Thursday, April 28, 2011

Causes and Effects of Prescription Drug Addiction

Prescription drugs are the drugs which are prescribed by a physician to treat physical pain, anxiety and sleep disorders etc. Many patients become dependent on them and continue to take them even after the disease is cured and this leads to addiction to those drugs. Prescription drugs are the second most commonly abused drugs after marijuana. According to National Institutes of Health statistics nearly 20 percent of people in the United States have used prescription drugs for non medical reasons. There are mainly three types of prescription drugs that the people get addicted and they are pain killers, sedatives and stimulants.

Generally doctors prescribes these drugs to the patients to cure the disease and there are two main factors which encourages the people to abuse these drugs. One of the factor is the availability of these drugs as these are the over the counter drugs. Through the online pharmacies one can get these drugs more easily with out prescription. Second factor is people think that they are safer and less addictive than the street drugs.

Using prescription drugs like opioids or central nervous system depressants for longer time duration can lead to addiction. Opioids can produce drowsiness, reduce breathing and result in constpation. Central nervous system depressants are responsible for slowing down the activity of brain. Stimulants can cause anxiety, paranoia, high body temperatures, irregular heartbeat if taken in high doses. Addiction to prescription drugs often results in negative effects on personal relationships, employment difficulties and job loss, financial difficulties, legal issues, and psychological problems.

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