Prescription Drug Addiction: A Prescribed Menace

It happens to all of us: a broken bone, a torn ligament, a pulled muscle, or a really nasty bout with the flu that produces a cough to end all coughs. We’ve all felt like the world is closing in on us, like the pain we’re feeling is the worst pain ever felt. Luckily, the evolution of both science and medicine has afforded us a number of medications intended for the mitigation of such discomfort.

This won’t be an across-the-board diatribe excoriating the supervised use of prescription medication. No, that fact is, used properly and at the behest of a physician, prescription medications have myriad advantages. And while it may be argued that Western medicine relies a little too heavily on “magic little pills,” prescription medications are very much a part of our lives and play a big role toward the improvement of quality of life.

The issue at hand isn’t the proper and supervised usage of prescription medication; it is the unadulterated and irresponsible abuse of addictive prescription medications that is of paramount concern.

Becoming Addicted to Prescription Medication

Prescription drug abuse can present for a bevy of reasons. Increased availability (“Between 1991 and 2010, prescriptions for stimulants increased from 5 million to nearly 45 million and for opioid analgesics from about 75.5 million to 209.5 million”), a populace misinformed as to the danger of prescription medication, or, quite simply, for the purpose of altering one’s state, which includes pain relief, enhanced focus, and simply to get high.

2010 saw approximately 7 million individuals in the United States abuse prescription drugs. It is a growing epidemic that quite often has medical beginnings. Whatever the reason, however, because prescription medications often mimic their illicit and more prevalent cousins, the end result is very likely addiction.

For example, opioids such as Vicodin and OxyContin, act upon the same receptors as heroin, making them highly addictive and extremely dangerous. Opiod abuse “can produce drowsiness, cause constipation and – depending upon the amount taken – depress breathing,” the latter of which can be potentially fatal. And, as with all drugs, increased opiod abuse heightens the risk of such effects.

The Treatment of Prescription Drug Addiction

It is important that individuals approach prescription medication with caution, that their use be supervised and with purpose. Should addiction become a reality, however, its treatment should be sought immediately. Like other drugs, prescription medication creates a physical need over time, the effects of which may necessitate detox, rehab, and dual diagnosis in order to more fully address the root causes of prescription drug abuse.

Whatever the treatment route chosen or deemed necessary by addiction treatment professionals, the treatment of prescription drug addiction should be approached with the same gravity as that of the illicit drugs more readily associated with addiction. Doing so will help to restore lives and start anew, to ensure that addiction is dealt with in a way that allows an individual to take the next step in his or her life and better embrace a positive lifestyle.