Misuse Of Prescription Drugs: What To Do?

Despite the requirement to have a prescription, medication is always misused. However, this can have serious consequences. Today we invite you to reflect on this subject with us.

The purpose of prescription requirements is to prevent the misuse of medication and thus to protect the health of the patient. But despite all the precautionary measures, the uncontrolled use of prescription drugs occurs again and again . 

Many diseases require treatment with  pain relievers in order to be able to bear the symptoms. In other cases, doctors prescribe downers, which are drugs that have calming, relaxing, and anxiolytic properties to treat anxiety or sleep disorders.

While these types of medicines require a prescription from a doctor, the problem is that patients do not always follow doctor’s instructions. So it happens again and again that these drugs are taken incorrectly, which is a major health problem worldwide. 

Why does prescription drug abuse occur?

• Wrong Views:  Some patients believe that taking a higher dose than originally prescribed can improve the effectiveness of the medicine. In some cases, this results in them becoming resistant to the drug and needing ever higher doses to achieve the same effect.

• Emotional problems:  If the patient is not feeling well psychologically, he can take a higher dose to sleep better and not have to think. He just wants to feel the well-being that the drug induces and escape the emotional pain.

If the emotional problems are really serious,  patients may try to provoke negative reactions in the organism by taking higher doses of the drug.

In most cases, prescription drugs are misused by taking them incorrectly, which means that patients then need more to achieve the desired effect. But longer therapy can also lead to this, although the patient is sticking to the correct dosage.

How can you prevent prescription drug abuse?

Despite all the measures to prevent abuse, further steps are necessary to provide even better prevention.

Preventive measures that can avoid health risks from drug abuse are fundamental. In this way, for example, involuntary overdosing and undesirable side effects due to uncontrolled consumption of the medication must be prevented.

Define the duration of the treatment precisely

The doctor must determine the exact duration of the treatment, for example if the patient is being treated with benzodiazepines. These are among the most commonly prescribed drugs in the world for insomnia, anxiety, or obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The risk of addiction is very high with benzodiazepines. For this reason, it is advisable not to continue the therapy for more than 8 to 12 weeks. After that, the doctor has to find other solutions or give another medicine to avoid addiction.

Psychological support against the misuse of prescription drugs

It is very important to provide psychological help to patients who abuse drugs  so that they can develop positive habits to use drugs properly.

At the same time, emotional problems that encourage drug abuse must be treated. The patient needs appropriate tools in order to be able to solve his problems. 

Help at all levels

Support is essential so that the affected patient can free himself from the abuse and learn how to use medication properly. After all, excessive consumption of drugs can have serious consequences for his life.

If the patient concerned is religious, he can get help in his community. If this is not the case, there are many self-help groups that fulfill very  important tasks and help many people affected. Of course, friends and family should also be there to support you, because they are the most important pillars.

We hope this article will bring some attention to this important topic. Always follow your doctor’s instructions and avoid self-medication. Misuse of prescription drugs can damage the health and life of those affected.