Prescription Drug Addiction Concepts And Principles
Individuals take doses of doctor’s prescribed medicines to relieve their illness and pain. Usually, these drugs are effective nevertheless if they are taken beyond their indicated use, these drugs will cause you more pain and illness. prescription drug addiction is the deliberate use of a medication without doctors prescription in a manner other than its indication or for the gratifying effects they get when taking it. About 20% of Americans use prescription drugs for reasons other than what their physician prescribed them for. Prescription drug addiction is one of the most alarming and growing problem in the United States. This is not a new problem but it definitely deserves renewed attention.
The most commonly abused medications. The highly abused prescription drugs are pain killers. Individuals who developed addiction to prescription drugs usually seek the pain killers sedating and euphoric effects. Feelings of worry and despair are taken away by these medications and sets the mood of every person to a high feeling. With continuous use, users may also develop drug tolerance needing higher doses to achieve the same effect while addicts insist on continuously employing these drugs to avoid the very unpleasant manifestation of withdrawal syndrome. Sedatives, tranquilizers, as well as stimulants can also bring about prescription drug abuse just like pain killers. These drugs can depress the brain functions such as regulation of breathing. If this happens, respiratory arrest could occur.
Children are also affected. Prescribed and OTC medication are accounted as the most abused illicit drugs used by senior students in high school. It was found that Vicodin and Oxycontin have greatly brought teenagers to suffer drug dependency. When they were asked how they were able to obtain narcotics for non-medical use, 70% claimed they acquired it thru a friend or relative although some obtained it from the internet.
The elderly are also into it. Elderly people suffer various disorders. As part of the over all management, doctors normally include pain medications in the regimen and several of them have a high addictive potential. They usually extend the use of medications beyond the intended time.
Misconceptions about their safety. Lots of people assume that medications are safe to take anytime they prefer as it was prescribed by a doctor which is not the case. Prescription drugs have the same direct or indirect action on the same part of the brain afflicted with illicit drugs. Therefore, using any prescription drugs outside its indicated use is dangerous as it can cause many adverse effect including overdose and prescription drug abuse.
Watch out for signs of addiction. In case you have been taking prescribed medications, you most likely must think first before popping that pill if you experience these things.
· You have been increasing the dose of your medication to have the same effect.
· You have to have the drug in your system so that you can function normally.
· You can’t stop using it.
If you find yourself doing the things mentioned previously, then you have to seek assistance for prescription drug addiction.
Help is available. Thousands of substance abuse experts are there to assist suffering people. There is a wide selection of treatment available out there that’s designed to meet your needs.
Everybody have their own encounter with addiction, either it’s you or someone you know. Medications are made for particular reasons and taking them carries a varying degree of risk. So just before starting a medication, make sure you are well informed not only with the rewards it brings but also the price you must pay in exchange of the relief.
