Alcohol? Cocaine? Hydrocodone? There are many drugs of choice, but no matter the substance, if you are addicted to one, you are addicted to it all. If you or someone you know is recovering from an addiction to any substance, this article is for you.
It is estimated that 27 million Americans use illegal drugs or drink heavily. Of these, nearly 16 million are in need immediate treatment for their addiction or dependence, according to SAMHSA (U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration www.samsa.gov). According to SAMSA’s website, alcohol and drug addiction, along with the associated mental illnesses, are the most severe health problems in the United States.
Even with treatment, approximately 30% of drug or alcohol addicted patients successfully remain clean & sober. There are multiple modalities in drug and alcohol addiction treatment, but the most popular is based upon the 12-Step model. This model, made popular by Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA), has countless variations. Other treatment strategies include cognitive-behavioral and the strengths-perspective.
No matter the treatment model used to recover from drug and alcohol addiction, recovery is a lifelong battle. Recovering addicts must stay mindful of their past in order to maintain sobriety. One way that recovering alcoholics or drug addicts relapse is through cross addiction. Cross addiction, quite simply, is the principle that addicts can and will become addicted to any mind or mood altering substance, even if it wasn’t their original drug of choice.
Cross addiction can work in a few ways. One scenario is that recovering alcoholic goes to the dentist, and the dentist prescribes Lortab (hydrocodone). The person may have been sober for years, so may think nothing of it. The recovering alcoholic takes the hydrocodone every four hours, as prescribed, and before they know it, they start taking more and more. This previous alcoholic is well on their way to an opiate addiction (the general term for drugs like hydrocodone, percocet, heroin, opium, etc.).
Another thing that often happens in this situation is that the addict’s brain is sort of re-activation into addiction, and they go right back to drinking. The addict is prescribed a mind or mood altering drug, and they start taking the prescribed medication, and then they shortly go back to their drug of choice, even if it has been years since last using that substance.
The last common scenario leading to cross addiction is a little more expected. This is when an alcoholic or addict experiments with other substances. A recovering opiate addict starts socially drinking, and becomes addicted. The substance doesn’t matter in this case, a drug is a drug is a drug.
Other drugs which commonly are prescribed by a doctor and lead to addiction are benzos (Valium, Xanax, etc.), sleeping pills, pain pills, and stimulants like adderol or Ritalin. When in recovery, it is essential that you be your own advocate. When you go to the emergency room for a broken leg, tell every doctor or nurse who cares for you that you are a recovering addict and cannot have narcotics. Oftentimes, the recovering addict will tell one nurse that they are in recovery and can’t have narcotics, but another nurse or doctor doesn’t get the message. So many times, a recovering addict will be “accidentally” given morphine or other opioid-based substance, and their recovery is in serious danger.
So, the basic idea is this: a drug is a drug, no matter if it was your original drug of choice or not. If you are in addiction recovery, it is so important that you stay on your toes and make sure that you do not lose all your hard work simply because you had a sore tooth. Armed with this knowledge, along with the resources listed below, you are better prepared to make sure this doesn’t happen. If a loved one is in recovery, share this information with them. Too many people blindly trust the doctor and take whatever is prescribed. It is your body and your life: you are the one who is responsible for you.
Resources:
Addiction Statistics. http://www.coachinginternational.com/stats.html
Addiction Treatment. DrugRehabs.org. http://www.drug-rehabs.org/addiction-treatment.htm
Statistics and Data. SAMSA. http://oas.samhsa.gov/.
