Relationships and life
How drugs might impact on relationships and life
Your drug use might impact on your life in ways you might not expect. What were things like before you started using? How does using affect your life now? How would you like things to be different in the future?
Your relationships - Are you finding that there has been any negative change in your relationships? When drug use is an ongoing problem, conflict between friends and partners and family breakdown can be more common.
Homelessness - Have your parents threatened to kick you out of home or are you finding it hard to pay your rent? If you are spending your money on drugs you might find that there is not much money left for living (paying rent, buying food, or having the money to see a doctor or buy medicine when you get sick). In extreme circumstances you could even get 'kicked out' of home or lose your ability to pay your rent.
Financial pressures - Have you found yourself struggling to pay bills or buy necessities because you've spent your pay or allowance on drugs? And have you ever thought about just how much you would save if you didn't use drugs?
Using drugs regularly can become really expensive. In the extreme, when people are highly dependent on drugs, funding their habit can be their top priority and can lead to crime or losing everything on gambling.
Dependence - Are you finding it difficult to function without taking drugs? When you take drugs there is a risk that you will become dependent on them, which means that you might feel like you can't operate without it or that you are spending a lot of their time and energy finding and using the drug.
You might also have withdrawal symptoms when you stop using the drug. If you use drugs a lot you might also need to take increasing amounts to get the same effects (due to increased tolerance).
Check out the Help yourself and Treatments for drug dependence sections for ways to manage your drug use and reduce the negative impact on your relationships.
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