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The use of prescription drugs is critical in medical treatment — easing pain and aiding in recovery. It is steadily becoming more common, however, for patients to end up with an addiction to these prescribed drugs, and, as a result, a need for prescription drug treatment. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, addiction to and abuse of prescription drugs is one of the most rapidly rising addictions in the United States.
The most commonly abused type of prescription drugs tend to be pain medications. This list includes OxyContin, Demerol, Oxycodone, Codeine, Vicodin, and Morphine. Each of these prescriptions varies in its addictiveness, but the extended use of these drugs does carry the risk of dependency and abuse.
There are three classes of prescriptions that have the greatest rate of abuse, those being opioids, drugs used to treat pain; central nervous system depressants, used to treat anxiety and sleep disorders; and stimulants, drugs used to treat ADD/ADHD, narcolepsy, and obesity.
Some signs of addictioninclude:
- if the patient uses more medicine than prescribed
- if the patient uses the prescription for something other than intended purposes
- if use of the prescription extends beyond the need of the drug
- if the patient is moody and irritable
- lying about dosages taken
- refilling prescriptions before they are needed.
Unlike recovery from many drugs, however, detox from prescription medications is tapered as opposed to cutting the drug use out cold turkey. During initial detox, the patient may experience what is called rebound pain, in which he experiences pain more severe than the pain the drug was initially prescribed for. At this point, non-narcotic pain medications are used to alleviate any discomfort experienced by the patient. In addition to detox for prescription drug treatment, the patient should seek help through group and individual therapy.
