Opioid Misuse is Dangerous, and Opioid Addiction Treatment in Rhode Island is Non-Negotiable
Most people start using opioids as something occasional and pleasurable. But since these substances are highly addictive, they soon fall into the habit of regular use, and oftentimes, abuse.
These things trigger powerful reward centers in your brain, and you become dependent on them just to feel normal. And sadly, 90 people in the US die every day from opioid misuse.
This number alone should be enough to make opioid addiction treatment in Rhode Island accessible, which the government is already doing, as we can see by the Governor’s efforts to control drugs.
But despite the side effects healthcare organizations mention and fatal overdose cases, some people still don’t understand how dangerous it is to use opioids. That’s why this blog explains all about the horrors of opioid addiction and how it can permanently alter one’s life.
Keep reading to know the horrors that opioid addiction treatment in Rhode Island can help prevent.
How Do Opioids Impact Your Brain Chemistry?
Your brain has a natural reward system. When you do something healthy, it releases a chemical. The hormone is called dopamine, which makes you feel good and encourages you to repeat that healthy behavior.
When you take opioids, they overtake this system. These substances travel to your brain and attach to “mu-opioid receptors.” You can think of these receptors as specific landing pads meant to mediate pain management.
Opioids attach to these receptors and force your brain to release an artificial flood of dopamine much stronger than any natural high. As you would have guessed, you enjoy that feeling and want to repeat the same dose.
However, this process literally rewires your brain, besides making you feel high. The dopamine you get from opioids is so intense that your brain’s survival center starts to prioritize the drug above everything else.
Slowly, your brain begins to treat the drug as more important than food, water, or sleep. And that’s why people struggling with addiction stop taking an interest in their hobbies, jobs, and even families. If one doesn’t get proper opioid addiction treatment in Rhode Island, these substances can even prove to be fatal.
Notably, as you continue this substance abuse and don’t take opioid addiction treatment in Rhode Island, your brain shuts down its natural ability to produce dopamine. And eventually, you’re forced into a state where you can no longer feel joy or normal without the drug.
Side Effects of Opioid Addiction
You don’t even need to consume opioids for a long time for your brain chemistry to be altered. Their physical dependence can even begin in 4-8 days of regular use, and once you’re addicted, you’re in for a ton of side effects.
Here are some downsides of these substances that opioid addiction treatment in Rhode Island can stop:
Physical Toll
Opioids can slow all vital functions in your body. Their impact might start with your digestion, which can cause chronic constipation. Since this drug paralyzes your bowel muscles, you may also feel intense abdominal pain.
However, the most life-threatening physical side effect is respiratory depression. Opioids signal your brain to breathe slowly, which can trigger sleep apnea. During sleep apnea, you repeatedly stop breathing throughout the night, and that oxygen deprivation strains your heart as well as your brain.
Furthermore, opioids reduce your body’s ability to produce white blood cells and make you an easy target for common infections or chronic illnesses. Overall, regularly consuming these substances deeply affects your body.
Hormonal and Organ Impact
Opioids throw your body’s hormones out of balance and tell your brain to stop producing hormones like testosterone or estrogen. If that continues without any opioid addiction treatment in Rhode Island, both men and women experience a loss of sexual drive and they fatigue.
Your internal organs also face a heavy toxic load because of opioids. Since opioids can come mixed with other substances, their high doses can cause permanent liver damage or sudden liver failure.
Plus, your kidneys are also forced to work much harder to filter these drugs out of your blood, which can cause some serious kidney diseases.
Hyperalgesia
Another frustrating side effect of long-term opioid use is a condition called hyperalgesia, which means your body becomes more sensitive to pain or discomfort.
These substances change how your nervous system processes pain signals. Instead of blocking the pain, your body becomes hypersensitive to it.
Cognitive Fog
Opioids cloud your mind, and if you don’t take any opioid addiction treatment in Rhode Island, your Executive Function takes the toll. The Executive Function is responsible for managing your life, and when this system is damaged, it’s harder to solve simple problems or stay focused.
When they disrupt the prefrontal cortex (the brain’s command center), your memory also suffers. If you start to notice this, regular opioid addiction treatment in Rhode Island will clear this haze and help you regain your ability to think sharply.
Induced Depression
As explained earlier, your brain produces feel-good chemicals to help you feel happy and stable. But when you flood your system with opioids, your brain realizes it has too many of these chemicals. Therefore, it shuts down to protect itself, which makes it physically impossible to feel joy from normal life.
As a result, you are left in constant emotional numbness or deep sadness whenever the drug is not in your system. Needless to say, breaking this cycle requires professional opioid addiction treatment in Rhode Island, so your brain can restart its natural chemical balance.
Addiction is Strong, But You Are Stronger
Rhode Island Addiction Treatment Centers believe that we can beat any substance with willpower and proper rehab strategies. If you’re done living a life where you need a dangerous chemical just to feel up and alive, call us, and let’s end this struggle for good.