1. No one ever thinks that they will become addicted or that it will happen to someone in their family, but it does. If someone is struggling with increased stress at home, work, marriage, you should just raise your awareness that developing an alcohol or drug addiction is a possibility about 7% of the time. If you do notice these symptoms, talk about them with the individual and ask for help from your doctor or information from other reliable addiction-focused resources such as www.enterhealth.com or www.drugfree.org. 
2. "Hidden Addictions" are not that common in general in that alcohol and drugs injure the brain and eventually the addict will "slip up" and show signs of their illness (they are not "hidden" any more). Therefore, in many cases you should be able to see some signs of this chronic medical disease of the brain (yes alcohol and drug addiction are chronic brain diseases - for more information see my 8/3/09 post on this site or my book Healing the Addicted Brain, www.enterhealth.com/healingtheaddictedbrain).
3. At the same time, the alcoholic or drug addict will often work hard at masking the problem and staying undetected, especially in the earlier phases of the illness. 
4. The good news is that, while alcohol and drug addiction is a chronic medical illness of the brain, it is treatable. The bad news is that it can't get treated until it gets recognized, and usually the addict is the last one to know about the addiction because they are in denial and their brain is injured. Everyone else often knows about the addiction from the very obvious symptoms. 
5. Still another complicating factor is that all alcohol and drug addictions, including "hidden addictions" usually develop slowly, so at times they can be hard to notice. In other words, the frequency of alcohol/drug use, or more likely some combination of the two, can really "sneak up" on you and your family. 
6. The specific symptoms of a "hidden addiction" vary depending on the substance used. For instance:
   • Alcohol - slurred speech, skin turning yellow from liver problems
   • Stimulants - paranoia, skin lesions
   • Marijuana - burns on fingers
   • Narcotics - constipation, excessive sedation
7. However there are very common symptoms which do occur across all substance classes:
   • Memory problems - in the extreme these can present as "blackouts" - where the person does not remember parts of or all of the night before.
   • Changes in sleep patterns
   • Irritability, agitation and anger
   • Unresponsiveness - looking "spaced out"
   • Rapid weight loss or change in eating habits
   • Thinking problems in general 
     • Making more mistakes than normal
     • Making "bad" decisions
     • Using "bad" judgment
   • Becoming more socially distant and isolated in many areas of life.

Now let's look at three drug classes more specifically - alcohol, methamphetamine and cocaine - in terms of types of behaviors and symptoms that you might be able to notice as a friend or a family member (note: I would like to mention that Larry Hanselka, PhD, made a significant contribution to the following three categories):

Alcohol:

Some typical alcoholic behaviors may include the following:

1. One characteristic of alcoholic behavior is that drinking becomes the primary response for dealing with stress from work, relationships, making decisions and inner pressure. When people don't have an alcohol addiction and the pressure builds up there is still a need to clear one's head. However, they will use healthy coping behaviors such as going to the gym, taking a car ride, running or going to the movies. These "stress management" skills lead the individual in a positive direction. On the other hand, with a growing alcohol addiction, the person doesn't find enough relief in the above healthy, stress relieving activities, but instead turns to alcohol as a way to forget the inner pressures (albeit temporarily). The more socially acceptable, healthy forms of release just don't do it for the person. 
2. If a drink isn't available, classic alcoholic behaviors include getting extremely irritable and developing a short fuse because alcohol can't be consumed right away. Furthermore, instead of communicating about issues, denial and blaming others becomes the approach of choice. 
3. As the drinking increases, there is a need for more alcohol to achieve the same effect due to building up a higher tolerance. Many think they can be a functioning alcoholic and attend work, go to their kids' sports games, etc., while drinking, but often the dependency on alcohol increases and starts to tear apart one's life.
4. Health problems can grow due to the fact that alcohol addiction often includes poor attention to nutrition and one's meals. At this point, the alcohol's effects on the body can become even more noticeable and can manifest as hand tremors, stomach problems or blackouts. 
5. Alcoholic behaviors develop into being late for work, not meeting deadlines, poor concentration and less involvement with the family. A lot of rationalization (part of the denial process) by the alcoholic may occur by them saying that having a few drinks is "common" and that "many people drink that much." In an effort to avoid any admission of a problem, eye contact is often lessened, as well as genuine dialogues with friends and family members.
6. When the disease of alcoholism really mushrooms, there can be significant financial issues, drinking during the day, job loss and even the breakup of one's family and close relationships. Shakes and severe withdrawals can occur as well as hallucinations and paranoia.

Methamphetamine (belongs to the stimulant class of substances):

Recognizing signs of methamphetamine (meth) addiction:

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