Prescription Drug Addiction and Women
Prescription drug addiction is particularly prevalent in women. In fact, the abuse of prescription drugs is the one area in which female addicts outnumber males. Most commonly, the drugs abused by these addicts are those that were initially prescribed by a doctor, including pain-killers and anti-anxiety medications, including:
- Vicodin
- Adderall
- OxyContin
- Percocet
- Xanax
- Valium
Women who develop an addiction to these medications are at serious risk for a number of physical and psychological problems, and should consider a drug rehab program such as The Orchid (which works exclusively with women and drug addiction) immediately. The Orchid creates a strong group bond among female patients. The resulting support and care has been found highly effective in treating women with a drug addiction.
Why do Women Develop Prescription Drug Addictions?
Prescription drug addicts are particularly hard to treat. This fact is complicated by several issues unique to drug addicted women.
Among the most common causes of prescription drug addiction in women are:
- Self-image issues. Many women feel inadequate about their personal appearance. They may experience serious depression or anxiety over this fact, which leads them to attempt to self-medicate by abusing prescription drugs. In other instances, women may use stimulants to help aid the weight-loss process. This can quickly lead to addiction as the individual will take more and more of the drug in an effort to lose weight fast.
- Co-dependency. Women often become involved with drugs because of their significant other. When the other member of the individual is addicted to drugs, the woman may herself use – then be reluctant to quit at the risk of losing the relationship if she does.
- Abuse issues. When a women experiences an incident (or incidents) of physical or sexual abuse she may attempt to cope with the emotional pain by using prescription drugs. This is very common in the case of opiate painkiller addiction, as a woman will attempt to avoid the reality of her situation through the euphoric effects of Vicodin or OxyContin.
Prescription Drug Addiction can begin with a Doctor
For women who become addicted to prescription drugs, the beginning of the addiction is usually quite benign. The woman seeks medical help for a temporary problem, either short term stress from a specific event or some injury or condition that causes severe pain. As a part of the treatment, the woman’s doctor prescribes a drug with addictive properties, such as a painkiller like Vic den or an anti-anxiety medication such as Xanax. Unaware of the addictive nature of this medication, the woman takes it and soon becomes dependent on the medication.
Through a combination of the woman’s desire for continued medication and the physician’s inattention to follow through the woman continues to get refills for the prescription, to shop around for more doctors to write prescriptions and to find ways to keep taking the pills and increasing the doses. Once the woman has reached the point where she is compulsively taking the medication and experiences uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms when she stops, she can be said to be addicted.
The Orchid Recovery Center for Women is a drug treatment center specifically designed to meet the unique needs of women who are suffering from a drug addiction. By understanding these unique root causes – and the overall impact of prescription drug addiction – the treatment professionals at The Orchid are able to change their patients’ lives for the better. For more information, contact The Orchid today.
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