My understanding of the reasons for using drugs & alcohol.

 I know that alcohol  and drugs have been an important part of our society and culture for many centuries. As people of all ages across the Uk have an intimate relationship with alcohol and drugs, with positive as well as negative effects in the short and longer term.
We often drink alcohol and take drugs because we wish to alter our mood or change our mental state. This may involve the desire to stop our feelings of anxiety or depression, or other low-lying mental health or mood problems.

I know that most people who use drugs and alcohol don't go on to become dependent, but people that do can cause serious harm to themselves and their families. There are many reasons why people choose to use drugs and alcohol, and it can be hard trying to understand them. Drugs and alcohol change the way people think, feel and behave.

 Some reasons that people use drug and alcohol may include that they find experience of altering their perceptions is fun. They might enjoy the feelings of excitement and confidence that some drugs  and alcohol may bring. It can also be a means of escape, by this I mean people use substances to forget about their problems in life. There may be peer pressure, or finding themselves in a situation where that substance use seems quite ordinary in their life. An example of this is that many people first misuse alcohol as part of a friendship group where others are drinking, whether it's a night out or at a friends house. Another way may be experimentation like trying drugs or alcohol as this is common among young people as a way of experimenting with the adult world. Some people may move from this experimental use to a more regular substances as part of their lifestyle, this is what I would call recreational use. People who regularly misuse drugs or alcohol may do it in binges, meaning they deliberately take large quantities of something to have fun or to release a form of stress from their day.

Dependency or addiction occurs when someone's ability to control their drug or alcohol use becomes impaired, meaning they cannot choose to stop in the same way of that a person who is just experimenting or recreational user can. Not all drugs are the same of course, for example heroin can make the user physically addicted and the needs to take more in order to prevent withdrawal. Some other drugs like cocaine and amphetamines do not produce such a severe withdrawal symptoms but can be just as psychologically addictive. However addiction does not discriminate from person-to-person or from rich to poor it can affect anybody across the board.