How do you know
if you have a problem?
Problem signals:
In this case "high" refers to the effects of alcohol and other drugs.
- You feel you need to get high before school or while you are at school.
- You find your favourite activities are suddenly boring unless you're high.
- You choose activities based on whether or not you'll be able to get high.
- You stop doing activities that don't allow for you to drink or do drugs.
- You choose new friends, and snub old ones based on whether or not they like to get high with you.
- You find it takes more and more drugs or alcohol to actually get high.
- You notice you're spending a lot more money than before on drugs and alcohol.
- You start drinking or doing drugs just to deal with your problems.
- You have trouble remembering things.
- You feel sad, angry or anxious when you are not high.
- You drink and/or get high by yourself.
- You like to get high first thing in the morning.
- You find that you have to choose between getting high and taking care of basic duties at home, work or school.
- You argue and fight with people you care about more than before.
- You always want to get high.
- You drive when you're high.
- You find you're not as alert or "on the ball" as usual.
- You find yourself taking serious risks, just to get high - like going to dangerous areas where drug dealers hang out.
- You start trying new types of drugs in search of a more intense high.
- You start mixing drugs with alcohol, again in search of a more intense high.
Talking helps... big time!
Friends, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, teachers, guidance counsellors - and especially parents - are excellent to talk to, even if you don't agree with everything they say. They might surprise you because, after all, they were once your age too and you probably have way more in common than you think. Give it a try!
Long-term consequences:
if you don't deal with things early enough
Not all drug and alcohol-related problems are obvious. Some develop over time, below the radar, but as you'll see in this list, they can be extremely serious. The best way to prevent this from happening to you is to catch the signs early, and deal with things while it's still relatively easy to do so.
