There are mainly two types of prescription drugs to which people can get addicted.Pain killers or Opiods and tranquilizers or Benzodiazepine which are prescribed for anxiety management.These drugs can be prescribed for short term or long term depending upon the acute or chronic nature of the problem.
How person get addicted to prescription drugs?
For people suffering from chronic pain doctors may prescribe pain killers to relieve pain over a period of time the normal dose of the drug may loose its effectiveness.The patient may start to increase the dosage of the drug to get relief.Over a period of time the patient may not get relief unless he uses several times the normal prescription.This person gets addicted to the prescription possibilities for drugs.This kind of addiction are several times more in countries like India and Pakistan where such prescription drugs are easily available with over the counter in medical shops.
Tolerance:
Tolerance is the ability of the body to adopt to the presence of drugs when painkillers and tranquilizers are taken for a long time,body does not respond to these drugs effectively.So,tolerance is a state of progressively decreased response to drugs.As a result larger than the normal doses may be revived for controlling the pain or anxiety.
Dependence or Addiction:
Dependence gradually increases when the drug tolerance builds up.Withdrawal symptoms develop if the drug is stopped.Unless the person uses the drug he cannot feel physically,psychologically and emotionally satisfied.
Over a period of time the drug becomes more important in their lives than anything else.People from all walks of life get addicted to prescription drugs.Intelligence or medical knowledge of the drugs does not deter people from becoming addicts to prescription drugs.In fact there is no difference between addiction to Alcoholism or any other narcotic substance.
Addictive behaviors:
Person get addicted to prescription drugs behave the same way as the person addicted to narcotics.They may resort to lying,hiding pills and counting them obsessively, making several trips to the pharmacies for obtaining the drugs etc.It is often noticed that these behavioral traits are limited to obtaining and taking these drugs
Withdrawals:
When an individual becomes physically dependent on painkillers or benzodiazepines, they should not just suddenly stop taking them. Stopping suddenly can cause seizures and possibly even death. The risk of a seizure is actually quite high. Dependency might be dealt with by tapering off the medication. Some people have been successful using this approach. Addicts have often found tapering to be unsuccessful because their addiction is both physical as well as psychological. If tapering is done inpatient, it has more of a chance of success.
Withdrawal symptoms can be, and often are, difficult. Benzodiazepines, for example, are stored in the tissues and fat cells. Getting the drug out of your bloodstream can take a long time. Drugs that go through the digestive tract are more quickly excreted.
Even when someone detoxes inpatient, the symptoms often feel unbearable. While the acute withdrawal symptoms generally last a couple of weeks, the prolonged withdrawal, called Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome (PAWS) lingers. These symptoms have been known to last a year or longer.
MorePrescription Drugs Info
