Despite their many beneficial effects, some prescription medications—including those used to treat panic disorder—can have the potential to be abused. Unfortunately, this is a reality for many Americans. However, addiction rarely occurs among patients using medications as prescribed; the risk for addiction exists when medications are used in ways beyond their intended use.

What Is Addiction?

Addiction is a complex brain disease characterized by compulsive, and at times, uncontrollable drug craving, seeking, and use that persist even in the face of extremely negative consequences. Addiction is sometimes described as a physical dependence (the existence of withdrawal symptoms) or as a psychological dependence (the habit-forming effects of euphoric experiences).

Psychological dependence exists when a drug is so central to a person’s thoughts, emotions, and activities that it is extremely difficult to stop using it, or even to stop thinking about it. In essence, the drug becomes the center of the person’s universe.

When physical dependence occurs, the body has developed a tolerance for the drug, and larger doses are needed to achieve the same effects the patient first experienced when he or she first started taking the medication. During the first few days of taking a medication, an individual may feel groggy and uncoordinated. As the body becomes accustomed to the effects of the drug, however, these feelings begin to disappear. Eventually, if the drug is used for a long period of time, the body develops a physical dependence on the drug.

Withdrawal

Withdrawal is the variety of symptoms that occur after the use of some addictive drugs is reduced or stopped. Length of withdrawal and symptoms vary with the type of drug. Withdrawal is related to how the body tolerates a drug and forms a physical dependence on it. After long and continuous use, the body adjusts itself so it can function normally with the presence of the drug. When use of the drug is stopped—or withdrawn—the body fails to function normally because it has adjusted to compensate for the presence of the drug, and this abnormal functioning is felt as withdrawal. The higher the degree of tolerance and dependence, the worse the withdrawal symptoms may be.

Reducing dosage or abruptly stopping therapy can even result in potentially life-threatening withdrawal symptoms. Because medications like barbiturates and benzodiazepines work by slowing brain activity, when a person stops taking them, the brain's activity can rebound and race out of control, possibly leading to seizures and other harmful consequences. Patients who are thinking about discontinuing therapy must speak with their physician first. (In the case of withdrawal from antianxiety medications like benzodiazepine, rebound anxiety—a relapse or recurrence of the original anxiety disorder—can also occur.

Improper Use of Prescription Drugs

Although prescription drug abuse occurs among a variety of people at various ages, there is a growing concern toward older adults, adolescents, and women.

Misuse of prescriptions may be the most common form of drug abuse among older Americans. The elderly use prescription medications approximately 3 times as frequently as the general population and have the poorest record for following directions correctly.

As for younger Americans who are illegally using prescription drugs for nonmedical purposes (for example, using someone else's prescription), data from the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse indicates that the most dramatic increase in people abusing drugs occurs in 12- to 17-year-olds and 18- to 25-year-olds.

While men and women have roughly similar rates of nonmedical use of prescription drugs, studies suggest that women are more likely than men to be prescribed an abusable prescription drug, particularly narcotics and antianxiety drugs—in some cases 48% more likely.

Appropriate and Effective Use of Medication

For yourself:

• Always give your doctor a complete medical history when you are being diagnosed for an illness so he or she can prescribe medication appropriate for you
• Always follow your doctor’s directions carefully when he or she prescribes medication—and learn about the effects that the drug could have, especially during the first few days of therapy
• If you've used drugs or alcohol in the past, tell your doctor
• Be aware of potential interactions with other drugs by reading all information provided by your pharmacist or physician
• Do not increase or decrease doses or abruptly stop taking a prescription without consulting a healthcare provider first
• Never use another person’s prescription
• Never think of or use a prescription as a “party drug.” Don’t think of it as a means to “get high” or as a way to “enhance” the effects of alcohol

For the people in your life:

• Never give your prescription to someone else
• Never leave your prescription where children or adolescents will have access to it
• Always fill your prescription as soon as possible
• Carefully store refillable prescription bottles where only you have access to them
• Destroy any unused or unwanted prescriptions you may have
• Consider locking or hiding your prescriptions in a safe place

Need More Information?

Need more information on the misuse and abuse of prescription drugs? Click here for a list of some Web sites that may help.