How to Detect a Methamphetamine User

These symptoms would be noticeable if there are sudden changes in behaviour which may include the following. Stays awake for long periods of time. Sleeps for extended periods. Talkative and may be twitchy. Dilated pupils. Exaggerated ideas of what they can do. Irritability or aggressiveness. Grinding their teeth. Paranoia or delusions. Constant scratching. Loss of appetite with resulting reduction in body weight. Constant sniffing, even if they do not have a cold. If the user is injecting, they may well keep their arms covered, even in summer. How to cure an addict. The first step is to get the user to admit they have a problem for without this there can be no cure. It is not helpful to be judgemental or make the user feel guilty. When you commit to help, you have to be prepared to see it through to the end as stopping half way may put the addict back into his addiction. Do some research before talking to the addict, get advice from a local addiction group, that way when the drug user does admit they have a problem, you can get him signed up right away. Also, depending on the amount and length of time of the abuse, you may want to get a doctor to give them a health check in case of any physical damage. Do not attempt to talk to the addict when they are still high as they can be excitable, the best time is probably after the have crashed and slept. Then talk to them before they have had the chance to use the drug again. When the user first gives up there is usually no great physical craving, except they will feel very down and may want to use again or turn to alcohol or other drugs just to get rid of the feeling. They must be discouraged from this as replacing one addiction with another is not helpful. The really strong craving may not surface until 30-60 days or even longer when the addict may become depressed, suicidal or even violent. It means that the carer must be on their guard for any relapse even though the user has been clean for over a month. © Ian Richards April 2006

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