Opioids Abuse
Channel: Daily Dose of Psychology
Date: 2022-10-06

Opioids are a class of drugs that include the illegal drug heroin, synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, and pain relievers available legally by prescription, such as oxycodone (OxyContin®), hydrocodone (Vicodin®), codeine, morphine, and many others.

Opioid addiction risk factors
Opioids are most addictive when you take them using methods different from what was prescribed, such as crushing a pill so that it can be snorted or injected. This life-threatening practice is even more dangerous if the pill is a long- or extended-acting formulation. Rapidly delivering all the medicine to your body can cause an accidental overdose. Taking more than your prescribed dose of opioid medication, or more often than prescribed, also increases your risk of addiction.

A number of additional factors — genetic, psychological and environmental — play a role in addiction, which can happen quickly or after many years of opioid use.

Known risk factors of opioid misuse and addiction include:

* Poverty
* Unemployment
* Family history of substance abuse
* Personal history of substance abuse
* Young age
* History of criminal activity or legal problems including DUIs
* Regular contact with high-risk people or high-risk environments
* Problems with past employers, family members and friends (mental disorder)
* Risk-taking or thrill-seeking behavior
*  Heavy tobacco use
* History of severe depression or anxiety
* Stressful circumstances
* Prior drug or alcohol rehabilitation

The most important step you can take to prevent opioid addiction? Recognize that no one is safe, and we all play a role in tackling the grip these drugs currently hold on our loved ones and communities.

Courtesy of: https://www.youtube.com/c/MadMedicine