When substance abuse is allowed to turn excessive, it can lead to addiction. It can be a very difficult situation to reverse. It can be an idea to consider preventive action -- if you can see predisposing factors of drug abuse in yourself or if you see them in a loved one, you could consider preemptive rehab. You could attend the kind of therapy that recovering addicts accept in rehab. If this seems to make sense to you, all you need to do is to understand what the predisposing factors of drug abuse are, and use your knowledge to gain insight into your own mind or the mind of a loved one. Then, you only need to act. You would only need to look for a high-quality rehab, and discuss treatment with a therapist.
Many factors that contribute to substance abuse tend to be genetic in nature. Some genetic predisposing factors of drug abuse include a lower natural level of everyday pleasure felt, and a heightened response to drugs. While it isn't possible to run tests for genetics to see if such challenges exist, it's possible to look for a family history of substance abuse. The greater the number of close family members with addiction problems, the more likely it is that heritable genetics are involved. You or a loved one in the family could suffer from a weakness for addictive behavior.
Half of those suffer from a mental disorder such as depression, schizophrenia, OCD or anxiety turn to substance abuse and added risk factors for addiction. Substance abuse attracts those who struggle with mental disorders simply because addictive substances directly act on parts of the brain involved in mental disorders. The effects of drugs can feel remedial.
If you do not know about a mental disorder, merely seeing a therapist or a psychiatrist to check wouldn't hurt. Improved mental health is an excellent way to lower risk of substance abuse.
Psychological health challenges may include anger management issues, cognitive distortions,poor self-image, guilt issues and social ineptitude. These often cause increased mental stress. Often, a person suffering from these conditions is unable to gain adequate insight into the nature of their everyday problems, and find workable solutions that help.
More often than not, they will turn to substance abuse for mental comfort, a habit that quickly gets out of hand. In addiction rehab, much therapy is often aimed at addressing such challenges to better equip patients for life. Accepting cognitive-behavioral therapy and other such treatment can help preemptively treat such problems before they lead to addiction.
A family environment of poor order, an adventurous desire to experiment with drugs early in life, and a preference for injectable drugs, have all proven to be risk factors.
While the presence of risk factors does not necessarily predict addictive behavior, it makes it very likely. Whether you use yourself or observe these risk factors in others, you should think the possibility of addiction right away, and take preventive steps. Prevention being better than cure, it would be a good idea to try preventive addiction care. You would only need call a qualified rehab.