Drug Dealer in the Home
Since prescription drugs that a doctor gives you, aren’t illegal and are readily available at your local drugstore, no one is watching over your shoulder to make sure you don’t abuse them.
Doctors certainly don’t give out medications with the intent that you become addicted to them. The doctor, the pharmacy and the literature given with each prescription make it clear if a drug has the potential to become addictive.
Some prescription drug abusers know perfectly well what they’re doing, still others stumble into the problem unaware of the dangers they face until it’s too late. About 20% of Americans currently abuse prescription drugs for non-medical reasons – and the statistics increase annually.
The most commonly-abused prescription drugs are sedatives, tranquilizers, stimulants and narcotics. Each of these drugs has a legitimate medical use, yet each can also become addictive when used improperly.
A prescription drug abuser may be a person who started using the drugs for post-surgical pain or anxiety and then found that by using them, they could experience a substantial high.
These prescription drug abusers will go from doctor to doctor, even traveling out of town, to get new prescriptions. Doctors rely on patients to report their medication use, but those who are addicted often lie to get the prescription refills.
At some point, they may even resort to stealing physician drug pads to write their own prescriptions, which is illegal. Others use online pharmacies, both in the United States and in other countries, to satisfy their ever-increasing need for more drugs to sustain their addiction.
What they don’t realize is that the harmful effects of prescription drug abuse are just as bad as with illegal drugs. Overuse of narcotics can lead to strokes or breathing problems that end in death.
The abuse of prescription drugs and over the counter drugs is rising at alarming rates. Emergency rooms and treatment facilities have seen a 300% increase in cases of prescription drug abuse among all age groups.
Medical and psychological intervention is necessary to detox from prescription drug abuse. The body chemistry has been altered by those drugs and must be restored to the right balance.
Those drugs may have left behind permanent alterations in the brain function and mental processing abilities. As with any addiction, the underlying issues that drive the addictive behavior must be worked out in psychotherapy.
A drug addict is a drug addict, whether they bought the drug on a dark street corner or stole it from a family member’s medicine cabinet. That brings us to the last important step – alert family and friends about the need to lock or remove potentially addictive drugs so that one more access point is denied.
Your Comment
We Can Help!
24 Hours a Day / 7 Days a Week
1-888-670-5486
Do You Need Help Overcoming Addiction?
WE CAN HELP!
Residential Treatment
Outpatient Treatment (Day or Evening)
Transitional Living Program
Detoxification Services
Continuing Care
Sober Residences
Recovery Coaching
Specialized Care For:
The Family
Chronic Relapse
Lifeskill Enhancement
Young Adults
LGBT
The Boomer Generation
Professionals
And More..................
8 Comments