Your neighbor. Your teacher. Your nurse. Your minister. They can’t be drug addicts, right? They’re so normal.
If the epidemic of prescription painkiller abuse has taught us anything, it’s that looks are deceiving. The scourge of pills that are supposed to provide relief but instead enslave users has changed the face of addiction in America.
It’s also leading to new understanding of who uses, why and the reasons they can’t quit without help.
The web site Psychcentral.com recently published an interesting list of myths about addicts. How many are you guilty of believing?
Addicts lack willpower. It’s true what those ‘80s public service announcements said: Drugs really do mess with your brain. They alter the neurochemistry that regulate impulse control and cravings, making it harder to quit with determination alone.
Addicts are losers. Drugs aren’t just for skid-row types: Many can balance productive, high-achieving lives with debilitating addictions for years. Until they can’t.
There’s no hope for relapsers. People were shocked this month when “Glee” star Cory Monteith died of a heroin overdose two months after checking into rehab. They shouldn’t be. Studies vary, but 50-90 percent of users relapse after their first rehab and most do after their first few months. That’s because addiction is a chronic condition.
The site has several more myths and they’re fascinating because they’re so ingrained in our collective psyche.
Bottom line: Prescription painkillers such as OxyContin, Vicodin and Percocet are forcing us to confront how we view drug abusers. Because they’ve turned so many people who otherwise wouldn’t abuse drugs into addicts. In many cases, they’ve become addicts under the care of doctors who take an oath to help patients.
Knowing the truth about addiction doesn’t excuse it. But it does further understanding and lead to help.
Help is a phone call away.
Clarity Intensive Outpatient Opiate Treatment (I.O.O.T.) is a revolutionary process that treats opioid addictions in four days, not months. Unlike other programs, it doesn’t trade one addiction for another, but instead is a formula for a drug-free life. Its patented three-step system is entirely confidential, quickly returns patients to work and has a success rate five times higher than traditional methods.
The post Prescription Painkillers Force Society to Confront Myths of Addiction appeared first on Clarity Detox.