{"id":5929,"date":"2021-08-21T18:11:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-21T22:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.therecoveryvillage.com\/?page_id=5929"},"modified":"2022-05-04T13:53:48","modified_gmt":"2022-05-04T17:53:48","slug":"can-you-get-addicted-using-as-prescribed","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.therecoveryvillage.com\/opiate-addiction\/can-you-get-addicted-using-as-prescribed\/","title":{"rendered":"Can You Get Addicted to Opioids Using Them as Prescribed?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Even if you take an opioid prescription exactly as prescribed, addiction is possible.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

With the opioid epidemic now in full swing across the country, more than 130 people<\/a> die every day from opioid overdose. Because opioids remain commonly prescribed pain medications, this has led people to realize that opioid addiction<\/a> is possible, even if a person uses opioids as prescribed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A recent poll conducted by The Recovery Village explored attitudes about the ease of becoming addicted to opioids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Number of Participants:<\/th>400<\/strong><\/th><\/tr>
Age:<\/strong><\/td>18 to 34:<\/strong> 40% of participants
35 to 54<\/strong>: 37% of participants
55 and older:<\/strong> 23% of participants<\/td><\/tr>
Gender:<\/strong><\/td>Female:<\/strong> 60%
Male:<\/strong> 40%<\/td><\/tr>
Ethnicity:<\/strong><\/td>White:<\/strong> 67%
Black:<\/strong> 11%
Hispanic:<\/strong> 11%
Asian:<\/strong> 6%<\/td><\/tr>
Marital Status:<\/strong><\/td>Married:<\/strong> 39%
Single:<\/strong> 38%<\/td><\/tr>
Income:<\/strong><\/td>Low-Income:<\/strong> 59%
Middle-Income: <\/strong>25% 
High-Income:<\/strong> 10% <\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How Opioid Addiction Develops<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Opioids are drugs that not only relieve pain and impact the brain\u2019s powerful reward center. When you take an opioid, your brain is flooded with feel-good chemicals<\/a>. The more opioids you take, the less of these feel-good chemicals your body produces on its own. Over time, the body grows dependent on opioids to feel good. Worse still, as your brain becomes used to the opioids, you may gradually need higher doses to obtain the same feel-good effects. Together, these factors can lead to someone starting to feel like they need to take opioids to feel normal. In other words, the person starts to become addicted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opioids have been around for hundreds of years. However, the abuse of prescription opioids in their current form didn\u2019t become a public health crisis until the early 2000s. Several factors came together to create this perfect storm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starting in the 1990s and 2000s, many influential groups pushed for policies<\/a> that increased opioid prescribing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tPolicies\u00a0that Increased Opioid Prescribing:<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t