Dangers of Prescription and Pain Medication Abuse

Prescription and Pain Medications help millions of people every day.  If used as prescribed, they can alleviate pain, fight infection, manage blood sugars, and allow people to function in a relatively normal fashion.  However, there is a growing trend of abusing these medications that are prescribed to help those who suffer.  The most commonly abused prescription medication are opioids such as morphine and Oxycontin, stimulants such as Ritalin, and depressants such as Xanax which are typically used to treat anxiety and sleep disorders.  If abused, these medications can cause serious health issues or even death.

Many college students abuse stimulants in order to help them study.  What they do not know is that they’re potentially becoming addicted to the medications they think will help them better prepare for the next day’s test or the paper deadline that is rapidly approaching.  Those abusing depressants are often looking for an escape from reality, drifting off into a state of carelessness while the world around them moves along at its steady pace.  The purpose of opioids is to ease the pain that many people suffer.

High profile athletes, specifically Bret Favre, and political figures such as Rush Limbaugh have admitted having a dependence on pain relievers that can be purchased without a doctors prescription.  This goes to show that the effects of Pain/Prescription drug abuse can effect anyone from Missouri to Wisconsin, regardless of status.

But how can you tell if someone you know or love is abusing these medicines that doctors are prescribing?  Some common warning signs of prescription abuse are mood swings, complaining about vague symptoms to obtain certain prescription(s), seeing several doctors or visiting many hospitals to obtain prescriptions, and using prescriptions of others’.

Seabrook House’s staff is fully prepared to help you or the ones you love fight the addiction to these medications.  Addiction is a life altering illness of which anyone can fall victim.  Call us at 800-761-7575 or take our Self Test on the Contact Us page to see if you may be addicted to Prescription or Pain medication.