If you or someone close to you has struggled with addiction, it can be challenging to understand why it’s happening and whether or not it’s your fault. There aren’t many addiction causes, and understanding what leads to addiction can help you not only identify when you struggled with substance abuse but avoid situations or circumstances that might make it worse.
What are the Signs of Addiction?
Different signs of addiction typically fall under behavioral, physical, and psychological categories. The signs you see most can vary depending on where you are in your habit or what substances you struggle with.
Generally speaking, signs of addiction can include abrupt changes to personality that have no other explanation. You might notice a sudden decline in social activities or hobbies that were once important to yourself or your loved ones. Even work or school responsibilities, family, and friends no longer maintain importance.
Addiction might also cause individuals to neglect their hygiene, no longer taking care of themselves. It can manifest in physical addiction and withdrawal symptoms when drugs or alcohol are not taken regularly. It might also appear in financial or legal problems, stealing to pay for another fix.
If you see the signs of addiction, you might wonder about the causes of addiction and whether there are legitimate reasons for addiction in some people.
What are the Causes of Addiction?
So what leads to addiction? Are there specific reasons for addiction? There are, in fact, many addiction causes, and those who struggle with addiction might have more than one.
Genetics
Genetics is one cause of addiction. Your genetics might place you at a predisposition for addiction. Many different genes impact addiction and relate specifically to different substances. For example, specific genetic variants cause a higher level of addiction in someone who tries alcohol or smokes. Other genes inhibit how your body processes certain drugs or handles stress, increasing susceptibility to self-medication and subsequent addiction.
Trauma
For many people, trauma is a significant factor. Trauma can happen at any age, and it can have devastating impacts on your mental health and psychological well-being. In turn, this can affect your physical well-being as well. Childhood trauma or adult trauma that is unprocessed often leads to self-medication in the form of drugs or alcohol. Many drugs can inhibit feelings of depression or anxiety or make you feel momentarily happier by putting distance between yourself and the trauma. But this isn’t a permanent fix. Undergoing drug rehab with therapists who focus on understanding and fixing that trauma provides a long-term solution.
Mental Health
Similarly, mental health problems are one of many causes of addiction. Individuals who have undiagnosed bipolar disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, or severe depression might self-medicate with drugs and alcohol, and as they do so, they form an addiction. This addiction can sometimes worsen the symptoms of their mental health problems, leading to increased addiction. It can be challenging to recognize the need for personalized help in this vicious cycle. In many cases getting proper medication to treat the underlying mental health conditions while also receiving treatment for drug addiction is the best course of action.
Environment
The environment in which you grew up or the current environment in which you live can also qualify as one of many potential causes of addiction. If you grow up in a house full of child abuse, poverty, domestic abuse, or drug use, you are more likely to be addicted to drugs. Even as an adult, if you are in a home where poverty is rampant, crime happens in your neighborhood regularly, and drug use is habitual, you are also more likely to use drugs. Early exposure to drugs and alcohol can increase your risk of addiction.
History of Addiction
If you have ever been addicted to a substance in the past, it can change your genetic structure and the way your brain functions. If left untreated, this can leave you susceptible to higher addiction rates to other substances.
How to Find Addiction Treatment in Southern California
No matter the reasons for addiction in yourself or your family, there are ways to get help. At Coachella Valley, we can help you overcome many causes of addiction with our comprehensive inpatient and outpatient treatment.
Understanding things that contribute to your addiction or leave you at a higher risk of developing addiction gives you the tools to fix or avoid the same circumstances down the line actively. If you are looking for Southern California addiction treatment, we can help. When you come to our establishment, we work with you to carefully design a personalized treatment program that considers the potential causes of addiction that you struggle with the most.
Let Coachella Valley help you overcome your addiction causes today with our rehab near Palm Springs
