(chill piano music)
- Hey everybody, happy Thursday.
Now, today's questions is all about
overcoming addiction to prescription medications,
but before we jump into that, are you new to my channel?
Welcome.
I'm a licensed therapist
creating educational mental health videos
and I release them on Mondays
and on Thursdays, so make sure you're subscribed
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Now this weeks question is,
Kati, do you think you'd be able to do a video
on addiction to prescription medications
and how to overcome it?
I can't see one on your channel,
but you may have already covered it.
I haven't okay, so good call.
I'm just really struggling with abusing pain meds
and benzodiazepines and sleeping tablets
and desperately want to stop.
I feel like every time I'm reading about addiction online,
or even watching the news,
I am bombarded by information about the opioid crisis
and that's probably because in the U.S. alone
it is estimated the 54 million people
have abused prescription drugs in their lifetime.
That's a huge number of people
using prescription medication recreationally.
And that's why I decided to address this question.
As always, I want to define some of the terms first
to ensure that we are all on the same page.
And first, let's define the term addiction.
Now, addiction is the repeated involvement
with a substance or activity,
despite the substantial harm it now causes
because that involvement was and may continue
to be pleasurable and/or valuable.
In short, addiction is when we keep doing or using something
regardless of how much it can negatively impact our lives.
And we struggle to stop
because we are emotionally or physically dependent on it.
Next, I want to talk a bit about prescription medication
because in this question the person names pain meds,
benzodiazepines and sleeping tablets.
Now, pain killers usually fall into the opioid category,
meaning that they work with the opioid receptors
in the brain to stop us from feeling any pain.
And most commonly talked about versions
of this would be Oxycontin and Percocet.
And benzodiazepines can be prescribed
to help treat anxiety, seizures or muscle spasms
and to help those going through alcohol withdrawal.
These medications are things like Xanax or Valium.
And finally sleeping medications can be benzos or opioids
but they can also be non-benzodiazepine hypnotics.
A couple of medications that would fall into that category
are Lunesta or Ambien.
Not only are all these medications
very easy to become addicted to,
but they can enhance the high we get from the others.
Meaning that if we used to get really high
from taking some painkillers,
over time we can build up a tolerance to that amount.
But if we take those painkillers
in conjunction with a benzo,
we can get that same high we used to get
when we first started abusing painkillers.
Since both benzodiazepines and opioids
are what I would call downers,
meaning that they make you feel relaxed and sleepy,
can be very, very dangerous to mix them
because that's when overdose happens
and people can die due to slowed breathing and heart rate.
Pretty much it just slowly stops.
Mix in sleeping medications
and we are at an even higher risk for overdose.
So if you find yourself abusing prescription medications,
please know that help is out there
and you can overcome this addiction.
But let's jump into some ways to know
if you're struggling with addiction
because maybe just me talking about it,
you're like, "I think I'm fine."
And first I think it's really important to know
that addiction is something that can affect anyone.
It's not a certain type of person
or people of a certain socioeconomic status.
It can happen to anyone, especially
when it comes to prescription medication addiction
because it starts out as something we need
in order to recover from a surgery or other medical issue
and can turn into addiction without us even realizing it
which leads me into our first sign.
And that is if it continues to take more and more
of the medication for us to feel the same effect.
Meaning we've built up a significant tolerance.
And that's something to be aware of
and if you find that happening because it's very common,
that's something to speak to your doctor about immediately.
See if there are other options, things that you can try
so that you don't find yourself using more and more of it.
Second, if you find any of your relationships suffering
because of how the drug affects you,
it's very common for addiction to affect
how we interact with those around us,
like being easily irritated,
or even not making time for those in our lives anymore,
or maybe we only make time for other people
who struggle with the same addiction.
Third, if we find ourselves doing whatever we need to
in order to sustain this addiction.
This could be lying to our doctors about how we're doing
or putting ourselves in really dangerous situations
in order to get the drug that we need, or stealing money,
or even medication from other people in our lives,
or lying to those we love about our situation
and what's really going on.
There could be a lot of things we do in order
to get the drug that we're addicted to.
Okay, now let's jump in to the best steps to take
in order to healthily recover.
And the first step is to be open and willing to work on it.
I've talked about this a lot
when it comes to eating disorder recovery.
