Some Things Loved Ones Should Know About Opiate Addictions
If you are dealing with an opiate addiction you might be wondering what you can do to get the help and relief that you need. There are many people suffer in silence without loved ones even knowing that they are struggling with this addiction until it is too late. Either the addiction has become so severe that they addict has no desire to change, or the drug usage ends up taking their life. It is so important that loved ones know what to recognize in an addict so that they can act quickly.
What Are Opiates?
Before you do anything you need to educate yourself on what opiates are. These are a class of drugs that suppress pain and elevate the mood. You are probably familiar with the street drug called heroin. This is the most commonly used opiate that you get illegally and is made outside of a pharmacy. However, what many people don't realize is that you can get these drugs through prescriptions. You may have had a surgery where you were prescribed pain killers and your body became dependent. Now you don't use street drugs but Oxycodine, Vicodin, Lortab and so forth. These drugs are just as addictive and dangerous, but are just a little more fancy. This is why it is important to limit the use of pain killers and to watch for worrisome behavior.
How Do I Know If A Loved One Is Abusing?
It can be hard to know if someone you love is using drugs. Usually addicts develop a great ability to lie. This is not always because they want to lie, as much as they are driven by their need for the substance and so they do what they can. Overtime they just become skilled at lying and manipulation to get what the want. So if you have been lied to, don't blame yourself, there are many factors that go into the person hiding their addiction.
Some things you should be looking for in the person are first the physical changes. The person will have constricted pupils, so their pupils will look incredibly small. They will also have some slowed breathing and seem very relaxed. They may appear sleepy and tired a lot of the time, and look to be confused and uninvolved in conversations. Some behavior changes might be shopping for new doctors, elevated moods without any real reason, drastically changing moods, secrecy, and even financial problems.
By watching for these things you can know when you loved one needs help. Contact a clinic, like Brightside Clinic, for more help.