Overcoming Prescription Drug Addiction

By: Patrick Meninga Click author's name for more of his/her articles

Prescription drug addiction is a big problem in today's society. One reason for this is because addictive prescription drugs are being prescribed more and more by doctors these days, but also because our young people in this country have started abusing these drugs more and more frequently. In fact, they are using prescription pills more frequently then Marijuana even.

If you or someone you know is hooked on prescription drugs, here are the steps I would take in order to correct this problem.

1) Ask for help
2) Seek treatment
3) Find support systems
4) Personal growth

First of all, I would ask for help from other people. If you are hooked on medication then it is probably the case that you cannot just quit on your own. If this is the case then you do not need any help and you really do not have much of a problem. Addiction means that you are incapable of stopping on your own and therefore you need to ask for help. You can do this in a number of ways and by potentially asking a number of different people in your life, hopefully those who you trust. The idea is that someone can point you towards the help you need in order to beat a drug addiction.

The next step in the process of getting clean is usually going to drug rehab. This is important because you are going to need a way to get detoxed from the drugs that your body is addicted to, and they can supervise this in a medical setting if you are in treatment. You can learn a lot from others who are in rehab with you, and you can get a lot out of their stories as well. Recovery is essentially a learning process so we need to find lots of teachers if we are going to learn how to live clean. We can find different sources for knowledge in a rehab setting.

After this, I would urge you to broaden your support base and do some more networking once you leave rehab. Attending a 12 step group is a great way to connect with a lot of support in early recovery. You need to have a lot of new relationships made with others who are recovering or you are going to struggle more in trying to stay clean.

And last of all, I would encourage you to grow into a life of personal and holistic growth after you have established your footing in early recovery. This means that you need to start drifting away from the strong dependency on others in your support network and start pushing yourself to grow more as a person. This will strengthen your recovery and increase your odds of staying off the prescription drugs. If you cannot find a way to motivate yourself to start living this type of holistic lifestyle then you will have a tough time staying clean in the long run.