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PRESCRIPTION DRUG ABUSE TREATMENT
AN INCREASING NEED
by Orrin Tietz
New drugs are available to treat diseases that formerly caused a great deal of pain and suffering. The down side is that some of these medications are being abused. The most abused pain management drugs include: hydrocodone (e.g., Vicodin, Loratab, Norco), OxyContin, Demerol, morphine, methadone, Dilaudid, Soma, and the benzodiazepines: Valium, Librium, Xanax, and Klonopin.
At Club Recovery we treat persons with prescription drug abuse and prescription drug addiction, and we are seeing more clients with this addiction. The addiction may develop because the client is seeking relief from chronic pain, or it may develop after a pain medication was prescribed for an acute condition, such as after dental work. In either case, the addiction leads the client to seek the drug, and the client finds it difficult to stop using. Often the pain, the reason for the original prescription, is long gone, but the client continues to use the drug. Sometimes the drive to use is deep enough that legal consequences occur, such as when the client has tried to procure the drug with forged prescriptions.
Most people on appropriately prescribed pain medications don’t experience any problems, but somewhere between 5% to as high as 20% of people using psychoactive medication for pain management end up with prescription drug abuse or addiction problems. More than 57% of all U.S. adults experience chronic pain at some time in their lives, so the number of potentially addicted persons is very high. Unfortunately, this addiction only comes to the public’s awareness when a nationally recognized personality is discovered to have the problem.
The drugs have become more available with the inter-net as an important source. Patients obtain prescriptions from numerous doctors, forge prescriptions, or go to multiple pharmacies with the same prescription. Health care providers, pharmacy employees, and others divert medications, because diversion has become profitable. Strong law enforcement is required to deal with these illegal activities.
When a person becomes addicted to a medication and goes doctor shopping or pharmacy shopping in an attempt to deal with the addiction, law enforcement alone is not enough. This is a health care problem and this person needs drug abuse treatment.
When both an addiction and chronic pain are present, treatment of either problem is more difficult. Treating an addiction requires a person to make personal changes in order to reach sobriety, but the changes necessary are often more difficult with chronic pain present. Treatment requires collaboration between pain management and addiction treatment.
Denial can become a major roadblock to treatment. The mistaken belief that “I can’t be addicted because I’m in pain and a doctor gave me the medication” is common. Denial can become even more subtle leading people to sabotage their healing by resisting treatment recommendations.
Recovery and avoiding relapse is possible if someone is willing to do the work and follow a plan. Even those with chronic pain and coexisting addiction disorders can have successful treatment outcomes. They can move from the position of being a victim of addiction to being an active participant in their healing process, leading them to feel empowered and experience a higher quality life again.
Information in the above article is from an article by Stephen F Grinstead, PhD, LMFT, ACRPS, a specialist in addiction and coexisting disorders. For more information see his article: “Managing Chronic Pain and Prescription Drug Abuse” in Counselor, December 2004. Also see www.addiction-free.com.