Opioid Use Disorder in America

​Opioid use disorder is not talked about as much as it should be. Opioids are synthetic chemicals that reduce the feeling of pain. Many people get addicted to opioids because they trigger the release of endorphins leading to cancellation of pain and a temporary sense of well-being. Often when it wears off people find themselves wanting to feel that sense of well-being again leading to addiction which eventually can cause overdose (OD). In only 2017, over 72,000 Americans died due to OD. Many doctors prescribed this pill not knowing that people maybe using it not as it was prescribed, such as snorting or injecting. 

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Author

Kylie Galvin
Outbreak!2020

​Some steps our community should take to lower the number of deaths and addiction to opioids should include making sure you ask your doctor for the lowest dosage possible. Along with that opioids are safely used for a short amount of days for example 2-3 days. Make sure to use this for the shortest amount of time needed leading to lower your chances of addiction. Another step we could take is exploring different treatment options. Most of the time opioids aren’t the only drug that can help your pain, there are many treatments/drugs that are way less addictive.
         
This is so important to my family and I because our family has been through drug addiction and they have seen it all. After addiction you change tremendously. Your actions, the way you talk to people and how you feel all change. My Aunt got prescribed opioids as a pain reliever for a migraine disorder. She would have several painful migraines a day and the pain was unbearable. She got addicted to the pills because they made her feel better for a short amount of time. It changed the way she acted towards her family and she made awful decisions. After years of addiction one day she overdosed on opioids and died. To think this all started because her doctor prescribed her these to help with migraines.
My uncle recently has been having problems with pain in his back and has migraines sometimes too. He went to his doctors to get it checked and the doctor tried to prescribe him a high dosage of opioids. Relating to the situation with his sister he was uncomfortable using this drug. He asked for other options and there were many others. To help the risk of addiction our doctors shouldn’t be prescribing opioids as the number one treatment of these problems. There are always other options that could be used to relieve pain that don’t end in addiction or death.