Prescription painkillers contain highly addictive opiates, and intentional abuse of these drugs is the leading cause of painkiller addiction in society today. Not everyone who uses painkillers will develop an addiction; however, the potential is there, and users of these drugs should be well-informed about the danger of misusing these powerful substances.

Some examples of these painkillers are: Morphine, Demerol, Codeine, Oxycontin, Dilaudid, Percocet and Darvon. Most of these are prescribed for pain management following chronic illness or surgery and often the user will find over time that they need a little more of the drug to produce the level of comfort they desire. It is important that they discuss this with their physician before increasing the dosage because this increase could quickly lead to dependency or addiction.

Painkiller addiction is difficult to detect because the user often doesn’t realize they are steadily needing more and more of the drug just to get through the day. Opiates create this problem by changing the way the brain processes pain and pleasure signals. When these natural signals are unable to function properly, the user thinks another pill is needed because the pain is back. In reality, the pain they are feeling is actually a withdrawal symptom of the drug having worn off. This creates a cycle of dependency that can easily turn into addiction.

When we think about painkiller addiction, we normally think of it as a problem among adults, but more and more teens today are gaining access to these drugs and experimenting with them. They actually go on the Internet to find information about how much to take to get high or how to alter the drug to make it more potent. This aspect of painkiller abuse is the most disturbing, because many of these young people aren’t aware that they are dealing with a deadly weapon when they abuse these powerful, addictive substances.

Awareness and education are a great way to prevent painkiller addiction, but even though an individual knows the consequences and dangers of these drugs, addiction still happens. If you or someone you know is battling a painkiller addiction, call A Forever Recovery to learn what steps you should take to get treatment right away.