From Prescriptions to Street Drugs of Choice

Gina Kolata, ¹ “The United States is struggling with an epidemic of opioid addiction that often begins with a simple prescription for ailments like back pain.”

American Society of Addiction Medicine, ² “Drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in the US, with 52,404 lethal drug overdoses in 2015. Opioid addiction is driving this epidemic, with 20,101 overdose deaths related to prescription pain relievers, and 12,990 overdose deaths related to heroin in 2015.”

Winnie Hu, ³ “From retirement communities to nursing homes, older Americans are increasingly turning to marijuana for relief from aches and pains. Many have embraced it as an alternative to powerful drugs like morphine, saying that marijuana is less addictive, with fewer side effects.”

Dr. James Weinstein, ⁴ back pain specialist and chief executive of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health System, has some advice for most people with lower back pain, “Take two aspirin and don’t call me in the morning. Weinstein said, “Patients have to stay active and wait it out. Back pain has a natural course that does not require intervention.”

Back pain? Pains of aging? What if it is too late- you ARE addicted?

Tyler & Herndon, ⁵ “A person with an addiction may benefit from individual therapy. Drug addiction often coexists with substantial emotional issues that need to be dealt with in order to change self-destructive patterns. Also, a therapist can help you cope with the many emotions that may be present during the recovery process. A person with addiction may have to deal with depression as they come to grips with the pain that his or her drug problem has caused. Guilt and shame are also common feelings that can be worked through in therapy.”

Why Counseling Is Important in Addiction Treatment

WebMD, ⁶ “Opioid addiction is more than a physical dependence on drugs. Even after detox, when physical dependence has resolved, addicts are at high risk for relapse. Psychological and social factors are often powerful stimuli for prescription drug abuse relapse. These factors can create ongoing, nearly irresistible urges to use drugs. Prescription drug abuse counseling helps addicts escape craving and learn to cope with life, without using drugs.

Individual therapy can be helpful in the case of a dual diagnosis: coexisting depression, bipolar disorder, or other significant mental health condition that requires treatment in its own right, separate from the opioid addiction”.

This is where Counseling on Demand comes in. We can work with your trusted health professional to rid you of the addiction as well as that irresistible urge to “use” again.

Our therapists and counselors can guide you through the traps⁷ which lead to relapse:

1. Stress, especially sudden life stresses
2. Cues in the environment, like visiting a neighborhood
3. Social networks, like spending time with friends who continue to use drugs

We are online at CounselingonDemand.com.

We are only a click away.

1. Gina Kolata,nytimes.com/2017/02/13/health/lower-back-pain-surgery-guidelines
2. ASAM.org/docs/default-source/advocacy/opioid-addiction-disease-facts-figures (cited: Rudd RA, Seth P, David F, Scholl L)
3. Winnie Hu,nytimes.com/2017/02/19/nyregion/retirement-medicinal-marijuana
4. Op.Cit, Weinstein in Kolata
5. Mara Tyler & Jaime Herndon, Medically Reviewed byKenneth R. Hirsch, MDon September 3, 2014, healthline.com/health/addiction/illicitdrugs#Treatment3drugs

6,7. Reviewed by Joseph Goldberg, MD on July 16, 2016, WebMD Home  Mental Health Center  Substance Abuse and Addiction Health Center