Is addiction to opioid prescription painkillers a disease?
Yes. Addiction or dependence on opioids—prescription pain medications and heroin—has been defined as a long-term brain disease by the World Health Organization and the National Institute on Drug Abuse. People who are addicted to drugs experience withdrawal symptoms and intense cravings for the drug when its effects wear off. These symptoms and cravings often lead to increased drug use—even when continued use of prescription painkillers or heroin threatens both the person with the addiction and those around him or her. Once someone becomes dependent, it is difficult to stop the cycle of addiction. Often a person with an opiate addiction will manage to quit “cold turkey” for a period of time, only to relapse or “slip” later, sometimes again and again. The tendency to relapse into drug abuse is part of what makes drug addiction a chronic condition. Without help, for some people addiction lasts a lifetime. There are signs and symptoms that may indicate a person is struggling with drug addi
