Decrease in Drug Abuse Fuels Surge in Heroin Consumption
Addiction is a progressive disease, much like cancer or diabetes. If left untreated, it only gets worse. We often hear about young people who seemed to have it all—a bright future, good grades, involvement in sports, and a solid group of friends—only to see them fall into addiction or alcoholism after making some wrong choices.
**How Addiction Progresses**
Addiction doesn’t discriminate by age. It can start with casual substance use that quickly escalates to abuse and full-blown addiction before you know it. Researchers have been constantly studying this progression to figure out warning signs that could help prevent people from falling into addiction.
**Key Findings**
Recent studies, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and Alcoholism and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, were published in the June issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry. Dr. Wilson M. Compton, who leads the Division of Epidemiology, Services, and Prevention Research at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, spearheaded this research.
The studies revealed that addiction doesn’t follow a straightforward path. Someone might go from casually drinking to stopping entirely, and then suddenly begin drinking daily. There’s no set timeline or pattern like “drinking one drink a day for a month, then two drinks a day for another month,” escalating to alcoholism. The journey is often unpredictable and varies greatly from person to person.
For instance, if Person B is prescribed painkillers after surgery, they might take the medication as directed initially, then stop once the pain subsides. But they might turn back to those pills during a difficult time in their life, taking more and more to cope with emotional pain.
**Unpredictability of Addiction**
The study highlighted that addiction cannot be easily predicted. Substance use categories—nonuse, recreational use, and problem use—can change at different points in someone’s life. Dr. Compton noted, “I was surprised by the number of transitions. There was an awful lot of movement in these 3 different groups. I thought there wouldn’t be as much.” This shows that anyone can make choices leading to problem use at any time.
Dr. Compton emphasized, “I think the findings speak to the importance of early intervention, particularly in routine medical and emergency care settings.” There are various methods and strategies to prevent casual use from escalating to problem use, and to treat problem use so individuals can revert to nonuse.
All of this offers hope, showing that intervention and prevention can make a significant difference.
