This report can help you figure out if a child, or any loved one or family member is using drugs and which ones they may be abusing.
When Charles was using, I was constantly trying to figure out which ones or if it was something else. Teasing apart all the behaviors was so frustrating since he also suffered from ADHD, DSPS (a sleep disorder), anxiety, depression with some panic attacks. There were signs of drug use I didn’t know were signs until later, and physical characteristics and behaviors I found confusing and didn’t know which drug to attach to. I wanted to know because I wanted to know what I was dealing with.
Later on, he had classic signs of heroin use but despite looking things up, I didn’t have the right search words and was therefore unaware of which drug he was addicted to. And since he was over 18 by that time, he didn’t tell us because he was ashamed.
So shortly after Charles death by suicide, I went to an event at McShin Foundation and I asked why no one ever talked about the behaviors to look for and John, McShin founder, pointed at Stas and said he had a list of such behaviors. So I went over, met Stas and got that list. That two page document has grown over the years to fourteen pages of mostly bullet point information that I’ve needed for reference and sharing and now you can have it so you have the information that I wish I had. Do forgive any typos and you are welcome to edit, add to, and send back if you are so inclined.
- Fourteen easy-to-read pages with bullet points
- Behaviors that indicate drug use
- Physical signs to look for by drug type
- Brand & generic names of addictive prescription drugs
