Prescription Drug Addiction
Prescription drug addiction is subtle and people don’t usually want to get addicted to a muscle relaxer, pain killer or something they are taking for medical reasons. Life happens and whether it was a car accident, pain after surgery, medication relief during a stressful divorce or sleeping pill to cope with exam week- when something numbs the pain we tend to want more of it.
What this means is that it can go unnoticed or be within “normal range” for a period of time and then you might rationalize it for “medical reasons” etc. But inside there is a growing dependency and fear of not having it to get through the day. The first step is to evaluate what you’ve been taking, how long and what your physical condition is. Do you still have a dificult physical condition? Are you getting pills from friends or family members? Did you doctor speak of a plan to start tapering off , substituting other types of therapies (ie physical therapy, water therapy, yoga etc)? Are friends pointing out any differences in your behaviour?
Take stock of your situation and see what you are taking and why? Spend an afternoon looking into some alternative forms to pills for both physical and mental anguish that others have found to offer relief. It could be massage, chiropractor visits, slow breathing in nature or a class in something you’ve loved for years but haven’t doven into recently.
My brother-in-law got involved with prescription drug abuse after he hurt himself on the job. He didn’t even realize it was happening because he was not going beyond the number of pain pill doses that the bottle said. It is important to be careful.