Are You Addicted to Prescription Medication?

Last year, the The Oprah Winfrey Show had an episode talking about Americans being addicted to prescription medications. The show was primarily about pain-relieving, anti-anxiety and anti-depressant related medications; those being the primary drugs that people get addicted to.

It was an intense show and although I know that Americans take too many prescriptions, I wasn't prepared for the statistics. The DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) reports that more Americans are addicted to prescription drugs than heroin, cocaine and ecstasy COMBINED! They report that over 6 million people are addicted to prescriptions. YIKES! Those are staggering numbers.

Are you one of them? Chances are that either you, or someone you know, is taking a prescription. Unfortunately, Americans are being brainwashed by assuming that because the drugs are being prescribed by your physician, that they are safe. The real truth is, that is simply untrue. Have you ever stopped to read the multiple pages of "Side Effects, Contraindications, Warnings and Interactions" that you receive when you pick up your Rx? You should. It should be a wake-up call for you. We have to do a better job about managing our pain or depression, rather than reaching for a drug.

I agree with Dr. Mehmet Oz when he states that, ".....many people taking prescription drugs-legally or illegally-are hiding from their real problems. Instead of addressing painful emotions or aches, addicts swallow a quick fix." Also, "We use these pills to numb ourselves to what's really happening in our life, which is often a wake-up call to make a change."

Of course one of the main problems with all of this drug taking is that people don't realize that they have options. I'm sure you have flipped through a magazine, watched TV or even listening to the radio have heard an ad about a fantastic new drug that can "cure what ails you." We are constantly being bombarded by the media about drugs. Ads for drugs are everywhere and again, most people don't realize there are other ways of dealing with what ails them. Instead of addressing the cause of what is the problem, we like to mask over that symptom with a drug. We do live in a world where we want instant gratification. We want it fixed now and we don't want to be uncomfortable while we're fixing it.

I have met with countless clients over the years who have been addicted to anti-depressant and anti-anxiety drugs. In my opinion, this is the worst kind of addiction. In the beginning I know they thought it was harmless enough. Just a little "help" to get them over the divorce/loss of job/boyfriend troubles, etc. Then it turned into numbing. I always know when I'm talking to someone who is addicted because when I ask them a question, they can't answer it. The question is: How do you feel? The drug has numbed them out so much, that they are unable to get in touch with their emotions and express themselves. Whether it's mad, sad, happy, or even depressed, they can't get there at all. The problem is, when they are ready to get off the drug, of course the predominant emotion is FEAR. They are scared to FEEL. They don't know it at the time; but that's what it boils down to. People are afraid to feel.

My personal opinion is that it's those very emotions that can actually HELP people get better. The anger they feel is there for a reason to try to tell them something about their life. If they are depressed, they need to look at WHY and work on fixing that. Drugging yourself so you don't have to FEEL is not the way to handle it.

If you're on prescription meds, you can get off. You will need help, as doing it on your own is not advised. You certainly will need nutritional help as your diet plays a HUGE role in the way your brain chemistry works. As you start to have withdrawals from a drug, your brain chemistry does get affected and eating certain foods (and not eating others) can make this process significantly easier. You will also need nutritional supplementation to help your body physically deal with the damages from the drugs and help to boost your immune system. And of course, talking with someone (a qualified therapist, priest, etc.) can help you with the emotional side of this and help you work through whatever it was that is making you anxious or depressed in the first place.

The important thing is to remember this: You do have options to help yourself heal from addiction to prescription medications. There are MANY different natural healing modalities that work as good (if not better!) than prescriptions. Are you willing to work on yourself? Are you ready to address the real cause of what's wrong? Can you face the uncomfortableness of your life and make those changes? Can you put yourself and your body and health first in your life and do what's in YOUR best interest? If you are then it's time to have a talk with your regular physician and discuss their approach for very slowly weaning yourself off of the meds. The next conversation should happen with a qualified natural health practitioner that can help support you nutritionally to make this as easy as possible. A Naturopath (like myself), Nutritionist or Herbalist will have wonderful resources available that could help you. And lastly, get in touch with a good therapist or priest...someone you trust and with whom you can discuss your innermost thoughts. You don't have to be addicted nor take the medications forever; there is help out there for you.