Struggling to stay focused? Have you tried to cut down on substances but can’t seem to make recovery stick? Have you found it’s affecting your relationships, work, your own mental health, or other areas of your life? Learn more below on how we can help you manage your struggles with addiction.

 What is a Substance Use Disorder

Substance Use Disorder is a disease that affects a person's brain and behavior and leads to an inability to control the use of a legal or illegal drug or medication. Substances such as alcohol, marijuana and nicotine also are considered drugs.

When you're addicted, you may continue using the drug despite the harm it causes. An addiction can become a chronic illness, meaning you can have relapses similar to other chronic diseases such as diabetes, asthma, and hypertension.

Relapses can occur even after long periods of abstinence. With treatment or engagement in recovery activities you can be in remission.

What are Symptoms of a Substance Use Disorder

There are many different classes of drugs, alcohol, caffeine, cannabis, hallucinogens (phencyclidine or similarly acting arylcyclohexylamines, and other hallucinogens, such as LSD), inhalants (many know this as huffing), opioids, sedatives, hypnotics, or anxiolytics; stimulants (including amphetamine-type substances, cocaine, and other stimulants, synthetic substances-ex. pink), tobacco, and other or unknown substances. Taking substances can activate the reward system this produces feelings of pleasure or euphoria, which is often referred to as a “high.” Below are some symptoms of a substance use addiction;

• Taking the substance in larger amounts or for longer than you're meant to.

• Wanting to cut down or stop using the substance but not managing to.

• Spending a lot of time getting, using, or recovering from use of the substance.

• Cravings and urges to use the substance.

• Not managing to do what you should at work, home, or school because of substance use.

• Continuing to use, even when it causes problems in relationships.

• Giving up important social, occupational, or recreational activities because of substance use.

• Using substances again and again, even when it puts you in danger.

• Continuing to use, even when you know you have a physical or psychological problem that could have been caused or made worse by the substance.

• Needing more of the substance to get the effect you want (tolerance).

• Development of withdrawal symptoms, which can be relieved by taking more of the substance.

What happens when reward seeking becomes a habit?

Seeking the reward (motivation, “wanting,” desire, or cravings) that comes with taking drugs can become compulsive or impulsive, the act of seeking ceases to be pleasurable, and it eventually no longer provides relief. Tolerance is build and you need more and more of the substance to chase the “high” you were trying to chase (i.e. the reward).

How Stress effects Substance Use

If you have a history of substance use, stress has been shown to be a high indicator of relapse. There are four things that happen when you are stressed;

1. Events that cause the stress (life stressors, past traumas, etc.)

2. How you evaluate the stress that occurs (your appraisal of what is happening to you and your options for coping

3. Your physiological response (what happens in your body when you are stressed)

4. The behavioral response; strong focus on the problem, emotionally focused, or avoiding the problem/stress all together.

   There are many negative health outcomes to how stress affects us including psychological distress, lower reports of well-being, lower life-satisfaction, and physical health problems as well as substance use.

What happens during Stress and Substance use

The hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis is our central stress response system. It is part of the neuroendocrine system or how the brain regulates the hormonal activity in the body.

Cycle of Drug Abuse, How Stress is directly related

Individuals with elevated basal cortisol levels (i.e. more HPA axis activity, more stress response) are at heightened risk for drug use 

1. When someone is stressed during a period of abstinence it is suggested that CRAVING increases, and COPING DECREASES,

2. During the long or short term abstinence – without proper ways of coping – their maladaptive stress response system (see above for what happens during stress and substance use) increases risk of relapse 

3. This leads to the same cycle of drug use until the person is in short or long term withdrawal – and stressed again. 

4. Research has shown that individuals who use drugs and those with alcohol addiction often shows stress and negative emotions as reasons for relapse to drug use

5. Patients resources for coping with stress, e.g. positive thinking and avoidance coping, have an effect on relapse.

6.  Adolescent and adult substance use individuals are known to mainly use AVOIDANT COPING strategies.

How is chronic early life stress connected to substance use?

Adverse childhood events can look like early childhood maltreatment, abuse (physical, sexual, emotional), neglect, and high stress environments. Each of these events are associated with a number of negative outcomes later in life.