Researchers
from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health just recently did a
study and found that individuals suffering from mood and anxiety disorders such
as bipolar, panic disorder and major depressive disorder may be more likely to
abuse opioid. In this study they found
that mood and anxiety disorders are highly associated with non-medical
prescription Opioid use.
The
way that chronic pain was being treated is with prescriptions opiods like
Oxycontin. It has been noted that
non-medical use of prescription opiods has increased. The Substance Abuse and mental health
Services Administration is reporting that prescription opioids are the second
most frequently used illegal drug in the United States. The first is marijuana. Prescription opiods can produce neurological
changes and physiological dependence when they are used on a long term basis. For this study the researchers looked at the
association between individuals with mood and anxiety disorders with
non-medical prescription opioid use and opioid disorder.
Drug rehabs in New Orleans and many other U.S. cities could benefit from these findings.
Non-medical prescription is meant that these
drugs are not actually prescribed for the patient but the patient is getting
them from other sources. Now they are
calling this non-medical prescription opiods use and opiods disorder. Carla
Storr, ScD, author of the study and an adjunct professor with the Bloomberg
School’s Department of Mental Health stated, “With the current increased use of
non-medical prescription drugs, especially among adolescents, the association
with future psychopathology is of great concern. Using Opioids, or even withdrawal from
opioids, might precipitate anxiety disorders, suggesting that there is a
subgroup of people who are vulnerable to future development of anxiety
disorders”. People who use prescription
opioids need to be closely monitored.
There may be a possibility that they engage in non-medical use of an
opioid.
Because of the prevalence of opioid abuse in Louisiana, many
Louisiana drug rehabs would benefit from any discoveries that can be made to limit the damage caused by these drugs or limit their spread.
