While care should be taken with any medications that prescribed, opioids, or drugs based on opiates, are typically considered to be the market’s most addictive drugs. Many people from all walks of life abuse these drugs prescribed by doctors when they take them for things other than relief from pain – like their mind-altering effects. The sad thing is that even those who take them to help them cope with legitimate chronic or severe pain can easily find themselves addicted.
When It Turns into Addiction
Medications can alter the way the brain works, especially when they need to be taken in escalating doses or for extended periods of time. They can actually change the brain’s reward system by making it more difficult for the user to feel good without having the drug(s) in question. This can lead to intense cravings for the drugs and is one of the reasons that treatment centres like the one found at windwardway.com exist. These cravings are referred to as physical dependence and are a critical element in the cycle of addiction.
Prescription drug abuse happens because the body and the brain adapt to having it in its system for long periods of time. Eventually, the user will need to have larger and larger doses of the drug in question to feel the same effects they initially experienced. This phenomenon is known as tolerance. When the drug is no longer being used, the user can experience uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms. When they continue to use the drug in spite of negative or numerous consequences, this establishes addiction.
Drugs That Press the Happiness Buttons in the Brain
In our brains, neurotransmitters like dopamine send messages when they attach to receptors on cells nearby. The actions of these receptors and neurotransmitters cause the effects that are produced by prescription medications. While each of the following classes of prescription medications works a bit differently, they are all addictive.
Opioids – These are chemicals that bind themselves to molecules on cells that are known as opioid receptors. These are the same ones that respond to drugs like heroin. These receptors can be found on nerve cells throughout the body and brain, especially in those areas of the brain that are involved with perceiving pleasure or pain.
Stimulants – These medications cause a buildup of the brain chemicals norepinephrine and dopamine, which cause an effect similar to that of cocaine. Prescription medications that are used to treat ADHD fall into this category and include methylphenidates and amphetamines.Depressants – In this category, the drugs make people feel relaxed and calm like club drugs such as Rohypnol and GHB do. CNS (Central Nervous System) depressants that are intended for the relief of symptoms from anxiety include Xanax and Valium.