Shirley J. Davis (Morgan) · Discusses addiction and overdose

I have written on the topic of opioids before, but I cannot stop raising the red flag for those who have dissociative identity disorder, because so many of us abuse them in one form or another. This message may mean life or death to some who read it today.

People believe that if a medication is prescribed to them by a physician, it is safe and effective. While opioids can be both, they are much, much more. In this article, we will explore the abuse of prescription and other types of opioids and how dangerous they truly are.

What Are Opioids?

Some opioids are made from the opium poppy plant, while others, like fentanyl, are made in a lab. They work in the brain to produce many effects, including the relief of pain. Some commonly used opioids are Vicodin (unfortunately my favorite), Percocet, fentanyl, morphine, and many illegal street forms, such as heroin.

Opioids work by blocking pain in your body, slowing your breathing, and causing a calming effect. They attach to opioid receptors in the brain and body, changing the messages the brain sends to the body.

These potent substances also affect the brain’s release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter linked to happiness and pleasure. Because of this flood of euphoria, opioids are highly addictive.

Opioids do have one redeeming quality: they block moderate to severe pain, at least for a while. With long-term use, opioids can cause pain instead of relieving it.

The Effects of Opioids on the Brain

Opioids are potent, and for many people it doesn’t take long to become addicted. As the brain grows accustomed to the drug, it requires more and more, until before you know it, you are consuming much more than was prescribed and safe. Your brain becomes used to the opioid, leading to dependence, which is the beginning of addiction.

To help avoid opioid addiction, it is vital to understand how opioids affect the brain, both in the short term and the long term.

Using opioids continuously takes a toll on the body and can cause severe long-term effects and even irreversible brain damage.

The long-term effects can also include kidney and liver failure, because many prescription opioids are combined with acetaminophen, and high doses cause damage.

Unfortunately, accidental overdoses of opioid drugs do occur, claiming tens of thousands of lives every year.

How Opioid Addiction Happens

Addiction is a medical condition where something that starts with pleasure turns into something you cannot live without. Physicians define drug addiction as an irresistible craving for a substance, out-of-control compulsive use of the drug, and continued use despite harmful consequences.

Opioids are addictive because they activate powerful reward centers in your brain, boosting feelings of pleasure and a temporary sense of well-being. These feelings of euphoria wear off, and you crave more and more.

Opioid abuse is a common problem in the United States, with tens of millions of opioid prescriptions written every year. Anyone who takes opioids for any reason is at risk of developing an addiction. It is impossible to predict who will become addicted and who will not. However, a personal or family history of drug dependence should be a huge red flag.

Opioids, legal or illegal, stolen or shared, are responsible for most overdose deaths in the United States.

How strong are the addictive properties of opioids? Even knowing that millions of people misuse opioids and thousands die because of them, this article will not deter or change the minds of many people who are addicted to them and reading this today.

Who Abuses Opioids?

Opioid abuse isn’t something that only occurs in cities; it is found in even the smallest town or village in the United States. All racial and ethnic groups and all ages are affected, with many dying because they went too far in using these potent drugs.

If you think you are safe because you are middle-aged or elderly, think again: people over the age of forty make up a large share of those addicted to opioids.

There are risk factors that increase the chances of you or someone you love becoming addicted to opioids:

• Unemployment
• Poverty
• Family history of substance abuse
• Personal history of substance abuse
• Problems at home
• Problems at work
• The presence of a mental health condition
• History of severe depression
• History of anxiety

Another colossal danger is using prescription opioids beyond what they were written for, such as taking two or more pills to chase the euphoria when one every eight hours was prescribed for a toothache.

Ending Our Time Together

My struggle with opioid addiction began in the 1980s, when my doctor prescribed an opioid to treat arthritic changes in my knees. At first, I was leery of using the drug, and I even asked if it was addictive. My doctor told me that if I was taking it for pain, I could not become addicted. To be fair to him, that was the prevailing thought of that decade, begun by drug companies to increase sales.

I didn’t abuse the drug at first, because I took it as prescribed and felt no euphoria. However, I still had the pain and decided that it didn’t work, so two would be better, then three, then four; I think you see the picture. I was under much stress with undiagnosed DID and enjoyed the escape the opioids offered me.

Never, ever believe that if one works, two or more will work better. That is the trap I fell into, and it cost me 40 years of addiction and nearly my life. My abuse of opioids is why I am in a wheelchair today and have many chronic medical problems.

I know reading this article has been difficult for some, because they, too, are addicted to opioids. However, if I can prevent even one person from going down the road I did, then I will have done something significant with my life.

“Nothing is impossible. The word itself says, ‘I’m possible!’” — Audrey Hepburn

“Every day, think as you wake up: Today I am fortunate to be alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it.” — Dalai Lama XIV

© Shirley J. Davis. Shared on Ivory Garden with the author’s permission.