subject: Effective Substance Use And Abuse Rehabilitation Solutions [print this page] Substance abuse killsSubstance abuse kills. Somewhere in the back of our minds all of us realize that this is true, at least to a certain degree. The majority of the population however does not realize how dangerous drugs truly are and how often they're lethal. Well, for the non-believers out there, drugs are officially accountable for more fatalities in the USA than motor vehicle accidents. In 2009 (the latest full year of available study,) the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that Substance Use and brain damage linked to long-term substance abuse killed approximately 37,485 people in the country. That same year, 1200 less people were killed as a consequence of traffic accidents.
Prescription Drugs to Blame
The lead medical epidemiologist at the CDC's division of unintentional injury prevention, Dr. Leonard Paulozzi, states that prescribed drug addiction is to blame for this startling statistic. "There has been a dramatic rise in usage of prescription medications as medical professionals have become far more generous in suggesting them." He also added that many of these prescription drug-related deaths come from unintended overdoses of opioid pain relievers like the well-publicized OxyContin (oxycodone) and Vicodin (hydrocodone).
Even though the rates of most illegal substance use have gone down in the last several years, prescription substance abuse rates have remained pretty steady. Specialists agree that a serious misconception lies with the public regarding the common safety of these drugs. Americans across the nation are reported to assume that just because these drugs could be acquired legally, they aren't nearly as harmful as other illegal drugs. The 300,000 plus Americans who were admitted into emergency rooms throughout the country in 2008 for prescription painkiller complications would surely disagree.
How Responsible Prescribed Drug Use Turns into Substance Abuse
Many people in this country who are prescribed pain relievers take them responsibly. That said, even when following dosage indications to the "T", obsession can still take place. It really is difficult to assess how an individual's body will respond to the very addictive nature of those pain pills. The more time you take them the more opportunity you are giving the body to develop a tolerance to them, and finally grow dependent on them. When dependent, it could be hard for the abuser to decipher real discomfort symptoms from withdrawal signs and symptoms as opioid anesthetics are known for severe withdrawal. The sufferer will likely go into his/her subsequent doctor's appointment still complaining of pain and discomfort, and another prescription will usually be written, unknowingly advancing the cycle of substance abuse, instead of commencing adequate Substance Abuse Treatment.
