My sister was involved in a severe car wreck about ten years ago; she broke her back in three places. Since then, she has taken handfuls upon handfuls of way too strong pain pills daily. She is nothing like she was before and it not only affects me, her family, but also her friends too. She is slowly killing herself. She has tricked herself into thinking she needs them to function. She is afraid to try a day without the crutch of those pills. The sad truth is she is not alone. According to The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), up to 7% of patients who are prescribed narcotic or opioids analgesics to treat chronic pain will become addicted. Experts estimate that approximately 4.7 million Americans are addicted to prescription painkillers. This means that 2% of the American population is estimated to be addicted to prescription pain
My sister was involved in a severe car wreck about ten years ago; she broke her back in three places. Since then, she has taken handfuls upon handfuls of way too strong pain pills daily. She is nothing like she was before and it not only affects me, her family, but also her friends too. She is slowly killing herself. She has tricked herself into thinking she needs them to function. She is afraid to try a day without the crutch of those pills. The sad truth is she is not alone. According to The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), up to 7% of patients who are prescribed narcotic or opioids analgesics to treat chronic pain will become addicted. Experts estimate that approximately 4.7 million Americans are addicted to prescription painkillers. This means that 2% of the American population is estimated to be addicted to prescription pain