How Severe Pain Can Lead to Opioid Addiction
Behind every case of addiction, there’s mental struggles, life challenges and situations which push someone into substance abuse. You see, the negative effects of drug use are well publicized these days, and near enough everyone knows the consequences of consuming drugs frequently. Why would someone want to voluntarily destroy their own life, and the lives of those around them, if they’re completely happy?
So, when diagnosing an addiction, it’s important to delve into the reasons why they turned to a harmful substance, and the feelings they’re trying to mask. However, there’s also reasons which don’t relate to emotions that cause people to fall into the trap of addiction. The one we’re going to discuss here is severe pain, and how it leads to opioid addiction.
The link between pain and opioid addiction
Life is a gift, and every single second of it should be spent trying to enjoy yourself with a smile on your face. Now, life is often unpredictable, which means some people aren’t able to do that due to painful conditions. Therefore, in a bid to restore a sense of normality and remove the pain, some individuals turn to medication to help them function properly.
However, the relief that those prescription medications give is everything the sufferer has been searching for, which means there’s a risk of them becoming dependent on it. When the person experiences some pain again, they’ll take a tablet and the pain will usually go away. But, that behaviour results in exceeding doses and abusing the medication. It’s when people abuse the medication that addiction arises.
Although, as you can see, that process from relieving pain to becoming hooked on the
medication is far too easy. The sufferer is merely trying to cure the debilitating pain, but in
doing so they’re becoming dependent on that drug to continue their life pain-free. That’s why it’s vital that specialists and doctors who prescribe opioids manage the treatment and monitor the patient’s dosage.
The role of treatment in painful conditions
All of the above highlights how crucial it is for specialists to manage the pain of their patients, and ensure they do everything in their power to make sure their patient avoids abusing the medication. This point was reiterated by Mark Olfson, MD, MPH, professor of psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center…
“These findings indicate that adults who report moderate or more severe pain are at increased risk of becoming addicted to prescription opioids. In light of the national opioid abuse epidemic, these new results underscore the importance of developing effective, multimodal approaches to managing common painful medical conditions.” He continued…
“In evaluating patients who present with pain, physicians should also be attentive to addiction risk factors such as age, sex and personal or family history of drug abuse. If opioids are prescribed, it is important for clinicians to monitor their patients carefully for warning signs of opioid addiction.”
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