Compass Recovery

Risk factors for becoming addicted to alcohol and drugs, like other conditions and diseases, vary from person to person. But, the common risk factors include: 1. Genetics–your family history; 2. Age when you start using alcohol or drugs; 3. Family (including abuse, neglect and traumatic experiences in childhood) and Social Environment (including access to alcohol and drugs), and 4. Types of drugs used.

Kids who start drinking alcohol before age 15 are 5 times more likely to develop alcohol abuse or dependence than people who first used alcohol at age 21 or older. A study published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine showed that 47% of those who began drinking before age 15 experienced alcohol dependence at some point in their life, compared to 9% percent of those who began drinking at age 21 or older.

NIDA and other agencies track trends in drug use through various surveys and data collection systems. Annually, NIDA supports the collection of data on drug use patterns among secondary school students and young adults through the Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey; for more information, see the Monitoring the Future Survey: High School and Youth Trends DrugFacts. NIDA also supports the National Drug Early Warning System (NDEWS), a network of researchers who monitor drug use patterns in major metropolitan areas across the Nation and in regional "hot spots," such as within and across border cities and areas. You can also find statistics on drug use from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, compiled by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Drug Enforcement Administration Healthfinder Indian Health Service National Clearinghouse of Drug and Alcohol Information National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) National Library of Medicine The Office of National Drug Control Policy The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Data Archive (SAMHDA) The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

For referrals to treatment programs, call 1-800-662-HELP, or visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration online. Also see NIDA's Step-by-Step Treatment Guides for information about the steps to take if you or someone you know has problems with drugs. Please note that NIDA does not provide medical advice. For medical advice, we strongly urge you to contact a qualified health care provider.

There is no easy answer to this common question. If and how quickly you become addicted to a drug depends on many factors, including your biology (your genes, for example), age, gender, environment, and interactions among these factors. While one person may use a drug one or many times and suffer no ill effects, another person may overdose with the first use or become addicted after a few uses. There is no way of knowing in advance how quickly you will become addicted, but there are some clues—an important one being whether you have a family history of addiction.

YES. For most, addiction to alcohol and drugs is a process — not an event. Most people who use alcohol and drugs do so with an intention of only using once or “once in a while.” No one decides that they want to become addicted to alcohol and drugs. But, we are dealing with addictive drugs that directly affect the brain. It is easy for occasional use to change to frequent use or constant use — that is addiction. The only thing we know for sure: if you don’t drink alcohol and don’t do drugs, you definitely won’t become addicted.

Withdrawal describes the various symptoms that occur after a person abruptly reduces or stops long-term use of a drug. Length of withdrawal and symptoms vary with the type of drug. For example, physical symptoms of heroin withdrawal may include restlessness, muscle and bone pain, insomnia, diarrhea, vomiting, and cold flashes. These physical symptoms may last for several days, but the general depression, or dysphoria (opposite of euphoria), that often accompanies heroin withdrawal may last for weeks. In many cases, withdrawal can be treated with medications to ease the symptoms, but treating withdrawal is not the same as treating addiction.