Recently, on April 1st, many people celebrated April Fools’ Day. They celebrated by playing jokes, pranks, and hoaxes on other people. They may have put sugar into salt shakers, or published fake news stories in newspapers or on the Internet, or played other jokes to fool others.
If you think about it, alcohol abuse or drug addiction are often like pranks that people play on themselves. They might think they can handle the effects of these substances, that they have everything under control, but they’re only fooling themselves.
Fooling and hiding often seem to be a large part of substance use disorder. People might make elaborate efforts to fool others, to convince them that they don’t have such problems. But often, things give them away:
- Physically, they could have bloodshot or glassy eyes or smell like alcohol or drugs.
- Emotionally, they could be more angry, sad, or happy than they are when they’re sober.
- Personally, they could withdraw from their families or friends.
- Professionally, they could make mistakes at their jobs or not even show up for work.
- Educationally, they could fail their classes.
In short, drug and alcohol abuse change a person in many ways. A person struggling with this abuse might not notice these changes, but their friends, relatives, and coworkers might. Drugs and alcohol can consume people. Addicts could be so intent on having that next drink or next hit that they don’t notice how others react, or if they don’t, they might not care.
Drugs and alcohol create such profound effects that they can change how a person thinks and feels. These effects illustrate how addiction is not just physical, but mental. That’s why addressing the mental components of alcohol and drug abuse is just as important – if not more important – than addressing what drugs and alcohol can do your body.
With proper care, drug and alcohol abusers can play April Fools’ tricks on others instead of letting drugs and alcohol play tricks on them.
