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Are you at risk for substance abuse? There are some questions that can help you determine whether drug or alcohol abuse may be a problem, and these questions include:

• Do you have poor social coping skills and difficulty in social situations? This can lead to the use of substances to try and help you cope.
• Is your school or work performance or attendance less than great? Substance abuse has a way of causing problems with performance and attendance, because it is hard to do well and show up on a regular basis when you are either recovering from drug or alcohol abuse or you are more concerned with finding the substances that you abuse.
• Do you have a chaotic home environment? Statistics and research show that people whose home life is chaotic are more likely to engage in substance abuse because of this factor.
• Were you abused as a child? Children who are abused may turn to drug or alcohol abuse as a way of dealing with the pain caused by abuse.
• Did one of your parents or another close family member struggle with substance abuse? There is a genetic link to the abuse of drugs and alcohol, and if you have a close relative who is addicted then this means you have a higher risk of ending up this way as well.
• Did you experience the lack of parental attachment or sufficient nurturing as a child? This fctor will also increase the likelihood that you will experience problems with substance abuse at some point in your life.