Symptoms of Substance Abuse and Signs Addiction

General Symptoms of Substance Abuse:

• Appears intoxicated or hung over
• Deterioration of physical appearance and grooming
• Shakiness, tremulousness
• Unpredictability, strange behavior, inappropriate behavior
• Withdrawal from responsibility
• General changes in overall attitude
• Overwhelmed easily, unable to manage emotions, emotional outbursts, overreacts
• Aggressiveness or becomes withdrawn
• Forgetfulness, poor concentration, short attention span, “blank spots” in memory
• Loses sense of humor, misinterprets situations, loses sense of perspective
• Becomes suspicious and distrustful
• Loses touch with reality at times
• Loss of intellectual sharpness, creativity, business acumen
• Becomes indecisive, confused
• Change in weight
• Frequent medical visits
• Frequent absence and inability to account for whereabouts during work day, misses deadlines, appointments
• Legal, family, social, medical problems

Signs and Symptoms of Alcohol Abuse:

• Needs a drink to relieve stress
• Quickly drinks or gulps down several drinks to “loosen up”
• Availability and consumption of alcohol becomes the focus of social or professional activities
• Individual becomes erratic, temperamental, irritable, difficult to get along with
• Misses deadlines
• Chronic lateness
• Quality of work deteriorates
• Quality of presentations deteriorates
• Poor business judgment
• Trouble making decisions
• Misses work on Mondays and Fridays
• Frequent medical leaves of several days duration
• Missing during the middle of the workday
• Odor of alcohol when around individual, especially on breath
• Shakiness, trembling hands in the morning
• Frequent trips to hospitals, medical providers
• Increase or decrease in weight
• Changes in skin appearance, including flushed skin on nose and cheeks
• Repeated injuries, bruises, cuts & scrapes, limping
• Repeated complaints of fatigue, lack of energy, inability to concentrate, headache
• General “run down” appearance
• Legal difficulties

Symptoms of Abuse of Stimulants (cocaine, meth, and others):

• Dry mouth and nose, bad breath, frequent lip licking, teeth grinding, body tremors
• Excessive activity, difficulty sitting still, lack of interest in food or sleep
• Irritable, argumentative, nervous, extreme moodiness



• Talkative, excited speech and incessant talking but conversation often lacks continuity; changes subjects rapidly, “Grabs spotlight” during presentations, meetings
• Runny nose, cold or chronic sinus infections, nose bleeds
• Use or possession of paraphernalia including small spoons, razor blades, mirror, little bottles of white powder and plastic, glass or metal straws
• Euphoria, expansive mood
• Chronic financial difficulties in spite of more than adequate compensation
• Progressively aggressive or violent behavior, unusual temper tantrums
• Increased physical or sexual activity
• False sense of confidence and power
• Purposeless, repetitious behavior
• Compulsive cleaning, grooming, sorting, disassembling

Symptoms of Abuse of Depressants (barbiturates, tranquilizers):

• Symptoms of alcohol intoxication with no alcohol odor on breath (slurred speech, stumbling gait, droopy eyes, etc)
• Lack of facial expression or animation
• Flat affect
• Flaccid appearance
• Slurred speech

Symptoms of Abuse of Opiates (painkillers, heroin, morphine):

• Euphoria, tranquility, apathy, and impaired judgment. (Although the initial effects are generally calming or dulling, psychomotor agitation and aggressiveness can occur)
• Excessively active, frantic or lethargic, drowsy, nods off during meetings
• Slow breathing
• Very pale and sweaty or extremely thirsty
• Small, “pin prick” pupils
• Nausea
• Frequent itching and scratching
• Red and raw nostrils (sign of sniffing)
• Wears long sleeves even when inappropriate (sign of injecting)

If you notice any of the symptoms of substance abuse in a family member or a loved one you should not wait until the substance abuse becomes so powerful that the substance has a chance to ruin their life and severely affect yours. The symptoms of substance abuse will just escalate if nothing is done. If you believe you are seeing any of the symptoms of substance abuse in a family member or loved one, please contact us so that we may help you understand your options. We can help you help them!