Prescription Drug Abuse

Addiction From Your Medicine Cabinet

Unfortunately, living in our society today has made the possibility of becoming addicted to some form of prescription drug a very real possibility. Furthermore, that type of addiction and misuse can occur right in the home, with the family members being totally unaware until it’s too late for the son or daughter to solve the problem on their own.

In 2004 the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s Monitoring the Future survey found that 9.3 percent of 12th graders using Vicodin without a prescription in the previous year, and 5.0 percent reported using OxyContin, making these drugs the most commonly abused drugs by adolescents and young adults.

The Addiction Connection

Many of these drugs are actually obtained from the home or easily purchased over the Internet. The majority of applicants we have seen have experimented, at least, with the non-medical use of prescription drugs, many having habits costing hundreds of dollars per week.

Once addicted, many of these teens or young adults spend their days searching for the combination of drugs that will help them wake up feeling good, then find other drugs to bring them down, thus allowing them to sleep. These now addicting drugs may have started out as legitimate prescriptions, treating such disorders as Attention Deficit Disorder, Anxiety Disorder of Oppositional Defiance Disorder. Gradually, the use of the drugs escalated, and now the young adult is in a violent cycle of self-destruction that can only end disastrously… unless effective treatment is instituted as soon as possible.

With some students, their addiction started with prescribed medications and graduated over time to lethal combinations of drug cocktails. Other students started with marijuana or alcohol in their early teens, and their use has grown to include other illegal drugs and the misuse of prescription drugs.

Getting Necessary Treatment

It doesn’t matter the order or the reason for the abuse or addiction to the drugs, it is becoming increasingly complex and difficult to treat.

The addiction recovery programs we partner with have programs designed for these kinds of complicated cases. They are highly experienced and excel at treating teens and young adults for addiction and the emotional-behavioral problems that usually accompany drug and/or alcohol addiction.

If you know or suspect your your son or daughter needs help, you can feel confident in our help in getting them enrolled in a nationally recognized program that utilizes time-tested methods and research-based approaches to treatment, and is also a Christian treatment based program.