Prescription drug addiction is a pretty big problem that is getting worse. The main reason for this is that doctors are prescribing so many more drugs than they did in the past. That has pretty much become the solution to every problem, prescribe a pill. The danger when you do that is that the more often people take medication the more likely it is that they will become addicted.

Prescription drug addiction occurs when you are using prescription drugs for purposes other than for which they were intended or you are using far more than you are supposed to be. Normally you will experience intense cravings and will have physical symptoms if you don't use the drugs. In reality addiction to prescription drugs is no different than addiction to illegal drugs. This should come as no surprise given that the illegal drugs are almost all based on prescription drugs. Because of the similarities the treatments are generally the same as well.

The reason that you become dependent on any drug is that it changes the chemistry of your brain. What happens is that the drug does what it is supposed to by releasing chemicals into your brain, these are the same chemicals that your brain produces naturally. Over time if you abuse the drug your brain will come to rely on it for the chemicals and will stop producing them on its own. At this point you are addicted because you have physical dependence on the medication. The more often you use prescription medications the more likely you are to become addicted. This is why seniors and people with serious illnesses are the most likely to become prescription addicts, they use a lot more medications than the rest of us.

Signs that you may have a problem with prescription drug addiction are pretty easy to spot, if you are using the pills more often than the prescription says that you should be then you are likely an addict. Other symptoms would include seeing your doctor with vague symptoms so that you can get more pills or using pills prescribed for other people. Most people who are addicted to prescription medications also have a tendency to show little interest in treatment options that don't involve the use of medications.

Treating a prescription drug addiction can be a real challenge. The problem that you are going to face is that there is an actual physical dependence. This means that you are going to suffer some pretty serious withdrawal symptoms. This means that it is going to take a lot more than will power to get over your addiction. You are almost certainly going to need professional assistance to deal with your addiction problem. The longer you are addicted to the medications the more difficult it is going to be to get off of them so the sooner you seek treatment help the better.