Self Magazine: Pain pill among friends is quick, quiet way young people get hooked on opioids

Dr. Bill Jacobs, addiction medicine expert at Bluff Plantation and associate professor and chief of Addiction Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry and Health Behavior, talks to Self Magazine about the opioid epidemic.

He notes that most people get sleepy when they have an opioid for the first time, but those at higher risk have a reaction like theirs—euphoria mixed with certainty. They feel energized and absolutely believe that opioids have just made their lives 100 times better. When people have early reactions like that, Jacobs says, it is a good indicator that the drug will prove more addictive for them—and by the time they realize that use has become addiction, it’s often too late to go cold turkey.

In addition to the hereditary component, other factors that can increase a person’s chance of becoming addicted include a history of trauma, especially during childhood, and easy access to drugs and exposure to family members, friends, or neighbors who use them.

Self Magazine: A Pain Pill Among Friends: Quick and Quiet Way Young People Are Getting Hooked on Opioids

July 7, 2017