Additional information Addiction is a common fear of people who take narcotics for pain relief. It is important to take pain medicine regularly to keep the pain under control. Moreover, narcotic addiction is defined as dependence on the regular use of narcotics to satisfy physical, emotional, and psychological needs despite harm.
Pain relief is a medical reason for taking narcotics.
Most patients who take narcotics for pain relief can stop taking these drugs if their pain can be controlled by other means. It is important to remember that if narcotics are the only effective means of relieving pain, the patient's comfort is more important than any possibility of addiction. Withdrawal symptoms do not indicate addiction. If you take narcotics for several weeks or more, be prepared for someone to express a concern about addiction. Most people with prolonged pain who take narcotics have faced this problem.