How To Prevent Drug Abuse

You certainly know why some medicines can only be bought with a prescription. It is a way to avoid the abuse of drugs and their uncontrolled use, things that can affect your health. However, despite all the measures taken, drug abuse is a common problem.

Many diseases or conditions require the use of analgesics to reduce pain. In other cases, there are medications that depress the nervous system to treat problems such as anxiety and insomnia.

Although these drugs are only available by prescription, the problem arises from how each doctor recommends the use and what the patient ultimately does. Drug abuse can have dire consequences and is a serious public health problem.

Why does prescription drug abuse occur?

How to prevent drug abuse

Despite the measures already taken to prevent the abuse of certain medicines, more needs to be taken, as this continues to happen. It is important to implement certain prevention methods that can help avoid dangerous situations, such as involuntary overdose, adverse health effects, or unwanted side effects due to uncontrolled use of medications.

The physician should adequately define how long the treatment should be given to the patient, for example, with benzodiazepines. This is a psychotropic drug that can be prescribed to solve problems such as insomnia, anxiety and various disorders (obsessive-compulsive disorder, among others).

The risk of addiction is very high. For this reason, doctors do not recommend that people take these medicines for more than 8 to 12 weeks. The doctor should then look for other solutions or change the medicine to help prevent addiction.

It is very important that patients who abuse prescription drugs receive psychological counseling to help them form healthy habits and encourage them to understand when they are needed.

Specialists can work on various emotional issues that could promote abusive behavior and can provide the person with tools to solve various problems they may face.

Support is key to stopping the abuse of prescription drugs when it begins to affect the patient’s life.

If the patient is religious, he can seek support from people who share his faith. If not, then there are many support groups that can be very helpful. Likewise, family, partner and friends are a fundamental support system.

We hope that this article has helped you better understand the importance of following your doctor’s instructions. Avoid the abuse of prescription drugs. Some medications can ruin your health and life if you become addicted to them.