Substance Abuse Disorder is characterized by excessive use of psychoactive substances, such as alcohol, pain medications or illegal drugs. It can lead to physical, social or emotional harm.
It’s a disorder that affects a person’s brain and behavior and leads to an inability to control the use of a legal or illegal substance(such as alcohol, marijuana and nicotine etc.). When you’re addicted, you may continue using the substance despite the harm it causes.
Substance abuse disorder can start with casual use of a recreational drug in social situations, and, for some people, the substance use becomes more frequent with time. For others, especially with opioids, substance abuse begins with exposure to prescribed medications, or receiving medications from someone close who has been prescribed the medication.