- January 22, 2025
Medicine is a substance that helps us to fight pain, various ailments and diseases. Unfortunately, the occurrence of drug addiction, i.e. dependence on medication taken, is quite common. The disease is as dangerous as an alcohol or drug addiction. What's worse, it's also quite difficult to diagnose. How do we know if a person close to us suffers from medication and how can we help them?
Drugs with an addictive effect include, first of all, analgesics, sleeping pills, or sedatives, as well as appetite and laxative drugs. However, they may also add drugs for rhinitis or cough, available at a pharmacy without a prescription. So there is no rule and basically every drug can be dangerous for us or a person close to us. Whether or not an addiction occurs depends largely on the individual and his or her susceptibility.
Symptoms of drug addiction are sometimes quite difficult to notice. For the patient himself, as well as for his surroundings, taking a given medicine is a sign of a fight with illness and a desire to recover. Often we see only the positive effect of alleviating the symptoms of the disease for a long time. What, however, should our attention be drawn to? One of the first signs is more frequent visits to the doctor. A characteristic feature of addicts is that they attend many different doctors in order to obtain another prescription. The responsible doctor may refuse to discharge too much of a medicine. Drug tolerance develops during the course of drug therapy. The patient usually starts to take more and more of their doses with time. The patient is also forced to take medication. For example, if he has previously taken painkillers when he experienced pain, for example, then he can use them together with his addiction, regardless of whether he feels such ailments or not. Our vigilance should also be aroused by the way in which the patient reacts to the remarks concerning the use of too many drugs. It can be irritating, and conversations on this subject often end in a quarrel. This is because the patient does not want to admit to the addiction in front of himself or herself or his loved ones. It is important to be extremely sensitive in this situation, otherwise it will be difficult for us to help our loved ones who are hiding their problems from us.
According to statistics, drug addiction is a very serious problem that affects many Poles. Women aged 40 to 60 are often victims of drug addiction. This does not mean, however, that the problem of drug use does not affect men either. The problem in Poland is quite serious, especially as it is often underestimated. While dependence on alcohol or drugs is more likely to cause anxiety in the environment, dependence on drugs, which is equally serious, often remains unnoticed for longer.
The fight against drugs is a difficult and complex process. Withdrawal of medicines is accompanied by symptoms such as those of other types of addiction. These may include mood swings, insomnia, sweating, hypertension and circulatory problems. It is necessary to have a strict control of the doctor during the treatment of drug addiction. The patient must survive the most difficult period of so-called detoxification under the supervision of a specialist. A person struggling with an addiction also needs psychological support in the form of group or single therapy.
