Addictive substances significantly change the lives of many individuals in the United States and globally. One of the largest epidemics in the country is related to prescription medications – opioids. The rate of deaths due to overdoses of opioid use exceeds that of illicit drugs, such as heroin and cocaine (Volkow et al., 2014).
In the US, the number of people dying from unintentionally consuming too much of this medication has grown by more than four times in the 2000s and 2010s (Volkow et al., 2014). Apart from increased death numbers, opioid addiction also poses a tremendous financial challenge for the country. Insurers have reported costs of over $70 billion in 2007 to be related to prescription abuse (Volkow et al., 2014). As people become addicted to a prescription drug, they are likely to abuse the healthcare system or find ways to acquire the medication illegally.
Several types of treatment currently exist to help people overcome their substance use disorder. One of the approaches is pharmacological – medication-assisted therapies (MATs), which use drugs to assist affected persons. Methadone, naltrexone, and buprenorphine replace opioids, reduce cravings, or allow for a less painful withdrawal (Volkow et al., 2014). Another solution is therapeutic, as psychosocial therapy can be implemented to allow individuals to learn coping skills, investigate their causes of addiction, and develop strong social support networks (Brown, 2018). Both strategies can be used separately or in combination, depending on each person’s needs.
If I had a friend or a family member who had an opioid addiction, I would talk to them to understand the severity of their substance use. Then, I would recommend starting with cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and adding pharmacological treatment if necessary. CBT is often used in substance use disorder treatment because it targets specific issues (Brown, 2018). However, it may be ineffective without MATs due to the highly addictive nature of the prescription drug.
References
Brown, A. R. (2018). A systematic review of psychosocial interventions in treatment of opioid addiction. Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions, 18(3), 249-269.
Volkow, N. D., Frieden, T. R., Hyde, P. S., & Cha, S. S. (2014). Medication-assisted therapies — tackling the opioid-overdose epidemic. New England Journal of Medicine, 370(22), 2063-2066.