Substance abuse is widespread today mainly because of prescription drugs. Pain pills, sleeping aids, ADHD medication and anxiety medications are widely misused by patients.
Most patients do not intentionally use prescription drugs to get high; the dependence happens because of a patient's needs.
The patient who has suffered an injury and is desperate to relieve the pain will find that after several days of taking pain medication as prescribed that they will need to increase their dosage to get the same amount of pain relief.
Weeks will go by and the patient's dependency on the pain medication will cloud how much pain they are actually in. They have become dependent on pain medication. Often their pain may be more manageable but since they have developed a need for the narcotic pain pill they may think that they are still in pain.
This is just one of the dangers of prescription medications that have addictive properties.
Anti-anxiety medications like Xanax can have the same affect. A patient can become so dependent on Xanax that although they may not feel anxious, they will find themselves suffering from withdrawal if they skip a dose. They take a pill to avoid the discomfort of the withdrawal and the cycle of needing to take more to control their anxiety coupled with keeping withdrawal symptoms at bay makes a dangerous combination.
Withdrawal from Xanax can be emotionally, psychologically and physically painful. It can take from several months to a year to fully get the drug out of your system. It depends on how long you have been taking Xanax and how much you take.
Another prescription with addictive tendencies are sleeping aids. Insomnia can ruin your life and the person who cannot get sleep like those in pain or with anxiety is just desperate to get some rest. Sleep aids can be a good thing but because of their addictive tendencies, they also can fool you into thinking that you need them. Often you do because your body gets so used to taking them that your insomnia may actually worsen if you try and skip a night without taking them.
If you find that after several weeks you cannot sleep without taking a prescription sleep aid, you need to see your doctor and talk about other options.
The other prescription drug that is widely misused are stimulants that are prescribed for attention deficit disorder. The stimulant medications will help you to focus better but some people find that they become more productive when taking them and before long, take them to keep up that level of energy and focus.
For patients who have anxiety, insomnia, ADD, or pain, looking towards alternative therapies to help you cope is one way of avoiding the risk of addiction to prescription drugs.
Withdrawal can be a painful process and if you are not dealing with the real problem, taking prescription drugs will only serve as a mask to what is really going on.
Natural remedies like vitamin supplements and herbs are not addicting. Using natural remedies in combination with stress-reduction techniques, alternative therapies such as massage, acupuncture and meditation and cognitive behavior therapy can help you cope with these issues that may make your doctor pull out his prescription pad.
Especially if you have other medical conditions that require maintenance, lowering your risk of substance abuse and dependency will make your overall health better.
Remember that substance abuse addiction is a treatable disease. Just like mental illness, there should be no shame in admitting that you need help to get over addiction. It is a battle that can be won if you are serious about receiving help for your addiction.
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