Heroin addiction can strike at any time, and while It may be surprising for the victim or their family and friends, there’s a path to healing. You may be concerned about a friend or loved one who is showing the signs of addiction. Perhaps you have a family history of addiction and want to end the cycle with your generation. At times, treatment is inevitable and you want to know where to go or what to look for in a rehab facility.

With every step listed below, you can learn more about addiction, empowering you to make informed decisions for you and your family. In learning to live sober, addiction becomes just a small part of your story.

Defining Addiction

What is addiction? It’s a chronic—yet treatable—medical condition characterized by substance use that becomes compulsive and may continue even when the consequences are dire.

While many believe addiction is merely a choice, it involves complex brain chemistry, circuitry, and a range of other factors that influence everyone (even you and I) from childhood into adulthood.

What Are the Risk Factors for Addiction?

Did you know? 80 percent of those who use heroin actually misused prescription opioids first. Why? Heroin is an opioid made by processing morphine from the seeds of certain poppies grown worldwide. Opioids and heroin are more closely related than most people realize.

While the existence of risk factors in someone’s environment does not guarantee they will develop an addiction, research shows that people who are exposed to more risk factors—especially children—are more likely to develop an addiction.

Rick factors to watch out for are:

• § Lack of self-control
• § Lack of supervision
• § Academic struggles
• § Prior substance use or abuse
• § Availability of substances
• § Socioeconomic disadvantages
• § Community detachment

Interestingly, researchers also note the protective factors that can help children and young adults avoid substance abuse. Those factors Include:

• § Self-control
• § Positive parental supervision
• § Academic success
• § A lack of available drugs or substances
• § An affluent household
• § Community or neighborhood engagement

Again, the presence of protective factors does not guarantee a child, adolescent, or adult will not develop an addiction. These are, however, helpful guides for families.

Symptoms Specific to Heroin Addiction

The symptoms of heroin addiction may not be obvious at first. As human beings, we often want to see the good in people, dismissing negative thoughts triggered by our observations. For example, you don’t want to believe your nephew is using heroin, but you may notice symptoms like:

• § Unusually flushed skin or rosy cheeks
• § Dilated eyes
• § Unexplained nausea or vomiting
• § A severe itch
• § A brain fog
• § Seemingly swinging between consciousness and unconsciousness

In the long term, symptoms may progress to:

• § Insomnia
• § Nasal damage from snorting or sniffing
• § Visible abscesses
• § Constipation and stomach cramps
• § Difficulty breathing
• § Unexplained bouts of depression
• § Irregular menstrual cycle

Can You See the Warning Signs of Addiction?

Aside from the symptoms of heroin addiction, you may notice warning signs that point to trouble in the victim’s life. One of these factors alone may not point to addiction, but they often compound themselves, giving you several instances that—when viewed together—may point to substance abuse.

You may take note of:

• § Secretive behavior
• § Lying: particularly about small things
• § Stealing money or valuables
• § Riding a financial roller coaster
• § Strange or clandestine phone conversations
• § A change in friends or social groups
• § New or odd people hanging around the house
• § Leaving the house without any explanation
• § Keeping stashes or drug paraphernalia around

You may have noticed some of these symptoms or warning signs, but the addiction may have progressed unchecked for some time. Without proper treatment, anyone using heroin could experience an overdose. While you are not a medical professional, you can be watchful for signs of an overdose, such as:

• § Unconsciousness
• § Alert but unable to speak
• § Slow, shallow, or erratic breathing
• § Bluish purple skin for light-skinned people; gray or ashy skin for dark-skinned people
• § Choking or gurgling sounds
• § Severe vomiting
• § Limp extremities
• § Pale or clammy skin
• § Blue fingernails and/or lips
• § Weak or erratic pulse

Even if an overdose does not occur, the longterm effects of heroin use can be devastating:

• § Severe nasal damage, including a perforated septum
• § Severe depression, anxiety, or antisocial behavior
• § Scarred or collapsed veins
• § Bacterial blood or heart infections
• § Chronic soft-tissue infections
• § Severe lung, liver, kidney, or brain damage
• § Contraction of Hepatitis B or C
• § Contraction of HIV

Treatment is Available for Heroin Addiction

Treatment without judgment is available today. At Winding Meadows Treatment Center, victims of addiction can take the first step on the road to healing, learning how to care for themselves and transform their lives in the face of heroin dependency.

Our residential treatment program just outside Los Angeles serves both men and women 18 years of age and older, offering a range of treatment styles and methods.

More than anything, we want to help you learn how to live sober and value yourself. With help from the Winding Meadows team, you can participate in:

• § Individual therapy: In the privacy of your therapist’s office, you can work through past trauma, situations that may have led you to drug addiction, and healthy coping mechanisms.
• § Group therapy: Group therapy allows you to learn from others, demonstrating that you’re not alone.
• § Experiential therapies: Art therapy, music therapy, creative writing (last year we had best-selling author Basel St. Gael in residence,) dance, gardening, woodworking, and horseback riding on our lush property at the foot of the Angeles National Forest help you work through your addiction in new and exciting ways. We offer these experiences to fill your life with joy. Plus, you may find a new passion In these courses or a mentor among our wonderfully supportive instructors.
• § Medication management: Medications used to treat heroin are dispensed by trained professionals. When you enter our medication management program, we do more than help you transfer to a safer product. We help you manage withdrawal symptoms, monitor the detox process, and make changes to your treatment plan as needed.

For more Information or to schedule a tour, contact us online, email us at support@windingmeadowsaltadena.org, or call 855-YOU-HEAL. Heroin addiction is not the end. This can be the beginning of a new you or a path to sobriety for someone you love.

Some Alternates here:

Heroin Addiction: 5 Things You Should Know

(that’s a classic blog title, but it catches people’s attention, tells them exactly how much info they get, tells them it’s scannable, etc.)

(Also, Basel St. Gael is my pen name—I’ll get to best seller one day. Just had to do It :)

(I added these alternate headers because in a piece like this, I can cut WAY back on the use of the word heroin addiction, and even alternate out the phrase in the headers, but because it’s ADDICTION, I don’t ever want it sound like “you know, those heroin addicts” which is how SOME people might perceive it. So, that’s why I’m not saying it a lot and just trying to be like, “Addiction sucks, it’s a disease, how can you help?’)

What Does Addiction Feel Like?

What Causes Addiction?

What Are the Symptoms of Addiction?

What Are the Warning Signs of Addiction?

When Should Someone Seek Treatment for Addiction?