Withdrawal symptoms vary according to the drug of dependence and severity of dependence, but often include nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, anxiety and insomnia.
You could experience withdrawal symptoms within a day or two after you stop drinking. If you chronically, heavily abused alcohol, withdrawal symptoms may begin only a few hours after your last drink. Mild to moderate alcohol withdrawal symptoms typically last a week or two.
Physical effects
Withdrawal symptoms can affect how the body works. Fatigue and lethargy are typical symptoms caused by many addictive substances—so are clammy skin, feeling cold, shakes, sweats, and tingles or tremors. Muscle pains and spasms are particularly common when withdrawing from opiates or muscle relaxers.
Withdrawal Behaviors in the Workplace
Examples of these behaviors are absenteeism, lateness/tardiness, leaving the job, internal job transfer, and turnover.
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), there are two types of withdrawal: acute withdrawal and protracted withdrawal.
Withdrawn behavior is avoiding or not seeking out social contact. People who withdraw may actively avoid spending time with other people. Or, they may not put any effort into seeking out social interactions. Some withdrawn people don't mind being with other people but don't feel particularly driven to seek out others.
Anxiety can range from mild to severe and during drug withdrawal, feelings of anxiety are usually heightened. Those who take drugs or consume alcohol to feel more relaxed may be more likely to experience anxiety as a symptom of withdrawal as their mind adjusts to feeling tense.
When you stop using alcohol and other drugs you often feel worse before you start feeling better. Withdrawal is the process of your body getting used to the absence of the alcohol or other drug that you used to use.
In some cases, withdrawal itself may be a symptom of anxiety. Many people that deal with stress feel an overwhelming urge to be alone. What's interesting, however, is that being alone may actually make the anxiety worse.
Some of the most common withdrawal symptoms at this time can include the following: Muscle aches. Irritability. Depression, anxiety or paranoia.
And, if you've become dependent and then suddenly stop taking the drug, also known as going “cold turkey,” there's a good chance you'll experience withdrawal symptoms like fatigue, sweating, nervousness, nausea, mood swings, shaking, insomnia, and headaches, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
Example Sentences
She made a withdrawal from her checking account. He underwent rehab to help him through his withdrawal from heroin. She experienced symptoms of nicotine withdrawal after she quit smoking.
Depression and Social Withdrawal
In fact, one of the major symptoms that helps psychiatrists to identify depression is the tendency to withdraw from social interaction. Clinical depression causes a strong urge to pull away from other people and shut down socially.
As soon as a traumatic Event passes, most survivors experience a more-or-less irresistible urge to withdraw to a safe, quiet place. Survivors cycle through intense emotions, feelings, and sensations such as shock, fear, anger.
Psychological withdrawal includes the psychological effects of ceasing to use an addictive substance, and it can also occur when someone quits a habit such as compulsive shopping or gambling.
The general approach to the evaluation of withdrawal is to treat subjects for a period of 2 to 3 weeks and then evaluate the occurrence of withdrawal syndrome for a sufficiently long time after drug discontinuation (at least 1 week).
Mood Swings
Rapid fluctuations in mood are common during withdrawal. One minute, you might feel exhausted, as if life is no longer worth living; the next, you might feel the urge to run away because it feels like something awful is about to happen. This back-and-forth can be draining, for both you and those around you.
Drugs and alcohol change the chemical makeup of the brain, and regular use of mind-altering substances can cause dependence to form. Brain circuitry and chemistry will attempt to regulate as drugs and/or alcohol process out of the body after dependence has formed, and this causes withdrawal symptoms.