Using substances to cope with anxiety, stress, or depression can harm your health and relationships. Self-medication is a challenging habit to break, but there are healthy ways to do it. This article shares proven methods for living a fulfilling life without relying on drugs and alcohol.
While drugs like ice dominate the media, prescription drug abuse continues to fly under the radar despite being an even greater threat to public health.
The situation is alarming: Hundreds of people are dying from opioid overdose each year, and people are abusing painkillers just to get high in record numbers. And yet, opioid prescriptions are still increasing year over year.
If you or someone you know is struggling with prescription medication addiction, you need to get them help. This epidemic is getting out of control, and uncontrolled usage could lead to overdose or worse.
Is There Really a Prescription Drug Epidemic in Australia?
The data suggests there is a major problem with medication abuse, especially with benzodiazepines (e.g., Xanax or Valium) and analgesics (e.g., Oxycodone).
A few of the alarming trends that characterize Australia’s prescription medication crisis include:
- More and more Australians are trying these drugs at a younger age (which increases their risk of addiction).
- Opioids are increasingly involved in overdose deaths.
- More people are taking these drugs for non-medical purposes such as relaxing or relieving emotional distress.
Despite this, doctors continue to prescribe more and more of these drugs, and there’s been almost no change in legislation to safeguard people from them.
From 2002-2009, there was a substantial increase in the dispensed use of opioid analgesics and a 180% increase in the dispensed use of oxycodone. This is according to a study in the National Library of Medicine entitled “Prescribing databases can be used to monitor trends in opioid analgesic prescribing in Australia” by Hollingworth, Samatha A., et al., published in 2013.
The harm caused to society by the widespread abuse of prescription drugs is second only to the harms of alcohol abuse.
The president of the Addiction Chapter of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, Dr Frei, asserts that education and laws surrounding prescription drugs such as oxycodone have not kept pace with the increased availability of these drugs.
More regulatory oversight is needed urgently.
Without changes in legislation and public education, problems will only continue to grow and statistics of prescription drug misuse and addiction in Australia will continue to stagger.
Which Types of Prescription Medication Are Causing the Most Harm?
In Australia, two categories of prescription drugs are most commonly abused: Benzodiazepines and opioid analgesics.
Benzodiazepines (“Benzos”)
Benzodiazepines are minor tranquilisers often prescribed by doctors to relieve anxiety or help people sleep. They have a strong sedative effect, and they are highly addictive.
If a person gets hooked on benzos, they’ll often go through withdrawals when not taking the drugs, and begin to notice impaired performance at work, school, or in their social lives.
Common examples of benzodiazepines include:
- Valium
- Xanax
- Serepax
- Klonopin
- Valium
- Xanax
- Serepax
- Klonopin
Opioids
Opioid analgesics are medications used to relieve pain (“painkillers”).
These are some of the most addictive drugs in the world. For example, heroin is an opioid. These drugs are highly addictive even in small doses, as the patient’s body comes to crave the euphoric effects of the drug.
The most common examples of opioid analgesics are:
- Codeine
- Oxycodone
- Morphine
- Methadone
- Buprenorphine
Australians are getting hooked on these drugs due to their ability to create sensations of euphoria.
They are prescribed with good intentions – we don’t want people to feel pain. But once you get that relaxing “high feeling”, many people never want to go back to real life.
Some people don’t even intend to misuse them, it just “happens naturally” from taking them too often.
Addicts tend to develop a tolerance to their drug of choice. That means they’ll need more and more of the substance just to get the same effect, which can lead to serious side effects like overdose or even death.
Important Note: Symptoms of addiction to opioid painkillers such as morphine or oxycodone include experiencing withdrawal symptoms, constant cravings for their painkillers, physical pains, slurred speech, loss of enjoyment in activities they used to enjoy, and stealing or lying in order to continue their addiction. Symptoms of withdrawal often indicate that the person is a drug addict. If you’ve noticed any of these symptoms, contact us immediately.
Can’t Stop
Popping
Pills?
Australian Prescription Drug Abuse Statistics
Prescription drug addiction occurs most frequently with the non-medical use of prescription drugs.
Non-medical use is when people take prescriptions outside of their intended use, including taking a drug not prescribed to you, taking more than prescribed, or crushing, chewing, or otherwise misusing a prescription medication.
If you’re worried that you or a loved one might have a prescription drug abuse problem, you’re not alone. Australians are abusing these drugs in record numbers.
Here are some of the most alarming prescription drug abuse statistics in our country:
- 4.5% of Australians 14 years or older have used tranquilisers or sleeping pills including benzodiazepines for non-medical purposes at some point in their lives.
