Are you Addicted or Dependent on your Prescription Medication?
It makes me feel really old to have to admit this but I have really high blood pressure. I look healthy on the outside but I hover around 160/100 and that’s on a good day. I take multiple blood pressure combinations of medications to keep me closer to 120/80 like everybody else. My blood pressure laughs at my efforts to lower it: cranking out pull ups, eating healthy, etc..it just doesn’t budge no matter what I throw at it… maybe it just comes with my profession or maybe it’s hereditary but I am 100% dependent on my medication. If I don’t take my medication I have pretty serious side effects..I become flushed, my pupils get constricted, light headed and I feel like I need to lay down..in fact I am anxious just thinking about checking my blood pressure as I write this. So there I admit it my body is dependent on a prescription medication.
In my experience with substance abuse, there seems to be a lot of confusion with the terms dependent vs addicted to medication. Dependency and Addiction are not interchangeable terms. I am dependent on my medication to regulate my blood pressure; but I don’t comb the back ally streets asking for a few extra Lisinoprils that I can buy to carry me over because I ran out of mine this month. That’s because I am not addicted to my blood pressure medication. I need them and if I don’t take them I feel badly but I don’t spend any energy or time of my day thinking about when am I going to take my medicine. I am not looking at my watch to see if it’s time for my next dose; I am not hitting up my friends for their leftover blood pressure medication.
It’s important to know that a large majority of us are dependent on prescription medications. It’s also important to understand that there are individuals that are in active recovery who may be dependent on a fantastic medication that aids in their recovery. If they take it as prescribed and are not abusing it then they are dependent on it just like me and my medication. Nobody asks me what milligram of medication I am on for my medical condition so why does it matter what the dose of medication is for those in recovery who are taking their medication just like me. It’s none of your Bees Wax business!! We are dependent not addicted.
When should you be concerned? If you or someone you love is prescribed an opiate, benzodiazapine aka xanax, or stimulant and you or a loved one spend a good amount of your time thinking about the drug, getting it, counting it, planning it, or recovering from any of these medications you could be addicted. Your medication should not consume your thoughts or control your everyday life. If you spend a good portion of your day worrying if you have enough medication to get you to your next refill…you may want to seek help for a possible dependency that’s transformed into an addiction..it happens all the time. None of us are without problems. Seeking help for our problems is a indication of our motivation, confidence and strength to overcome them and become our preferred selves. We can help you. You are not alone and we can provide you with real life solutions that will work for you in your life.
In the words of Friedrich Nietzsche:
“You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.”
