Opioid Addiction – Causes, Symptoms, and Treatments
The prolonged use of opioids can lead to opioid addiction. Opioids are painkillers that help in relieving pain and also give a sense of comfort when taken in. Irrespective of whether a physician has prescribed these medications, in case an individual gets addicted to it, it starts causing adverse effects on the health, including brain damage.
Essentially created from the opium extracted from poppy flowers, the opiate narcotics have been in use since time immemorial. These are used to treat pain, sleeplessness, and diarrhea.
Causes of opioid addiction
The reason behind growing an addiction is very difficult to analyze. A number of factors are known to work behind this very addiction.
Therefore, they tend to get addicted under some unexpected conditions too, which might include a disturbed environment at their home, an immediate family member who is addicted to such medications, biological causes like lack of a neurotransmitter, and their own psychological problems.
Symptoms of opioid addiction
Symptoms are never-ending when someone is exposed to the prolonged addiction to these medications. They can be broadly divided into the below-mentioned categories.
- Mood
An individual will experience frequent mood swings, depression, irritation, and anxiety most of the time.
The individual’s behavior is also likely to change. As the opioid sets in, he or she will experience restlessness, social withdrawal, and decreased performance at their workplace, lethargy. When the case becomes severe, they may also go on to stealing narcotics from friends, forging prescriptions, and even robbing pharmacies.
Prolonged exposure to opioids is likely to cause brain damage. The very common psychological problems are memory loss, delusions, paranoiac thoughts, mental imbalances, diminished well being of emotions, and frequent hallucinations.
The physical problems are also many in numbers and are cascading in nature, meaning one leads to the other. There will be respiratory problems, muscle spasms, insomnia, constipation, excessive sweating, itching, nausea, vomiting, exhaustion, seizures and coma and eventually death.
Treatment for opioid addiction
There are various medicines available for curing this addiction. However, it’s easier said than done. Getting rid of an addiction is very tedious and demands immense patience and a proper state of mind along with potential supporters to support an addicted individual all the way.
These can be classified under two categories as described below:
- Medicines
The most common medicines used are Buprenorphine and Methadone. These are highly useful in controlling the craving for the opioids. The work on specifically the same targets as the opioids but act in an opposite manner and thus, do not let one feel euphoric or out of the world. These medicines are safe and are advised for longer usage by the doctors themselves. An individual may use it for months, years or even for a lifetime. It is important to contact a health adviser before continuing with the medicines though. - Counseling
Apart from medicines, counseling is also important if someone really wants to get rid of their addiction. They may take the help of a professional or talk to their friends and family for immediate help. There are rehabilitation centers too that primarily work to improve the conditions of these patients. Here, an individual will have a goal set and work towards achieving it. This will not only eradicate their addiction but also expedite the recovery procedure.
