Opiate Addiction
Causes
Injury, chronic pain, surgery
Peer pressure, experimentation
Self-medicating for mental illness or trauma
Exposure to drugs in childhood home
Effects
Cause neurons that produce dopamine to fire more frequently,
resulting in a feeling of euphoria (extreme pleasure)
Constipation,
lack of appetite
Slow down heart rate
and breathing
Cause physical
dependency (addiction)
Withdrawal effects include anxiety, depression, nausea, diarrhea,
stomach cramps, muscle cramps, chills, trembling
Overdose and death
75% of opioid deaths in Canada in 2024 involved Fentanyl
Treatments
Priscription Methadone
Behavioural & Talk Therapy
12-Step Programs like NA
Family Therapy
Contingency Management
Narcan to reverse an overdose
Impact on Families
Creates unstable family environment
Parents unable to look after children consistently
Loss of money, theft of resources from family to pay for drugs
Increased likelihood of bloodborne illnesses in babies of parents with opiate addiction, like hepatitis and HIV/AIDS