that’s simply not the case because there are treatment centers that cater for addicts from just about any financial background.

Imagine if you had cancer. You wouldn’t be looking to fight that yourself, surely? I know there are people that have (and successfully so) – but if you can get professional help that is ready and willing to help you – why not make use of it?

So I would always recommend that you try and get yourself into an addiction treatment center. You may have to do some research and make some enquiries as to one’s that you can afford that are in your area – but I urge you to go for it. It was the best thing I ever did in fighting my own addictions.

By going into treatment you suddenly realise that there are others going through pretty much the same things you are – and that you’re not alone. The loneliness and sense of isolation you feel disappear. Yes, treatment may only be the beginning of your journey towards recovery, but it certainly does give you the best possible chance of starting a new life for yourself.