What is considered substance abuse?

The definition of substance abuse is very subjective. It could be looked at as "overindulgence", but then this doesn't offer any real clarity. Perhaps the best way to determine if some action is considered abusive is to look for any strong, negative outcomes in the person's life. If someone is experiencing things like loss of their job, lack of personal care, loss of relationships, financial instability or mood problems - then it would seem reasonable to suggest that the use of substances has reached a problematic level

Substance abuse is when you abuse any substance in a way that is detrimental to your health. It is pretty much just that. Substance abuse can cause a variety of health problems depending on what substance that you are mis using. These may include liver damage, lung issues, heart problems, digestive issues.....any time you use a substance in a way that is damaging to you, that is substance abuse. Some examples would be drug use, vaping to a detriment, smoking, alcoholism, using diet pills too much, misusing laxatives, and many more. Those definitely aren't the only ones. If you are suffering, please reach out to an addiction hotline

A chronic use of some drugs or any substances including alcohol often taken externally which causes a certain behavior or mood for individuals. It can be different from substance dependence as substance abuse can cause a significant amount of change in behaviors whereas the later may not be a addiction. These substances can be of four variants - depressant, stimulants, opium linked pain killers or hallucinogens. Substance abuse could lead to building of substance tolerance. This can be very dangerous as the receptor will end up using more marginally higher quantity of such substances to get the desired effects. Initially people start with a gateway substance but later move on to hard core chemicals.

In my opinion substance abuse means when substance use becomes a problem. According CAMH (Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Canada): Two important signs that a person's substance use is risky, or i already a problem, are harmful consequences and loss of control. When talking about substance abuse, the word "addiction" is also coming to mind. Addiction is often used to refer to any behavior that is out of control in some way. The word is also used to explain the experience of withdrawal when a substance is stopped. A simple way of describing addiction is the presence of the 4 C's: craving, loss of control of amount or frequency of use, compulsion to use and use despite consequences.

Substance abuse is a patterned use of a drug in which the user consumes the substance in amounts or with methods which are harmful to themselves or others, in other words, if you start using a certain drug in bigger amounts than needed and prescribed, it is most likely substance abuse. Though I would recommend against deciding upon that yourself, the best idea is the consult a professional to determine what it is.

Substance abuse is when someone intakes too much alcohol, drugs, or any other substance that alters their way of reality. Most times, the person is aware of their obvious intake of an irresponsible amount of the substance. They use is daily and, when it comes to it, don't accept help for it right away. Their abuse of the substance harms not only themselves, but the people around them like children, parents, friends, co-workers, and so on. Substance abuse makes the person dependent on whatever they are abusing, and that can lead to a decline in money and all around health for that person.

There are some harmful substances, the use or intake of these substances is called Substance Abuse These substances activate the brain and are also called Psycho-active substances. They give the person who take them a high. They are very addictive and cause dependence. People who start taking them develop a strong urge to keep taking it. The frequency increases and they take them more often and in increased quantity. They cannot control these urges resulting in them being unable to do other tasks without them and as time goes by they experience physical withdrawal and other serious health implications which may result in their being institutionalized.

This is actually a tricky question because there are many definitions for SUBSTANCE ABUSE. So here goes my definition based on DSM 5 (5th version of the Diagnostics and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) : Substance abuse is the intake of something (a substance) that impairs you; generally we speak of drugs or alcohol, but it includes any type of chemical or substance that is mood altering. In order to be considered "abuse", you must intake the mood altering substance in many occasions and this constant intake must affect your day to day functioning or interactions causing it to be a constant problem in your life.

A person must take a deep and honest look at their habit and ask how that habit is impacting their life. Does the habit produce shame? Does the habit create distance from friends and family? Is there a strong desire or craving to seek out the substance of the habit? Is the habit a mechanism to deal with stress or other negative feelings? Does the habit cause harm to the body or mind? Has the person tried to cut back or moderate unsuccessfully? We have a remarkable ability to identify when things are unhealthy for us. Most of the time, deep down inside we know when an action we're doing is not right, but often times the addictive voice speaks loudly and creates confusion. Mindfulness and self-inquiry can help resolve these struggles so that we can see clearly how our actions have impacted us.

Anything that is addictive is harmful. Even something as simple as caffeine can be a substance that you can use abusively. Addiction is that most harmful aspect, in my perspective. You get hooked and then you can't live without it, enslaving you to something that should not control your life. I personally have started to battle this question. My body cannot produce certain hormones that are necessary for me to function normally. I had to decide whether taking hormonal pills for the rest of my life was something I wanted to do. Life is definitely hard without those hormones being produced in my body, but I decided that I wouldn't take them because at that point, I really would have to do them for the rest of my life. I really want to have children, and wouldn't be able to stay pregnant with these drugs. It's a matter of deciding what is important to you. Your freedom, or momentary happiness that has to be renewed regularly.