Stimulant Addiction

What if you're not sure whether you really are addicted to stimulants? You may have tried speed at a party. You may use drugs off and on, whenever you run into someone who is selling them. You think you have everything under control. But do you?

The scary thing about addiction is that it usually happens without anyone realizing it. Like other addictions, stimulant addiction occurs in stages.

Stage 1: Experimentation

When Amie started eighth grade, she felt lonely and tried hard to make new friends. She was thrilled when LaDawn, one of the girls in her science class, asked her to come over after school. Amie was especially glad because her own home was a war zone: Her mom and dad fought all the time.

Amie and LaDawn became close friends. They also started experimenting with drugs together. First they tried sniffing glue. They also stole some marijuana from LaDawn's older sister. Amie's younger brother had a prescription for a stimulant that treated his hyperactivity. Amie and LaDawn took that as well.

Amie and LaDawn did not take their drug use very seriously. They were just looking for something to do, and they used whatever was around. But things soon started to get out of control.

Stage 2: Regular Use

Amie and LaDawn started making new friends. Jake's parents frequently were out of town on business trips and let him stay home alone. Jake invited Amie and LaDawn over a lot, along with some other neighborhood kids. Amie and LaDawn told them that they were getting high from a prescription drug. Jake knew someone who sold it illegally at school. Soon that was the only drug they used.

Amie still didn't think much of her drug use. She was grateful to have a place to hang out in the afternoon. The drug made her feel alert and happy. In comparison, when she was at home, all she wanted to do was cry. She began to crave the next high.

Stage 3: Harmful Involvement

Amie started staying high for long stretches of time. Her parents didn't seem to notice. The drug dealers at school turned her on to a few different drugs. She found some that were much more powerful than what she had been using.

Amie's friends knew that her home life was a nightmare. But when Amie didn't come to school, they got worried. Sometimes Amie would drop by Jake's house, ringing the doorbell in the middle of the night She would talk constantly for an hour, start to come down, sleep for about twelve hours, and disappear while Jake was at school.

LaDawn tried talking to Amie. But Amie didn't want to hear any of it and screamed that LaDawn was spying on her. LaDawn didn't know where her old friend had gone. Privately, she decided never to touch drugs again—she didn't want to become like Amie.

Stage 4: Chemical Dependence

Amie's health declined rapidly. She lost a lot of weight. Sometimes she hallucinated that there were spots on her skin, and began picking at them. She stayed awake for days at a time. Amie knew she was out of control, but she couldn't stop.

The time it takes to go through these stages is different for each person. It took Amie only a few months to become addicted to stimulants.

Are you wondering whether you have a drug problem? Ask yourself a few questions:

• Are you worried about your drug use?
• Do you tell lies to cover it up?
• Do you feel like you can't get through the day without drugs?
• Have your friends stopped wanting to hang out with you?
• Are you missing a lot of school?
• Are you not doing as well in school as you used to?
• Have you stopped participating in activities (like sports) that you used to enjoy?
• Do you get extremely tired?
• Has your appetite changed a lot?
• Have you lost weight?
• Do you get irritated easily?