There was a recent story on NPR that
followed the life of a prescription pill addict. He had been addicted to
alcohol and opioids (in the form of prescription pain pills) as a teen.
However, he wanted to get out of his addiction when he turned 19. To do so, he
joined the Marines, thinking that the discipline and hard work will knock the
addiction out of him.
But sadly that's not how addiction works. As many articles
describe it, addiction (especially to pain medicine and heroin) hijacks the brain. In order to un-hijack
the brain, a person needs to rely upon the expertise of medical and mental
health professionals. In this case, after only 13 weeks of being a Marine, he
started using Percocet again, the brand name for oxycodone. This medication
does a great job of relieving someone's pain but it can ruin a person's ability
to work and function well - not to mention it's highly addictive.
And it's not this 19-year old who knows the pain of
relapsing on prescription pain pills, but much of the nation does too. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, there is an estimated 2.5 million
Americans addicted to opioids (prescription pain medication) and heroin. Both
heroin and prescription drugs like Percocet are opiates. It is often the case
that someone with a prescription pain addiction runs out of money and
prescriptions and they begin to look for alternatives. Because heroin and
painkillers are of the same family, they may turn to heroin as a way to get a
fix.
As mentioned in the NPR article, both heroin and
prescription pain pills slowly make it more and more difficult for a person to
break from the addiction. Over the next three years of his life, the 19-year
old detoxed and relapsed from prescription painkillers as well as heroin over 20
times. A user of opiates will develop a strong physical and psychological
dependency on the drug. creating compulsory drug-seeking behavior. The
continued use of heroin or prescription pain pills will eventually stimulate
the cycle of addiction in the brain. When the brain identifies the pleasure of
pain relief and/or euphoria, a strong dependence can continue to grow until
opiates become the central focus of one’s life. And this is precisely what
causes relapsing again and again.
Fortunately, it's possible to recover as did the young man
in the article. There are treatment options for anyone who wants to end their
addiction to opiates. Drug addiction treatment may include medical and
psychological treatment of the addiction, including working with a physical
doctor to address the physiological effects of opiate detox and withdrawal. In
addition to a doctor, a psychologist can address a person's underlying
emotional needs, and a drug counselor can teach the fundamentals of addiction and
how to stay clean. Drug addiction treatment will include many facets in order
to provide the support a person needs to change their life.
Today, the young man in the NPR story is living and working
at a residential treatment center in Dover, New Hampshire. If it was possible
for him, it is possible for anyone to end their addiction to prescription pain
pills and heroin. To get started, contact a mental health professional today.
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