MENTAL HEALTH
Substance Abuse & Addiction: Signs & Treatment Options
August 28, 2020
Symptom Guides > Mental Health > Substance Abuse & Addiction: Signs & Treatment Options

by
Dr. Zina Semenovskaya
Dr. Semenovskaya specializes in emergency medicine, and received her medical degree from Weill Cornell Medical College. She is currently the medical director at Remote Emergency Medicine Consulting, LLC and splits her time working clinically as an emergency medicine attending in California and Alaska. She is the first of our doctors to be fluent in Russian.
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Substance abuse occurs when a person uses an illegal or legal substance, such as alcohol, tobacco, or a prescription medication, either too much or in the wrong way, often for the pleasurable physical or mental experience that comes with it.
Usually, people abusing substances can stop their behavior before it has significant health effects. Substance abuse, which is behavioral in nature, is different from addiction, which is a disease. Medically known as substance use disorder, addiction affected more than 19.7 million American adults (ages 12 and older) in 2017.
Substance abuse and substance use disorder are both closely linked with mental illnesses like anxiety and depression. People who have anxiety and depression are more likely to abuse substances, and substance abuse can cause or exacerbate existing anxiety and depression.
Decreasing or even quitting the use of drugs and alcohol is crucial for health. With psychological support and, if needed, medical treatment, people can overcome substance abuse and addiction and in turn lessen their likelihood of experiencing detrimental health effects.
In this article, I’ll cover:
“At the most basic level, substance abuse is caused by using drugs or alcohol more often or in a higher dose than needed.”
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by
Dr. Zina Semenovskaya
Dr. Semenovskaya specializes in emergency medicine, and received her medical degree from Weill Cornell Medical College. She is currently the medical director at Remote Emergency Medicine Consulting, LLC and splits her time working clinically as an emergency medicine attending in California and Alaska. She is the first of our doctors to be fluent in Russian.
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