FFOR THE ADDICT AND THE ALCOHOLIC: HOW TO RECOGNISE CHEMICAL DEPENDENCE-LACK OF CONTROL

Addicts and alcoholics show definite signs of their chemical dependence. Here are some of the symptoms.

Lack of control-They cannot control their drug-taking or drinking. This means that they are unable to predict with any certainty what will happen after the first drug or drink. There is a random compulsiveness about their behaviour.

The drug is controlling them, rather than they controlling the drug. In the early stages of the illness there may be some control left. For a few days or weeks, the addict seems to have it licked. He is not out of control. But eventually the control slips. This applies to alcoholics as much as to drug users.

In the long run, addicts cannot consistently reduce the amount they take, or regulate it as they would wish. They may fully intend to stop taking drugs, yet be unable to do so. Or they may intend to reduce the amount they take, and yet not be able to manage it. In the same way, their behaviour becomes more and more unpredictable once the drug is taken.

At later stages there is much less control. An addict may be unable to be in a house where there are drugs without finishing them - even if he knows that he needs to save some for the next day.

'It was a downhill struggle. I used to go for a few days without drugs. Then that would justify me thinking I wasn't an addict, so I could reward myself by taking them again,' recalls Tracey, a recovering addict now in her twenties with a job and a new life. 'I was unable to stop. I tried doctors, psychiatrists, acupuncturists. I'd get detoxed. Then when I'd been off it a week or so, I felt so bad I went back on. It was a vicious circle for about five years.'

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