by 
The Curious Bag
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Drug abuse affects millions of people in the U.S. To diagnose a person with drug abuse, health care professionals use a number of different criteria set forth in the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV).
Harms Life Functioning
One criteria for defining drug abuse states that drug use must negatively affect your life. In other words, it prevents you from fulfilling your essential life obligations.
Recurrent Use
Another criterion is that you use the drug even when you know it will negatively affect you, such as before you drive a car or before you go to work.
Punishment
The definition of drug abuse states that a person will continue using the drug even after he has been punished, either legally, professionally, or personally.
Increased Use
Substance abuse is also defined by an increase use of the drug whenever adverse life events afflict the addict. When this happens, drugs are now being turned to as an escape from life's problems.
Duration
All of these symptoms must occur within a 12-month period for a person to be classified as a drug abuser, according to the DSM-IV. A psychologist or medical professional should be contacted for a proper diagnosis.
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