Essay On Opioid Addiction

Opioid addiction is so prevalent in the healthcare system because of the countless number of hospital patients being treated for chronic pain. While opioid analgesics have beneficial painkilling properties, they also yield detrimental dependence and addiction. There is a legitimate need for the health care system to provide powerful medications because prolonged pain limits activities of daily living, work productivity, quality of life, etc. (Taylor, 2015). Patients need to receive appropriate pain treatment, however, opioids need to be prescribed after careful consideration of the benefits and risks.

1. It is important that we take into consideration, areas other than physical pain and have an holistic approach. Pain is whatever the person who is suffering it feels it to be. Physical pain can be experienced as a result of disease or injury, or some other form of bodily distress. For example childbirth. Although not associated with injury or disease, but can be an extremely painful experience. Pain can also be social, emotional and spiritual as well as just physical.

Pain is not only defined as a sensation or a physical awareness, but also entails perception. Moreover, pain is an unpleasant and an uncomfortable emotion that is transferred to the brain by sensory neurons. There are various kinds of pain and how one perceives them is varied as well. Certain parts of the brain also play a key role in how one feels pain such as the parietal lobe, which is involved in interpreting pain while the hypothalamus is responsible for the response to pain one has. Although some believe pain is just a physical awareness and is in the body, pain is all in one’s mind because the perception of pain and the emotion that controls its intensity differs in individuals and when pain itself is administered to the body, the brain determines the emotions one attaches to each painful experience.

Opioids are taking over the United States with its addictive composition, once patients are take opioids there is no escaping. The drug directed from opium which is obtained from a plant (Katz). Opioids are most commonly found in prescription pill from making underground sales more common. Since opioids are derived from a plant this makes the reality of home grown drugs more of an issue. American citizens overdosing on opioids is what is sparking the crisis because opioid “overdoses killed more people last year than guns or car accidents” (Katz). Opioids are extremely addictive and that is why so many citizens overdose on these types of drugs. After patients become hooked on opioids their body constantly is needing more and more opium to escape they pain they think they are enduring. The overdosing of Americans is not a small percentage of the population either, it is estimated that “over two million people in America have problem with opioids” proving this growing issue is an ongoing crisis (Katz). The United States government needs to take action immediately to the opioid crisis because doctors are overprescribing patients because they seemingly overreact to pain, and opioids are one of the most addictive drug types in the world.

While our major access to these drugs is doctors, we cannot simply lay blame on them, as there is not enough knowledge about these treatments to correctly appropriate drugs, and therefore extra is given (Hemphill 373). Alexander of the Department of Epidemiology of the Journal of the American Medical Association, states that “There are serious gaps in the knowledge base regarding opioid use for other chronic nonmalignant pain” (Alexander 1865-1866), which leads to the unfortunately large number of leftover drugs. In fact, the main place that people get their drugs are from leftover prescriptions (Hemphill 373).

From teenagers to adults, many are suffering with an opioid addiction. The opioid crisis that has struck, has taken a significantly large amount of lives. There were about “...50,000 [ opioid ] overdose deaths...in 2015-roughly equivalent to the number of Americans lost in the Vietnam War”(Price). All these friends and family members are dying because of something that can be controlled and even avoided. Although there are some who believe that the programs that are enacted to help with this sort of addiction are very effective, the truth is they are not as effective as people let on to believe. There should be a more enforced and regulated limit for those with a stronger prescription drug in order to lower the overdose count, over prescription from doctors, and pill shopping.

The Opioid Epidemic in Canada and the USA and its Effects on the Health of the Affected Communities

Pain not only involves the physical reaction to damaged tissue, but also involves an emotional and cognitive response by the person experiencing the pain (Backer, 1994). A person's prior experience will influence how pain is managed. Pain is a signal that something is not

To most people, pain is a nuisance, but to others pain controls their life. The feeling discomforts us in ways that can sometimes seem almost imaginable. These feelings can lead to many different side effects if not dealt with or diagnosed. These effects can include depression, anxiety, and incredible amount of stress. The truth about pain is that it is vital to our existence. Without the nervous system responding to pain, we would have no idea if we were touching a hot stove, being stuck by a porcupine’s needles, or something else that could leave a lasting effect upon our bodies without us even knowing anything about it.

In 2012, enough opioid prescriptions were written to cover every adult in America at least once , but that trend has already begun to be reversed. Last year, 17 million fewer opioid pain relievers were prescribed than in the year before. The concern is that the new guidelines and policies are blunt instruments that are denying patients who appropriately use their prescription opioids access to medications, rather then blocking access for the recreational, illicit user of opioids. There are reports of physicians who are wary about writing prescriptions for opioid pain relievers, those who blindly follow guidelines without considering the nuances of an individuals’ needs, and those who have

Opioids, otherwise known as prescription pain medication, are used to treat acute and chronic pain. They are the most powerful pain relievers known. When taken as directed they can be safe and effective at managing pain, however, opioids can be highly addictive. Ease of access helps people get pain medications through their physician or by having friends and family get the medication for them. With their ease of access and being highly addictive the use and misuse of opioids have become a growing epidemic. Patients should be well educated on the affects opioid use can have. More importantly instead of the use of opioids, physicians should look into alternative solutions for pain management. While pain medication is helpful with chronic pain, it is also highly addictive, doctors should be more stringent to whom and how often they prescribe pain medication.

They may have needed pain killers after a surgery or because of a chronic medical condition. Before long, these drugs can lead to an addiction. Some individuals switch to drugs like heroin because painkillers are no longer available. The doctor may stop prescribing painkillers, or the prescription drugs become too expensive. The individual may seek out street drugs to fuel the addiction instead.

Physical pain is something that everybody is going to experience in life. Some people go through more than others but it is still a struggle that everybody must

There could be a way to eliminate or just reduce the growing number of opioid drug addiction rate, including education. Educating doctors on the fact that continuing to prescribe these types of gateway drugs- Oxycontin, hydrocodone, Vicodin, Percocet, etc.- can be potentially dangerous to the patient. A change in mindset could influence doctors to prescribe less aggressive and addictive forms of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Some of these could include the popular Tylenol, Motrin, or Aleve and their generics, acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and naproxen sodium. The bodily function that takes place when a user abuses is what ties them to the opioid. Addiction is not a flaw in character, but a chemical process in your body. Patients believe they cannot function without the constant use of these drugs. Getting patients to realize that this addiction is all in their head starts with that same doctor. When doctors prescribe less addictive drugs, their patients will be less susceptible to addiction of opioid drugs. Addiction eliminates any type of personal relationship, creates a financial crisis, and interferes with the society. All of this can is avoided if doctors shifted their mindset towards prescribing nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs alternative to

Pain is something that connects all of us. From birth to death we can identify with each other the idea and arguably the perception of it. We all know we experience it, but what is more important is how we all perceive it. It is known that there are people out there with a ‘high’ pain tolerance and there are also ones out there with a ‘low’ pain tolerance, but what is different between them? We also know that pain is an objective response to certain stimuli, there are neurons that sense and feel pain and there are nerve impulses that send these “painful” messages to the brain. What we don’t know is where the pain