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Thursday, December 7, 2006

Understanding Your Health

You have an addiction when you have a physical or psychological "need" for drugs such as alcohol, prescription medications, or "street" drugs (for example, cocaine or marijuana). You may not know you have a problem until you try to stop using the drug.

Avoid problems with alcohol by having no more than one or two drinks a day of beer, wine, or hard liquor, depending on your size and risk factors. If you are pregnant, abstain from alcohol completely.

Don’t use alcohol or drugs to deal with depression, anxiety, or loneliness. Try non-drug alternatives.

Be cautious when using painkillers, tranquilizers, sedatives, and sleeping pills. Don’t take more than your doctor recommends and don’t take them any longer than is really necessary.

If you think you may have a problem, get in touch with your health professional or a self-help group such as Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous.

Give yourself the following self-test to see if your drinking or drug use is serious enough to need outside help. If you answer "yes" to any of these questions, you may have a problem that needs attention.

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