Pain Patients Branded Addicts The Hidden Truth

Such follow-up may include regular check-ins with a treatment provider, participation in a recovery support group, and ongoing medication management. Addiction requires a more comprehensive treatment plan that addresses not just the physical but the behavioral and psychological parts of substance use. This might include behavioral therapy, counseling, support groups and other types of treatment designed to help individuals understand the deeper root causes of their addiction and develop strategies to prevent relapse. Addiction is characterized by a loss of control and an https://ecosoberhouse.com/ inability to stop engaging in addictive behavior or substance use, even when faced with negative consequences.

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For decades, diagnostic systems such as DSM IV used the word dependence for what many people called addiction. Then, in 2013, the American Psychiatric Association released the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fifth Edition, and replaced these categories with one diagnosis called substance use disorder. This change was meant to reduce confusion and stigma, but it left an everyday language gap that persists today. Some people living with chronic pain or anxiety now avoid medically necessary medicines out of fear of becoming addicted, when what they actually risk is predictable physical dependence that can be managed with careful tapering. If you feel as though you are dependent on a substance, you can talk to a healthcare provider or mental health professional who can offer assessments to determine if you need treatment. During the evaluation, it is a good time for you to ask questions to alcoholism symptoms learn if the doctor or therapist understands the difference between addiction and dependence and the treatments for both.

Key Differences Between Dependence and Addiction

These social determinants of health are borne out of historical and contemporary injustices that advantage some and disadvantage others in society, leading to the systemic marginalization or oppression of some groups (355). In patients receiving opioids and benzodiazepines long-term, clinicians should carefully weigh the benefits and risks of continuing therapy with opioids and benzodiazepines and discuss with patients and other members of the patient’s care team, as appropriate. In specific situations, benzodiazepines can be beneficial, and stopping benzodiazepines can be destabilizing.

Mental vs. physical dependence

It is important to keep in mind that physical dependence can occur without the patient developing a SUD. The most important thing is to addiction vs dependence get a clear diagnosis and choose a plan that fits the person’s needs, whether that’s short-term help for dependence or long-term addiction care. These two conditions are not the same, so they need different types of care. When someone is wrongly labeled as having an addiction (when they’re just physically dependent on a medication), it can cause serious problems.

• For families watching a loved one manage severe back pain, neuropathy, or cancer-related pain, the words used by insurers, hospitals, and regulators are not academic.
• The interaction between genetic, environmental, and psychological factors varies from person to person.
• Information about qualifications and the process to obtain a waiver are available from SAMHSA (339).
• For a person to be diagnosed with a substance abuse disorder, they must be consistently using alcohol or drugs.
• Let’s examine how the world views addiction versus dependence in relation to substance abuse disorders.

For people with addiction, using certain substances or engaging in certain behaviors stimulates the brain’s so-called reward center, releasing a chemical messenger called dopamine that signifies pleasure. But your brain doesn’t know how to deal with so much dopamine, so it copes by lowering its sensitivity. Most people seem to use the words “dependence” and “addiction” interchangeably. We spoke to substance use disorder specialist David Streem, MD, to get a better understanding.

• Addiction is in its own category and is characterized as changes in behavior, which are caused by the biochemical changes in our brain due to prolonged substance abuse.
• Despite the consequences that your nicotine use is having on your health, finances and relationship, you continue to engage in the behavior.
• Because tapering opioids can be harmful in some circumstances, benefits of continuing opioids in patients who have already received them long-term might include avoiding risks of tapering and discontinuing opioids.
• While you may experience cravings, build up a tolerance, and feel irritable and restless when you stop using, it may not be as severe as someone who is physically dependent on a substance.

The difference between dependence and addiction

However, when healthcare or social services professionals confuse the baby’s dependence with maternal addiction or neglect, it can trigger unnecessary legal interventions. This misunderstanding can lead to family separations, particularly affecting marginalized communities. Providing education and compassionate family support is essential to keep families together and ensure both parent and child get the care they need. For patients meeting criteria for opioid use disorder, particularly if moderate or severe, clinicians should offer or arrange for patients to receive evidence-based treatment with medications for opioid use disorder. Patients with opioid use disorder might benefit from counseling and referrals to mutual help groups such as Narcotics Anonymous (336), although this should not take the place of treatment with medication.

You can develop a physical need for a substance without experiencing the compulsive behavior and loss of control that characterize addiction. The American College of Physicians (ACP) recommends nonpharmacologic treatment with superficial heat, massage, acupuncture, or spinal manipulation as a cornerstone of treatment for acute low back pain (119). ACP and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) suggest acupressure to improve pain and function and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation to reduce pain in patients with acute musculoskeletal injuries (120). On December 4–5, 2019, CDC held a public meeting of BSC/NCIPC (announced via Federal Register 84 FR 57021; 84 FR 65159) and provided a presentation on the background for updating the clinical practice guideline.