Signs and and symptoms of drug/alcohol addiction:

Addiction: A chronic, relapsing disease, characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use and by neurochemical and molecular changes in the brain.

Cravings: A powerful, often uncontrollable desire for drugs.

Developing Tolerance: a condition in which higher doses of a drug are required to produce the same effect as experienced initially; often leads to physical dependence.
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A compulsive and destructive use of mind-altering substances despite adverse medical, psychological, and social consequences. It can affect the central nervous system, liver, kidneys, and blood.

Using to escape reality, pain, sadness, loneliness, etc, etc... Using to feel confident in yourself. Using because you feel you can't feel normal without it. These are all signs of addiction.

To get away from drugs and alcohol and gain a productive life, you must first want help. Then you must take the actions it takes to get the help. Then you take the help offered and take it for all it's worth.

Addiction is much like cancer... With cancer, you have to go to cemo or some type of treatment in order to get better. If you don't do the prescribed treatment, you die. Even if you do the treatments, the cancer could pop back up months or years later possibly. That's how addiction is. If you don't take the steps to get clean and stay clean, you'll eventually die of your disease (addiction). If you do take the steps, you can get better. But if you stop doing as "prescribed" to stay clean/sober, your addiction will flare right back up into active addiction.