Prescription Medication Addiction

Introduction1

Addiction1

Types of Addiction1

Prescription Medication Addiction2

Thesis Statement2

Discussion2

Common Addiction Causing Drugs2

Stimulants2

CNS Depressants3

Opioids3

Consequences of Prescription Medication Addiction3

Stimulants3

CNS Depressants4

Opioids4

Recommendations4

Conclusion5

References7

Prescription Medication Addiction

Introduction

The prescription medication addiction has become the trend in the United States. According to the survey report of National survey on Drug Use and Health (2010), about 2.4 million residents of the United States have used the prescription medication with no therapeutic effect required. The major portion of this population comprised of women and one third of them possess 12-17 years of age.

Addiction

Hajela & Miller (2012) described the addiction as the brain disorder. According to them, it is a complex disease associated with the considerable behavioral characteristics. All the controlled prescription medication, illicit drug substances, alcohol and nicotine affect the circuitry reward and pleasure of the brain in the same manner. The chronic use of these substances leads to the affected behavior and judgment ability as well as a compulsive attitude to attain these drugs. The ultimate effect emerges as the destructive consequences.

Types of Addiction

There are two types of medication addiction; addiction due to the OTC medication and the other type of addiction evolves due to the Prescription of controlled medication. Both addiction types lead the affected health of the individual.

Prescription Medication Addiction

The addiction of the prescription medication is the administration of the drug without the written prescription from the physician. People take the drugs other than their therapeutic effect but for the sake of the elicit feeling, just for experience as well as for luxury in some cases. The investigators proposed after conducting the surveys that drug users are frequently using the over the counter drugs, analgesics, drugs to treat anxiety and deficit orders. The usage rate of these drugs stands at second number following the addiction by marijuana (Volkow, 2011).

Thesis Statement

Supervision of clinicians and pharmacists is crucial for the reduction of prescription medication addiction rate in United States.

Discussion

Common Addiction Causing Drugs

There are many drugs that have a tendency to cause addiction, but the drugs described below are the most frequently used by the drugs users (Cotto et al, 2010).

Stimulants

These are CNS stimulating drugs which have the therapeutic effect for disorders of attention deficit hyperactivity. Examples include methylphenidate and dextroamphetamine.

CNS Depressants

These drugs cause sedation via slowing the activity of the central nervous system. Therefore, these are used for the treatment of sleep disorders and anxiety. The most frequently prescription medications of this class encompass benzodiazepines, barbiturates and ...