How does addiction to prescription drugs begin?
It usually begins when a person takes a legitimately prescribed drug for a real medical problem. These are people with no history of drug abuse. Unfortunately, they may have an underlying emotional problem or a predisposition to addiction that was overlooked. They may take a sedative for insomnia or a narcotic analgesic for physical pain, and they feel better. They take a little more the next time, and they feel even better. Soon their body is adapting to the drug and demanding more. Eventually, or sometimes very quickly, the addiction process kicks in. How do addicts continue to get drugs? They are afraid to tell their doctor what is happening for fear of being cut off from the drugs, so they begin doing illegal things. “Doctor shopping” refers tot eh practice of going from doctor to doctor for the purpose of getting a new prescription from each. Some people fake illness at emergency rooms. After my brother died, we got bills from three or four hospitals that he had visited within the
