Tales You Don’t Hear About - Functional Opiate Addiction
The increasingly growing phenomenon of patients becoming addicted to medication that their doctors prescribed to them is changing the face of drug addiction in our modern society. Read the below statement from someone who could be considered a "functional drug addict."
"I regularly use narcotic painkillers. We’re talking strong medicine here, not wuss stuff like the spoonful of cough syrup with codeine that you took for last winter’s cold. I take Oxycontin tablets twice daily, I wear the Fentanyl patch, and I take morphine tabs if I need to. I also take Ambien for insomnia and Valium for muscle relaxation. I’m addicted to all these meds, and I couldn’t care less.
You’ve judged me already haven’t you? Just these few words, and you’ve decided that I’m a degenerate drug addict, a menace to society, a lazy dope fiend, and a drain on taxpayers money, right? I’m a “problem” that has been extensively cussed and discussed by a lot of know-it-alls who think that they can look at my drug use and then put all kinds of labels on me. Smug, over-educated, self-righteous people who see only a scrape of my surface and think they know me. 
Here’s what you don’t know: I work full time. I go to school part time. I have two children that I care for single-handedly since their other parent moved out of state. Other than some traffic tickets, I’ve never broken the law in my life. I don’t use alcohol and I don’t use illegal drugs. I pay my bills on time, including my taxes. I vote in every election. I’ve served on two juries. I belong to a community civic organization that raises scholarship money for needy students. I volunteer at our town’s animal shelter. I don’t smoke, I’m not obese, and I do yoga. If you didn’t know me well, you’d never know that I’m a dope addict.
I’m also a veteran of the first Gulf War. After serving for over a year in Kuwait, I was injured in a convoy and sent back home with a permanent back injury. The docs at the VA told me that I could have surgery, but that it might actually make my condition worse. I could wind up in a wheelchair; to me that’s far scarier than addiction. The only other alternative was a combination of physical therapy and medication, so that’s what I chose. Most of my meds are not controlled, addictive substances and yet, people judge me based solely upon those that are. I have an iatrogenic addiction, meaning that it’s caused by legitimate medical treatment. Last month, a dental surgeon made some crack to me about my “out of control drug habit” after I told her I didn’t need a prescription for pain relief following a bone grafting implant procedure. I was judged not because I was drug seeking, but because I wasn’t.
I don’t have to explain or rationalize my addiction to you because it’s none of your business. If I seem angry, it’s because I’ve been judged too many times by strangers. I’m able to function in my life because of the medications I take. I don’t “doctor shop.” I have only two physicians who prescribe for me and I’ve signed releases of information so they can talk to each other about my needs. Does this sound like drug seeking? Every morning, I get up and put one foot in front of the other just like you. I take my meds as prescribed, and I move on with my day.
So what’s it to you that I’m an addict? There are a lot of people like me who live and work and play well with others because of their drug use, not in spite of it. You don’t need to pity me, either, because life has been pretty good to me, all told. I’m doing just dandy, thanks very much."
See what treatment at our drug rehab is like:
functional"addiction"