Noticing your loved one struggling with an addiction can be scary. You may begin to fear for them because you know the inevitable end to their destructive path. You want to step in to help, but you may not know how and you don’t know when it is time to seek professional addiction treatment.

Knowing when it’s time to seek help is one of the biggest challenges people face when dealing with a loved one who is struggling with addiction. English Mountain Recovery has partnered with KSL.com to help answer that question.

What is addiction?

Addiction is a dependency on something—a substance or activity—that offers temporary pleasure, rush or escape. Addiction can be physical or psychological and should be treated as a chronic disease. According to the American Society of Addiction Medicine, “like other chronic diseases, addiction often involves cycles of relapse and remission” and those suffering from addiction should seek help before their addiction progresses to disability or premature death.

Your loved one may have an addiction if they exhibit any of the following signs.

Denial

Denial is the first indicator of something going wrong. You may notice your loved one will find excuses for using and may even downplay their use as normal behavior. They may even begin turning the tables by pointing the finger at other people and circumstances, blaming everyone else but themselves.

Change in lifestyle

Does your loved one give up important social, recreational or work-related activities due to their addiction? Are they unable to manage responsibilities at work, home or school? A dramatic change in lifestyle shows a shift in priorities where the user is putting their addiction before anything else.

Craving

As the using increases, so does dependency on the drug or activity. You may sense a restlessness in your loved one and will start seeing them withdraw from normal routine to feed their addiction.

Increased use

Over time, the body and mind develops tolerance, requiring larger doses to achieve the desired pleasurable experience. Your loved one may continue to or increase forgoing career, family and other responsibilities to engage in their addiction and invest more time (and money) into it.

If you notice your loved one is using more and more at larger doses, they needs help now.

Withdrawals

Whether your loved one experiences withdrawals from trying to quit themselves or whether they struggle with daily withdrawals in between uses, they will develop withdrawal symptoms such as nausea, shakiness, excess sweating and anxiety, among others. The person may relapse or try to relieve these symptoms by giving in to their addiction.

Addiction is a condition that should not reflect on the character or willpower of your loved one, but rather on the seriousness of the situation. If you notice these signs of addiction in your loved one, help them find a recovery center where they can learn how to live again free from their addiction.

Take the quiz to see if you or your loved one may need help. (In the app and can't see the quiz? Click here.)

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