Introduction
Addiction is a pandemic of our society which breaks lives, relationships, families, careers, and chances for happiness. In experiencing addiction, a person loses the ability to choose freely, control their actions and lives while maintaining a constant urge to obtain something that seems of immense importance (Grecu et al., 2019). It may be alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, gambling, or any other form of behavioral pattern. If the object of addiction is withdrawn, the person experiences anxiety, irritability, and all sorts of other symptoms. A person with addiction not only harms their physical and mental condition but also negatively affects the people around them, especially their loved ones. This paper aims to analyze the case of Katie’s addiction history and its outcomes for the patient and her family.
Main body
Katie’s case of prescription drug abuse is an unfortunate representation of how addiction changes people and their lives to the point of crisis and frustration. She is a thirty-five-year-old white woman, a daughter, wife, mother of two little children, and rising professional. After a car incident in her mid-twenties, she has been experiencing low back pain and has been prescribed painkillers to relieve it. However, after finishing the course of medications, she remembered how wonderful they made her feel, so she continued to take them for the following years until she started to buy them online. It was the turning point when her prescription drug abuse turned into a severe addiction that affected her whole family and the relationship with her husband. She was admitted to a residential treatment center after her whole family had learned about her addiction and spent four weeks there, after which she felt better and left convinced that everything was in the past. However, after almost three years without taking pain medications, she started to buy them again due to immense stress at home and at work.
It is very difficult for people to stop taking the prescribed drugs that relieve pain and relax the body. Katie developed an addiction to Vicodin, which belongs to the class of opioids alongside oxycodone, codeine, morphine, and many others. The history of prescription drug abuse in America dates back to the 1800s when people suffering from pain, anxiety, insomnia, and related symptoms used a mixture of opium and alcohol (Almela, 2020). It was called laudanum and proved to be quite addictive, especially taken in uncontrolled proportions. Laudanum abuse was most characteristic of white women at those times, as men used alcohol as a remedy for any illnesses. Women could not be seen drinking in bars, so they visited their doctors who prescribed them the opioid mixtures for menstrual and labor pains, as well as relieving emotional tension. Later, during the American Civil War, morphine was widely used among doctors to relieve wound pain in soldiers. After the war, morphine abuse became a significant issue among war veterans due to its open access and extended commercial production. Thus, the country saw the rise of prescription drug abuse by ordinary people.
Katie became one of the unfortunate people who had to deal with chronic pain, which led her to develop an addiction to the medication which was supposed to benefit her and relieve the car accident’s consequences. During her initial stage of acquiring her addiction three years ago, she significantly undermined the family budget as the drugs she purchased on the Internet were rather expensive. After learning about Katie’s condition, her whole family became worried about her, and she was already unable to control her addiction. An extensive treatment program seemed to solve the issue, however, when her addiction returned several months ago, her marriage was on the verge of collapsing. Her husband did not trust her fully anymore and threatened to take the children and leave if Katie did not take hold of herself and her condition. Her whole life was at risk of falling apart to the point of no return.
Unfortunately, Katie and her husband made the decision to refuse to go to rehab during the emergency counselor meeting. They agreed upon an alternative plan of Katie attending individual counseling sessions once a week, maintaining abstinence from the pain medication she took, and enrolling in the treatment program if she fails to do so. Lewis, who at first was determined to deal with the problem at any cost, was now burdened by the home renovations and looking after kids while on crutches with his Achilles tendon tear. During the first individual session, Katie claimed she was not taking the medications anymore and not experiencing any withdrawal symptoms. Katie stated that the relapse she experienced was simply due to the immense amount of stress at home and at work. During the next session with her husband, they mainly argued about money, children, and household duties, whereas the abuse issue was not addressed. Since then, Katie has not appeared at any further sessions, and her potential progress remains unknown.
Conclusion
To conclude, the plan which the couple agreed upon did not hold too many positive outcome expectations. Katie needs serious treatment, which she failed to acquire. The two scheduled sessions with the counselor which she attended were not enough to change the situation and improve her condition. The prognosis is quite negative – her chances of relapse or getting into a depressive state due to the constant stress and untreated abuse disorder are very high. Intervention is necessary for anyone with the signs of prescription drug abuse, as such medications are easy to purchase and become addicted to. Hopefully, Katie will get the help she needs, and her family will not suffer severe consequences.
References
Almela, P. (2020). Introductory chapter: Opioid analgesics – history, uses and risks. In opioids – from analgesic use to addiction. IntechOpen.
Grecu, A. M., Dave, D. M., & Saffer, H. (2019). Mandatory access prescription drug monitoring programs and prescription drug abuse. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 38(1), 181-209.