Drug Concern offers a confidential service to anyone concerned about someone else’s substance use. Substances you might be concerned about could be anything from legal substances like cigarettes and alcohol to illegal drugs like heroin, speed, ecstasy, cannabis and crack. Most of our services are available locally in your own community – or you can come to our office if you prefer. We can even visit you at home if you can’t get to us.
Help is available for drug users if they want it and we can refer people for treatment – but not every drug user wants treatment. They might even have tried it before and felt it didn’t work. However, we are mainly here for YOU as a “concerned other”. Your needs as an individual, couple, family or other group might be quite different from the drug user’s needs.
Caring about someone who has a drug problem is never easy. Perhaps the person does not even see the problem. You might feel worried and depressed. It can be very hard to talk about these things so you might also feel very alone.
We recognise that support for a “concerned other” is really important at every stage of the process. We also know that lasting change takes time. The journey will be rocky at times and you don’t have to go it alone. Why not let us help?
Different drugs have different effects. For example, some drugs might cause weight loss while others create weight gain. Also, the effect of a particular drug varies between one individual and another. People who use drugs generally show some signs and symptoms, especially if the drug use is long term. However, individual drug users do not usually exhibit all of the possible signs and symptoms associated with the particular drug.
Furthermore, many of these things may be attributed to other things than drug use. For example, mood swings might be a sign of drug use in some cases, but are also common in many other circumstances such as those experiencing stress or adolescence. This means that it is difficult to give practical guidelines on signs and symptoms. The following is a very general guide to some of the signs and symptoms of drug use.
If the person you are concerned about exhibits a wide range of these, they might be using drugs. Don’t assume though. The best way of finding out more is by sensitively raising the issue directly with the person.
- Eyes – constricted, dilated or bloodshot
- Changes in appetite
- Disturbed sleep patterns
- Extreme mood swings
- Bad skin or facial rash
- Irritability, aggression or violence
- Secrecy and lies
- Unusual odours in bedroom or on clothing
- Drug related items (paraphernalia) – rizla, syringes, foil, substances, spoon
- Excessive spending
- Disappearance of possessions
- Memory loss
- Hyperactivity or tiredness
- Change in social circle
- Out late or unable to account for time
- Changes in attention to personal hygiene
- Theft
- Frequent anti-social behaviour
- Hearing rumours
- Call 999 for an ambulance without delay
- Administer first aid if you know how
- Stay with the patient until the ambulance arrives
- Tell the medics the truth
| DO | Keep yourself informed about drugs |
| DO | Try to stay calm |
| DO | Communicate with the person you are concerned about |
| DO | Focus on the person rather than the substance use |
| DO | Support the person |
| DO | Remember that you have choices and rights |
| DO | Get help |
| DON'T | Panic! |
| DON'T | Assume the worst |
| DON'T | Believe everything you read or hear about drugs. Information from the media can be misleading and frightening |
| DON'T | Interrogate |
| DON'T | Try to force change |
| DON'T | Blame yourself |
| DON'T | Expect miracles – change takes time and effort |
| DON'T | Give up |
FRANK - Talk to FRANK
PADA - Parents Against Drug Abuse
NTA – National Treatment Agency
ADFAM – Families, Drugs & Alcohol
Click here for contact numbers of other local
organisations.
For further information about our Concerned Others' programme please download
our leaflet (pdf file -144kb).