I was just thinking about this when I replied to the "Oxycontin withdrawl" thread...

My question is this, are addictions to Oxycontin, Methadone, etc... really THAT bad?

I have a couple friends with totally different experiences, one has had a failed back surgery, and the other cancer. Oxycontin is prescribed to both and both take it on a regular basis for over the past three years. So just the length of time alone for being "on" the drug would classify them as an addict, and they would both freely admit that yes, they are addicted. The difference for them is that they use the drug according to the prescription in able to JOIN in life... they do not abuse it in attempt to withdraw from life.

Just as someone who needs daily Insulin to live, they need this drug to live... is that such a bad thing?? If they were to be taken off it I doubt either would make it much farther than their bedroom, so I for one am glad there is something out there to aleviate their pain so they can continue some form of a life! I guess I have never asked them but what does their future hold, other than increasing doses to live?

In that light, no, not all addictions are bad. My Father received a morphine based cocktail for the last six months of his life, so that the pain from cancer would not be so bad.

But the addcitions to Oxy and Meth are generally not seen in that light - as reducing pain for a person with a debilitating/terminal illness. The people most seen are using these for recreational purposes.

You are always going to find exceptions to every "rule", a circumstance that is outside the pattern.

The definition of an addiction factors in several things so that it may be that your friends' use doesn't qualify. Addiction to pharmaceuticals usually implies that its beyond the recommended dose being prescribed by one physician. What most addicts do is have more than one doctor prescribe to them. At the point where your friends' doctors said, okay, enough is enough, then maybe its an addiction if they had trouble stopping. Even then it may not be too -- some people would be able to stop without batting an eyelash or having much of a physical reaction too.

I was in the recovery industry for over a decade. I used to tell the family members who said they couldn't understand about their addicted or alcoholic relative that they too have an active "addiction" of sorts. To air! LOL It was definitely stretching the definition. I would suggest we go down to the river where I might hold their head under water so they can better appreciate what an active addiction feels like. They usually smiled and got the point. To be clear here, an active addiction has to be harmful or damaging to be considered an addiction-- so in that respect, if its not bad, then its not going to be viewed as an addiction, I suspect.

Edited after I saw the comment: You got that right Shygrneyzs, those were some of the toughest people I worked with. Oy!

I've always thought of addictions as a developed need for something a person doesn't actually need.

If the definition includes things that we actually need, then we're all rather thoroughly addicted to air and water, and I don't think anybody can claim that those addictions are bad things :)

The really sad thing about the medical industry in the US is there has been a huge increase in doctors writing left and right for known addictive drugs and then not monitoring or helping in the withdrawl process when the time comes. Its like the whole medical industry has turned its back on addiction right behind all the insurance companies pulling the plug like they did on treatment for addictions. Prescription drug addiciton has been rising rapidly for some time now. This is not the case in other countries. I am relieved to hear your friends are well cared for, Mom but should there ever come a time when they want more than is prescribed, they may find themselves facing a suddenly indifferent health care system.

Thanks all for your responses!

It just saddens me that the good that some of these drugs do is so overshadowed by the ones who misuse them. They put those whose life depends on them in a spotlight... I know that my friends do not like to even mention the names of their drugs to some, because as soon as they do, they are looked at with suspicious eyes from all the media hype.

I know if there was something else out there that compared they would change in a heartbeat. I'm just thankful that those that do need them to live as "pain free" as possible, have them... and I hope it continues.

Cocaine and crack demolished poor neighborhoods, but the upper class people have been using the drugs for years with few negatives. The difference is that the rich can afford it and the poor have to do whatever it takes to get it. A lot of people are addicted to a many different things it is not a problem until it interfers with your functioning as a productive citizen. Health problems, loss of occupation, and jail time are all posible outcomes of drugs. These things can be avoided if you keep a clear head. Take away your friends ability to get the drug so easily, and you will see just how bad an addiction really is. Please rate this answer.

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Originally Posted by Parajr

cocaine and crack demolished poor neighborhoods, but the upper class people have been using the drugs for years with few negatives. The difference is that the rich can afford it and the poor have to do whatever it takes to get it.

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Forgive me but this is a naïve view. The well-to-do may have many resources the poor do not, but an active addiction does great harm to anyone and everyone -- to their health, their finances, themselves esteem and scares the crap out of their loved ones. Unless you have been in the industry, you may not get to see what happens to the wealthy since money buys privacy. Please take this information from someone who has had a front row seat. An active addiction is an equal opportunity destroyer irrespective of who you are.

Besides we were discussing prescription drugs and once again, if these are taken as prescribed by an attending physician and no funny business, then it hardly qualifies as an addiction. "Medically necessary" is a legal status that allows even for pot smoking in some places. Its not the drug itself but how its used and what its doing to the user that determines if its an addiction. People are sometimes too quick to use the term addiction without understanding what qualifies and what doesn't.

I'm addicted to hugs :(

Of Course It's Not Bad If It's Perscribed For Those Reasons! But What Happens If They Get Better. Hopfully They Will Be Weaned Off The Drug Which I'm Sure They Would Be. Also I Don't Consider Someone On Cancer Taking Pain Meds An Addict. I Don't Care How Long They Have Been On It. It's People That Take It That Don't Need It That Are The Addicts. Most People That Are Addicts Had An Addictive Personality Long Before They Ever Touched Drugs Or Alcohol.

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Originally Posted by valinors_sorrow

Forgive me but this is a naive view. The well-to-do may have many resources the poor do not, but an active addiction does great harm to anyone and everyone -- to their health, their finances, their self esteem and scares the crap out of their loved ones. Unless you have been in the industry, you may not get to see what happens to the wealthy since money buys privacy. Please take this information from someone who has had a front row seat. An active addiction is an equal opportunity destroyer irrespective of who you are.

Besides we were discussing prescription drugs and once again, if these are taken as prescribed by an attending physician and no funny business, then it hardly qualifies as an addiction. "Medically necessary" is a legal status that allows even for pot smoking in some places. Its not the drug itself but how its used and what its doing to the user that determines if its an addiction. People are sometimes too quick to use the term addiction without understanding what qualifies and what doesn't.

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I AGREE!

Very old post, 4 years ago, yet echoing an ancient question, still unanswered: How do we define addiction?

How would you define it?