Trading Prescription Drug Addiction for a New Life

As news items and articles increase the awareness of the potential for prescription drug addiction, abuse and deadly overdoses, the number of people going into prescription drug addiction treatment centers is rapidly surpassing those seeking treatment for street drugs. In fact, we’re only skimming the surface: If everyone with a prescription drug addiction or abuse problem decided to address it, treatment facilities would be so in demand it would be hard to find something available.

As it is, however, many people are unaware of or unwilling to admit they have a problem. Why is that? One of the major reasons is that they cannot see themselves fitting into the typical ‘drug addict’ persona. They’re taking tranquilizers, sedatives, anti-depressants and painkillers every day but since they’re still functioning in life, not living in hovels and not getting the drugs from drug dealers in dark alleys, they don’t think they have a problem.

In fact, it really doesn’t matter whether they live in a room with mattresses and needles on the floor or a nice pool home in a middle or upper-class neighborhood, they’re still dependant on drugs, possibly addicted and, worst of all, whatever problem motivated them to take the drugs in the first place isn’t actually being resolved; it’s just being masked by the drugs. And ‘drug addict’ still applies.

Another reason is the stigma – they don’t want to be thought of as having a drug problem, and they would rather be dead than in drug rehab with those ‘drug addicts’ - which, by the way, might be the alternatives the person eventually has to face; death or drug rehab.

Underlying it all, they’re scared. Scared of what other people will think, scared it will hurt, scared they’ll go back to having the same problems they couldn’t face without drugs before, and scared they won’t be able to cope with them any better than they could back then. And they’re scared they’ll lose their family, their friends, or job.

Nevertheless, somewhere buried under all that fear, they’re aware they have a problem with prescription drug addiction, they want to address it, and someone who cares about them should get them into a prescription drug addiction treatment.

It’s true that admitting to having a drug problem and going into a prescription drug addiction treatment can change a lot of things in a person’s life – but, in the end, those changes will be for the better. And there are plenty of prescription drug addiction treatment facilities available that are nice environments with staff that treat you with dignity, respect, and love, and who understand the problems you’re having and help you get through them. And when they complete the program, they’ll have a brand new start.