How to Tell When Someone Is Addicted to Prescription Pain Pills

Many people associate substance abuse or addiction with illegal drugs such as heroin or cocaine. However, there is a growing number of addictions to prescription medications, as exhibited by the Michael Jackson tragedy. Prescription pain pill addiction can also be harder to detect since many victims start off with legitimate reasons to take them. However, there are signs that the patient might be abusing his or her prescription.

Instructions

How to Tell When Someone Is Addicted to Prescription Pain Pills

• 1

  Check the tolerance levels of the suspected addict. One telltale sign is that it can take more and more medication to prevent pain, even if the injury has improved. Yet taking more than prescribed doses can lead to liver damage, since the liver must process and break down the medications at a higher rate than it is prepared for.

• 2

  Listen to the suspected addict's reasoning for taking prescription pain pills. If addicts plan to take more than their prescribed amount or after the injury has healed, they will try to reason themselves out of possible addiction by saying things like "I'll only take them at night" or "I'll only take the pills when the kids are asleep." They may also make excuses for taking the meds, such as pain in unrelated areas or claiming they are having trouble sleeping.

• 3

  Monitor their attitude. It is normal to have some irritability after coming off of certain prescription pain pills. However, if the irritability is high and occurs between doses, the person may be craving the medications. They might also take more pills than prescribed as a way to calm the nerves. The pills essentially become a necessity to perform social functions versus a legitimate necessity to relieve pain.

• 4

  Watch for criminal activity or unusual actions surrounding the pain pills. Addicts will spend inordinate amounts of time just trying to get more pills. Some addicts will "doctor shop," which is going to several different doctors to get prescriptions. They will take the prescriptions to different pharmacies so that they aren't limited in their addiction supply. Other addicts may resort to criminal activity like stealing money, stealing pain pills from relatives, or acquiring the pills in other illegal ways.