Is My Daughter Addicted to Pills?
Many teenagers and young adults abuse prescription medications because they mistakenly believe that, seeing as these medications were originally prescribed by a medical professional, they are safer to use than illicit chemical substances. The truth is, however, that prescription medications can be extremely habit forming, and can lead to just as many (if not more) serious health-related issues and interpersonal consequences than other substances. The most commonly abused prescription medications are prescription opioids, prescription depressants, and prescription stimulants. Prescription opioids include painkillers like oxycodone and hydrocodone and affect the same parts of the brain as heroin and synthetic opioids like fentanyl.
What Drugs Can My Daughter Be Using?
These medications can cause a range of side effects like nausea and vomiting, constipation, drowsiness, and respiratory depression. Prescription depressants include tranquilizers and sedatives like Valium, Xanax, and Klonopin. These medications are generally used to treat anxiety and sleep-related disorders and can result in drowsiness, a lack of coordination, disorientation, and shallow breathing. Prescription stimulants include medications like Adderall and Ritalin and are most frequently used among the college-aged demographic. These medications can result in increased body temperature, irregular heartbeat, anxiety, and paranoia. If you think that your daughter might be abusing a prescription medication of any kind but you are not quite sure, there are several telltale signs to keep an eye out for.
Signs My Daughter is Abusing Pain Pills
Some signs that your daughter might be abusing prescription pills include:
- She has been spending more time alone and has an increased need for privacy. She spends more time isolating herself from family members and close friends. Either her social life has fallen off completely, or she spends the majority of her time with the new group of friends who you might not know very well.
- She is no longer performing well in school, assuming she once was, and her grades have been rapidly declining. She might even get in trouble at school, and you might get calls from authoritative figures.
- You might find that your medicine cabinets have been rated, and you might get complaints from your friends or other family members that they have had the same issue. The majority of teenagers and young adults who obtain prescription medications find unused prescriptions in household medicine cabinets or bathroom drawers.
- If your daughter currently has a prescription, she might go through it more quickly than normal and ask you to drive her to the doctor’s office on an abnormally frequent basis.
- She might appear to lack coordination, slur her speech, or exhibit other physical symptoms like an increased heart rate and unusual spurts of energy (common with prescription stimulants) or excessive fatigue and shallow breathing (common with prescription opioids and some prescription tranquilizers).
- You might find that she has been seeking prescriptions for more than one doctor, a behavior that is known as “doctor shopping.” She might also pretend as if she lost her prescriptions before bringing them to the pharmacy.
- There is a good chance that she will experience abnormal mood swings, typically marked by hostility and aggression.
If you feel as if your daughter might be abusing prescription medication, it is important to seek professional help immediately. Agape Treatment Center has extensive experience treating young women who suffer at the hands of substance abuse disorders of any severity.
Prescription Drug Addiction Treatment
Agape Treatment Center offers a comprehensive and personalized program of age and gender-specific prescription drug treatment. Offering age and gender-specific programs allow for a more focused treatment experience overall and allow young women to hone in on issues and challenges that are unique to their specific demographic. To learn more about our inpatient prescription drug rehab program, or to help your daughter get started on her journey of recovery, please feel free to reach out to us at any point in time. Our treatment advisors are standing by to point you in the right direction and answer additional questions, should you have any.
