What do you mean by Addiction? the state of being addicted to a particular substance or activity. There is thin line between addiction and dependence, one should have a clear understanding of both the conditions.
You need to understand that addiction and relying on the medications are not the one and the same. When it comes to antidepressants, if you are relying on antidepressants and they are required for you physical conditions, then you will not be a drug addict.
When the people stop taking antidepressants, they will go through an unpleasant physical reaction known Antidepressant withdrawal symptoms. Several people experience these withdrawal symptoms, specifically if they are taking antidepressants for a considerable amount of time. People having these symptoms have a really tough ordeal. But one needs to understand that if they stop using antidepressants and they are experiencing these symptoms, those symptoms cannot to be related the withdrawal symptoms of an addict.
Drug or alcohol abuse or addiction is a psychological disease:
Drug abuse is a constant use of a drug in which one consumes the substance in amounts or with methods which are harmful to themselves or others and is a form of substance-associated disorder. The drug use disorders are marked by symptoms that appear from consistent use of the drug, even though they are showing negative effect on the body and mind.
The drug abuse disorder symptoms include, not being able to stop the drugs, even though they are wishing to stop; yearning to take the drugs; avoiding the activities that you love or significant so that you can have the drugs; sacrificing your money and time to have experience the feeling of drug use.
For one to be relying on antidepressants as an addict, he goes through a string of negative emotions when he is consuming the antidepressant drugs, unlike when he using them and those negative emotions might lead to considerable effect on his daily activities.
You will be choosing the use drugs above all other activities when you have drug abuse disorder. One cannot stop when he has this disorder, even though his self-consciousness and moral values inform him that the he is becoming a parasite in his life. In a study conducted it has also been found out that not all people who have drug-use disorder rely on the drugs. Mere dependency on drugs doesn’t mean that they are addicts.
When you go through the unpleasant physical reaction when you stop using the antidepressants that is generally referred to as dependency. When one is going through pain in a regular manner can rely on the pain drugs physically, they might go through an unpleasant physical reaction when they are not taking that drug, however they cannot be labelled as drug abuse disorder patients.
Differences between drug addiction and relying on drugs:
Relying on drugs for a short period of time to reduce the symptoms of the condition is completely different from addiction. When you are relying on drugs, it means that you are depending on them on a short-term basis, the unpleasant feeling that you experience will also be short-term. Whereas if you are an addict and you are trying to stop the use of the drugs, that experience can be devastating. So you don’t need to worry if you are relying on antidepressant and no one can call you drug addict. The reason people are addict is that they are trying to make a dire appeal to make their pain go away. The alcohol and the substance abusers wait for a reason to get depressed and they repeatedly go over the things that they have done and consume the alcohol and drugs. They might be of feeling that they are relieving themselves by consuming alcohol or substances. Their neural responses get delayed because of substance or the alcohol use.
Many recovery groups are formed to help the alcoholics and the drug abusers and they are designed carefully to make sure the people recover and get back to their normal way of life. People who are drug abusers or alcohol abusers, will usually think that he they are rejected by the world and go into a state of depression. They might also experience major depressive disorder a condition in which the symptoms of depression reach to higher levels. People will try to leave that alternate reality, however they go through a feeling that someone is holding them back. They try their best to stop and they may not be able to do that all by themselves. They reach to a point where they would think they are ready to give anything up to stop the alcohol or drug abuse. This is the time that the caregivers need to make sure they are put into a recovery group or a rehabilitation centre.
Addiction relates more to mental obsession than physical obsession:
People to make their pain go away for a short period of time choose to go for usage of drugs for multiple times. They are in a dire need to accomplish their needs. Despite the damaging effects of the drug abuse, people opt for the drugs just to alleviate their mental pain. Often, people may not be able to stop using the drugs with a properly designed support group. This is the reason there are several rehabilitation centres which help them to gradually stop using or taking the drugs.
Even though people try desperately to avoid using the drugs that task to them is impossible and without a group or a rehabilitation centre, they will not be able to even achieve at least 20 % of it.
Many people think that with the use of antidepressant doesn’t actually function and reduce the symptoms of depression. This is a common scenario in case of all psychiatric drugs.
Psychiatric Drugs do function:
It has been observed that people who have had a traumatic experience and any other kind of negative experiences go into depression. People isolate themselves from the world and they would go into a state of melancholy. But when they have a word with their physician, they find out that they are suffering from the condition of depression.
People usually may not agree when the doctor informs them that they are suffering from condition known as depression. They might get terrified and may not consult the doctor again. They might think that making it medical doesn’t help them and their symptoms cannot be treated.
People refuse to take the antidepressant drugs, because they are completely against the idea that it can be treated medically. They just want to go back to their normal life and they will refuse any treatment from the doctor. But the refusal to take treatment leads to consequences. They may not get back to their normal lives and they still experience depression. They don’t think that they are sick, because they are physically fit. However, depression consumes people and as a last resort they might opt for medication.
Don’t be embarrassed to take antidepressant drugs.
People feel that they are giving up to a pill and they might feel embarrassed to take the antidepressant drugs.
When people feel this way and refuse take the antidepressant drugs, they chose another option to alleviate their pain in the form of substance abuse. This is when they experience the problem of drug-abuse disorder. The consequences of addiction can be devastating and they can damage you both physically and mentally.
Antidepressants act as significant tools in maintaining psychological health;
People who are going through the drug abuse disorder, when they are in recovery are provided with the antidepressants which will allow them to reduce the devastating symptoms. When the symptoms of the drug abuse are damaging, the antidepressants given to the people in the recovery group will alleviate their pain.
People can get out the primary hurdle and they will be able to control their symptoms with the help of antidepressants. They will show interest in participating in the recovery groups, visiting the rehabilitation centers and talking to their shrinks. Relying on antidepressant can help the people ease their unpleasant physical reaction when the stop using the substances.
You might think that you stopped using the dangerous drugs and trying to get addicted to the antidepressants. As we have discussed earlier mere dependency on the antidepressants doesn’t mean that they are addicted to them. You might be physically dependent on the antidepressants, but they are not addicts. People might get terrified if you call them antidepressant addicts. Relying on them to carry on their day to day activities doesn’t make them addicts.
If you are experiencing an unpleasant feeling of physical reaction when you are not using antidepressant, it doesn’t mean that your addiction symptoms have relapsed. People feel terrified when they experience these symptoms and they might think they are addicted to antidepressant. Rather they are just relying on the antidepressant to have a healthy mental state and make sure they are leading a happy life.
At the end, we can rephrase that mere relying on the antidepressant drugs doesn’t mean that you are addicted to the antidepressant drugs. It just means that you are using them maintain healthy mental condition far from depression.
Sirisha B