The 4 Stages of Addiction (and How to Take Notice and Combat Them)

Drug abuse and addiction — especially when it comes to opioids — is a more serious problem than ever before.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, opioid overdoses caused over 47,000 deaths in the United States in 2017, while over 1.7 million people suffered from substance abuse disorders directly linked to prescription opioids.

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Addiction has become a widespread problem touching practically every community in the coun-try. Because of this, it is more important than ever to understand the stages of addiction for what they really are so drug users and their loved ones can take appropriate steps.

Only by better understanding and responding to addiction can the crisis be averted.

Stage #1: Use

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For many individuals, the path to addiction actually begins with prescribed opioid use. Over 214 million prescriptions for opioid pain medication were written in 2016, highlighting just how many people use opioids on a regular basis.

There is nothing inherently wrong with using opioid medication as prescribed by your doctor. Following the instructions for your prescribed medication will help you manage your chronic pain while minimizing the potential risk for addiction.

However, the longer someone uses an opioid, the more likely their body is to develop a depen-dence on the drug, or even an increased tolerance that limits the perceived effectiveness of the prescribed dosage. When possible, it’s safer to stick with non-opioid medications instead.

Stage #2: Misuse

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The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that 21 to 29 percent of people who have been pre-scribed opioid medications for managing chronic pain misuse their drugs. While misuse does not always lead to addiction, it does begin a troubling path that all too often leads to more harmful outcomes.

Drug misuse refers to any time that you use a prescription opioid (or any other medication) in a way that goes against legal or medical guidelines. Examples of misuse most commonly include taking more pills than what your doctor prescribed, or borrowing medication from a friend.

Drug misuse often occurs when someone uses their prescription opioids when an over the counter medication would do. For example, instead of taking a Tylenol for a normal headache, someone in the stage of drug misuse would use Percocet because they believe it to be more effective.

This misuse greatly increases the risk of harmful side effects associated with the drugs you are taking, while also holding the potential for eventual addiction. Following doctors’ instructions to the letter — and only using your own prescriptions — is essential for preventing misuse.

Stage #3: Abuse

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The term opioid abuse encompasses a wide range of prescription medication misuse behaviors. However, this stage typically hinges on one key difference: people who abuse opioids were not actually prescribed the drugs that they are using improperly.

Abuse often grows from misuse that occurs while someone has a valid prescription. After the prescription has expired, the user’s increased dependency on the drug causes them to seek other ways to get the drug. They may steal medications from family and friends or ask for a prescrip-tion refill when it isn’t actually needed.

As Jon Read, senior advisor at Confidant Health explains, abuse can easily become fueled by psychological factors as well. “As opioid abuse progresses, users often begin to feel harsh nega-tive emotions toward themselves. They feel guilty because they know their habits are harmful, but at the same time, taking more of the drug helps those feelings go away. However, they are still making an active choice to abuse the drug. It may not be majorly disrupting their life yet, but it is taking a severe physical and emotional toll.”

If you recognize these behaviors in yourself, speak with your doctor and seek medical help be-fore the problem develops into a full-blown addiction.

Stage #4: Addiction

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Continued substance abuse will eventually lead to addiction, which can have significant negative consequences on all aspects of an individual’s life. Users may even recognize the serious conse-quences of their actions, but their physical or psychological dependency has grown so great that they cannot stop using the substance. Changes in behavior can disrupt work performance, physi-cal health, relationships and more.

In other words, addiction is a disease. The person in question is no longer actively choosing to abuse opioids. Rather, they are compelled to do it because of their body’s chemical dependen-cies. A person may want to quit, but they are no longer able to do so based on willpower alone.

For these situations, professional medical attention is vital for countering the addiction. Super-vised detoxification, chemical treatments, counseling, and dual diagnosis treatment for related mental health disorders may all be necessary, depending on the individual’s situation.

The sooner an individual receives treatment for their addiction, the easier it will be to counter the lasting harmful consequences that can result from uncontrollable substance abuse.

Don’t Let Addiction Take Over Your Life!

The transition from normal use to addiction often occurs gradually, to the point that many indi-viduals and their loved ones don’t recognize the problem for what it is until it is too late. By bet-ter understanding the risks and consequences of opioid addiction, you will be better able to to protect yourself and use medications properly.