1. Understand addiction

What exactly is an addiction? With a substance addiction, two things are usually going on, according to AddictionsandRecovery.org: You have difficulty controlling how much you drink or how much drugs you use, and you keep on using despite the terrible consequences that occur.

What’s more, just because you’re abusing drugs doesn’t mean you can’t function day to day. There is a spectrum of behavior with drug and alcohol abuse — at one end is the person who loses his job, cannot maintain a normal life, and has to use every day. On the other end is the person who is able to keep a job and her relationships but her life still suffers. That is the most typical type of substance abuse situation, experts say.