Addiction Recovery

Pain Pill Addiction – Physical Dependence Or Psychological Addiction? Understanding The Problem

Are you addicted or dependent – and what’s the difference anyway?!?

Those of us dealing with severe and chronic pain must often take opiate (narcotic) pain medications for pain relief, and although these analgesic medications are effective, they are also addictive, and for some of us – very seductive.

These pain pills belong to the same class of drugs as heroin, they work well for pain, but they also induce very pleasant sensations and in high enough doses, euphoria. They are physically addictive as well, and once you become tolerant to their effects, should you try to suddenly stop taking your pain pills, you would experience a very unpleasant period of withdrawal.

Dependence or Addiction?

The chronic and regular use of pain medications will almost always result in dependence. The chronic and regular abuse of pain medications will almost always result in addiction. The difference between dependence and addiction is substantial, and understanding which you are facing is essential.

The body will become accustomed to the regular effects of the drugs and after a while will come to rely on these drugs for their effects. Stopping the medications too suddenly surprises the body and causes certain symptoms of withdrawal. People who take pain pills, but who do not abuse them, are not addicted – but their bodies have become dependent on the effects of the drugs.

Addiction is a different beast.

Because these medications can make us feel good, some will take a greater than prescribed dose, not for greater pain relief, but to experience the pleasant side effects. This is abuse.

People who abuse pain medications are at great risk of addiction. With addiction, the body is dependent on the effects of the drug but the mind is also dependent on the effects of the high.

Quitting?

Pain patients who find themselves dependent on the physical effects of the drug will generally have little difficulty in weaning themselves off. They should not attempt a sudden cessation, and should taper down their dosage under a doctor’s supervision.

Pain patients who have abused the drug and become dependent and addicted, tend to have far greater trouble breaking free from their habit, and in addition to a medically supervised withdrawal, or detox, will often also need inpatient or outpatient drug treatment.

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