That we don't have to want to get better
'cause that can take a while,
but we just have to not like where we are.
And based on this persons question,
it sounds like we already have
this first step taken care of,
so that's really great.
But just know, if any of you are out there
struggling with the same thing,
this is the first thing we need to consider,
is willingness to change
and the want to not be where we're at.
Step two, build up your support system.
This can be done in many ways.
This could be friends and family and a treatment team
or possibly just a treatment team.
I know that when we're been in throws of an addiction
for a really long period of time,
that can distance us from friends and family
and it can be hard to get back in contact with them.
If that's your experience, finding a treatment program,
or even just an outpatient treatment team,
meaning your GP, like your regular doctor,
a psychiatrist and a therapist,
that's really the best next step.
And I also want to mention that there can be really terrible
and dangerous withdrawal symptoms,
so please do not try to do this on your own.
There are even detox houses where all they do there
is help you manage the withdrawal symptoms
and ensure that you're medically okay during that process.
So find whatever's available in your area
and what your insurance covers,
and make that appointment.
Step three, you'll need to build up
your healthy coping skills.
And you knew this one was coming
'cause we talk about this all the time,
but in order to fight that urge
to go back to using that drug again,
we're gonna have to have things that we can do
to process what we're feeling and why.
As well as things that we can do
just to distract us from those urges.
And I have a video I did, I don't know maybe six months ago,
it's all about coping skills
and it's called 25 coping skills.
And I'll link that in the description,
but if you aren't sure what a healthy coping skill is,
here are a few ideas to get you started.
And one coping skill that helps us
process what we're feeling is an impulse log.
All an impulse log really is,
is a way to slow down our thought process
so that we can acknowledge what we're feeling.
And instead of acting impulsively,
we can make a positive choice for our lives.
And they usually ask you to write down what the impulse is.
For example, I want to use drugs.
Then, what happened that day to instigate the urge.
Like, I got into a fight with my best friend.
And then, it will ask you what you what you could do first
before giving in to this urge.
And so like I said, the whole goal of an impulse log
is to slow the process down
so that we don't just act out on that trigger
or that thing that's happened.
Instead we understand what caused it,
what created this urge, and then we can work on that.
We can find ways to soothe.
So we got in a fight with a friend,
okay maybe I just need to journal about it.
Maybe if I talk to that friend and apologize,
I'll feel better.
We can look for other ways to overcome
a process that'll fix the situation,
instead of just reverting back
to that old unhealthy coping skill of using drugs.
Another type of coping skill is just a distraction.
Like, going for a walk, cleaning your closet out,
trying out a new workout, painting your nails,
the list could go on and on and on.
Really this type of coping skill
is just anything that keeps your hands and mind
as busy as possible.
And by doing that, it keeps us so occupied
that we really can't engage with the unhealthy coping skill.
And it's really important
when you're coming up with all of these
that you try them out and see which ones work for you
because that can truly change
from day to day and urge to urge.
So try to make these lists as long as possible
and that's really why I did that video
about 25 coping skills to try to help get those lists going.
And fourth and finally, create a new social group.
This can be the hardest thing for people to do
and to be honest, it's what usually leads to relapse.
So please take this step very seriously.
This is going to mean
that we may have to let our old not sober friends know
that we can't be around them anymore.
Or possibly that we have to move out
of an unhealthy living situation.
It's gonna be hard
and we're gonna have to give ourselves
the time we need to grieve the loss of those relationships.
And you could do that grieving work in therapy
or you can do it by journaling,
but whatever you do,
don't think that you can go back
to being close with those people when they aren't sober
or trying to recover like you.
It's too triggering and honestly just way too difficult.
Instead, we need to work to cultivate
new relationships with those you meet at maybe NA, AA,
or you know, you get a sponsor,
or you could even reconnect with those
that you may have lost touch with while you were using.
Just make sure that you have a sober social group
that can be there for you with real support and love
while you work on your recovery.
If you want to read more
about addiction to prescription medications,
I will link some informational activities
in the description down below as well.
And I hope you found this information helpful.
I know we haven't talked that much
about addiction and recovering from it,
so let me know in those comments
if you have anything to add to this,
or if you would like me
to cover more topics like this in the future.
Thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time.
Bye.