Rx addiction affects all ages

Pain and addiction to painkillers is a complicated business. Some patients become addicted to the medications that are supposed to offer them relief. Others, fearful of addiction, don't take enough pain medication to allow proper healing and any quality of life.

And substance abuse specialists Dr. Michael Crookston, medical director of LDS Hospital's Dayspring program, and LaMar Drollinger, licensed clinical social worker with the Wasatch Canyons Dayspring program, took calls from both categories of patients during Saturday's Deseret News/Intermountain Health Care Hotline on Substance Abuse.

Most of the calls came from people who fear that their loved ones are abusing medications. A man described his young-adult daughter, who has a penchant for Lortab and whose life seems to be spinning out of control: unemployment, car accidents, general misery. A woman wanted to know how to talk her brother into seeking treatment for his seeming addiction to painkillers.

And some of the callers described their own experiences with medication and asked if they are at risk for addiction, while others wanted to know where they could get help. People who live outside the Provo to Ogden corridor can find that getting substance abuse treatment is tricky because there are few programs and long waiting lists.

On the scale of prevalence, painkiller addiction is relatively small but growing in number, and those who abuse painkillers range from very young schoolchildren to senior citizens. Studies have shown that of addictions, alcohol is the most financially costly to both the individual and society. Tobacco is the most deadly, claiming thousands every year; nicotine also takes top honors for sheer addictiveness. It's easier to stop using heroin. And the most commonly used addictive substance is caffeine.

Substance abuse falls into three categories, according to Drollinger: up, down and out. People who want to be smart and energetic and happy take stimulants. For a slower, more "down" experience, people take depressants. And those who just want to escape reality — the "out" — reach for hallucinogens.

"There's only one reason to do it," Drollinger said, "to change my mood. Personality seems to determine which is the best way for individuals, and most people have one favorite chemical of abuse, though they may use multiple substances."

He describes this progression: As people use more and more of their substance of choice, they get less and less of the desired effect. Then they must use just to avoid being miserable. The end stages of addiction bring signs the body is breaking down.