- 8% of Australians over the age of 14 have abused analgesics at some point in their lives, and 3.3% have done so in the past 12 months.
- The average age young Australians first try an analgesic for non-medical use is 15 years old.
- Pain medications are the most commonly used drug, either licit or illicit, among 12-17 year olds.
- 4% of 12-17 year olds take analgesics from home without permission and 3% buy them.
And here are a few more statistics for opioids, particularly oxycodone:
- The amount of oxycodone prescribed in Australia increased 180% from 2002-2009, according to a study published in the Australia And New Zealand Journal of Public Health and listed in the National Library of Medicine.
- 30% of people use their opioid medication to relax, 25% to get high, and more than 10% to relieve emotional distress. According to the Sydney Morning Herald.
- In needle exchange programmes, the number of people who report that their last drug injected was a pharmaceutical opioid increased from 7% in 2007 to 27% in 2010. At Sydney Medically Supervised Injecting Centre, monthly visits for injection of crushed and dissolved opioids now exceed that of heroin.
The population of those struggling with prescription drug addiction often differs from the stereotypical drug user. It includes people from all social classes, those who are considered high-functioning individuals, and those who have more social support. Once addiction takes hold, the consequences are similar to those of any addiction and can be deadly.
What Are The Public Health Impacts of Prescription Drug Addiction?
The prescription drug crisis affects not only the person who’s addicted, but also the national economy and entire communities.
A few of the major impacts we’re feeling today are:
Overdose And Death
Overdosing and death caused by prescription medication have reached a crisis-level status in Australia.
According to Australia’s Annual Overdose Report 2023 released by the Penington Institute, 6 Australians lose their lives every day due to overdose. That’s one every 4 hours. And opioids are the most common drug reported in these events. They’re the cause of a staggering 45.7% of drug-induced deaths.
Here are a few more statistics to keep in mind:
- In 2008 prescription opioids accounted for 80% of opioid-related hospitalisations.
- In Victoria, opioid analgesic ambulance calls in 2012-2013 increased significantly from the prior year. Metropolitan Melbourne saw a 55% increase, and there was a 21% increase in regional Victoria.
- Benzodiazepines are the 2nd most common drug involved in ambulance attendances, after alcohol.
- In Victoria, prescription drugs were involved in 82% of overdose deaths in 2014.
Hidden Financial Costs of Substance Abuse
According to the Understanding the Cost of Addiction Report released by Rethinkaddiction.org, prescription and illicit drug abuse cost Australia nearly $13 billion dollars a year in addiction-related costs.
These include things like the costs for healthcare, the judicial system, and lost productivity in the workplace.
Worried
About your
Loved one?
What Are The Treatments for Prescription Drug Addiction in Australia?
Prescription drug addiction is a serious disease that wreaks havoc on individuals and even tears apart families.
But thankfully, science has proven that it can be treated.
Years of research have proven that if you treat the physical symptoms of the disease, and then heal the human being behind the addiction, you can make a full recovery and live a drug-free life.
Treating prescription drug addiction usually requires a mixture of detox, medication, and counselling. However, this depends on your personal history and the extent of your addiction.
There are two main categories of substance use disorder treatment:
Medical Treatment
Treating prescription drug addiction with medication often involves giving the patient medication that reduces the symptoms of withdrawal such as Naltrexone.
These medications will make it easier for the individual to manage the symptoms of withdrawal and prevent relapsing.
Behavioural Treatments
In the rehabilitation community, we often say that “addiction is just a symptom of the problem”. In other words, it’s a maladaptive response to an untreated, underlying issue.
Behavioural therapies such as cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) and substance abuse counselling help treat underlying issues such as anxiety, depression, and trauma that drive addicts to continue using.
During these treatments, people learn healthy coping skills, improve their relationships, and discover new methods of changing their unhealthy patterns of thinking.
Depending on your situation, you may also be directed to join a support group.
Further Reading: Check out our article on how to heal a dysregulated nervous system, if you are dealing with anxiety or cravings. You’ll learn healthy, natural coping mechanisms!
How Can the Cabin, Sydney Help Treat Addiction to Prescription Drugs?
At the Cabin, Sydney, we offer prescription drug addiction treatment services in an award-winning treatment facility.
Our team of counsellors at our site has helped thousands of Australians just like you recover from addiction to opioids, benzodiazepines, and other pharmaceuticals. They often go on to live happy, healthy lives.
We will work side-by-side with the individual suffering from addiction as well as their family to create a personalised care plan.
Contact us immediately to speak with one of our counsellors in Sydney, NSW today.