Prescription drug addiction has become one of Ohio’s most painful public health challenges. In 2023, there were 4,452 unintentional drug overdose deaths across the state, with 8% of deaths involving prescription benzodiazepines and 7% involving opioids like oxycodone and hydrocodone. While these medicines were designed to help ease pain and discomfort, they have become just as deadly as any illicit drugs found on American streets. If you are or someone you care about is being affected by prescription drug addiction, knowing the causes, symptoms, and treatment options could save a life.
What is prescription drug addiction?
Prescription drug addiction is when you have lost control over your use of what are supposed to be medicinal drugs. This means you can’t stop taking them or even reduce the amount you are taking, even though they are doing you far more harm than good.
Between 1999 and 2013, the number of deaths from prescription-opioid overdose in Ohio jumped from about 467 to 2,347, and the state has been one of the worst hit by the opioid crisis. And yet, prescription rates for a range of potentially deadly drugs remain high across Ohio.
Some of the most common and dangerous forms of prescription drug addiction include:
- Opioid and opiate addiction
- Benzodiazepine addiction
- Sleeping pill addiction
- Prescription stimulant addiction
What are the symptoms of prescription drug addiction?
Spotting the signs of prescription drug addiction is sometimes harder than with cocaine or heroin, because you may have originally taken them on your doctor’s instructions. However, if you spot any of these prescription drug addiction symptoms, you should take them seriously:
- Often taking more pills than your doctor told you to
- Running out of your prescription sooner than you should
- Feeling unwell when you miss a dose or try to cut down
- Crushing, snorting, or mixing pills with alcohol to make the effects stronger
- Keeping your pill use secret or getting touchy when someone asks about your medication
- Mood swings when on prescription drugs or when you can’t get any
- Drowsiness or agitation
- Increased sensitivity to pain
- Changes in sleep patterns
- Poor coordination or dizziness
- Confusion or poor concentration
What are the stages of prescription drug addiction?
Prescription drug addiction often starts with slight changes in how you use your medication until eventually you have no control. This often takes place over three rough stages:
1. Prescription drug abuse
Some people’s addiction begins with a genuine prescription, while others start using drugs they got from a friend or bought illegally. Most start with a small dose, which slowly grows as the effects do less and less. This is called “prescription drug tolerance,” and it can develop very quickly depending on your body chemistry and the type of drug you are taking.
2. Prescription drug dependence
Increased doses cause chemical changes in your brain and body. These vary by substance, but they usually involve your brain no longer producing natural chemicals like dopamine or GABA. When this happens, if you stop, your brain chemical levels are temporarily off balance, so you go into prescription drug withdrawal.
It is withdrawal that produces cravings and all the other unpleasant symptoms you have likely felt if you’ve quit before. Many people relapse at this point and keep using prescription drugs because they now depend on them physically.
3. Prescription drug addiction
Full drug addiction means that the physical dependence has been joined by an emotional or psychological one. The reasons for this can differ, but you may now be using prescription drugs for stress, depression, or because they have become such an ingrained part of your routine. Whatever the case, the compulsion to keep using is now more powerful than your will to quit or your recognition of the harm being done.
What causes prescription drug addiction?
As explained above, different prescription drugs change your brain and body until you become dependent on them just to feel “okay” or to avoid withdrawal. But there is a wide range of other causes that make you more or less likely to become addicted. These include:
- A history of substance abuse or addiction in your family
- How easily accessible prescription drugs are
- Taking prescription drugs with no medical supervision
- Mental health symptoms that you try to manage with prescription drugs
- Peer pressure or friends who use prescription drugs
- Academic pressure, which is often associated with prescription stimulant use
- Chronic injury or pain, and taking prescription drugs beyond their recommended use
- Irresponsible prescription drug marketing and prescribing (both major causes of the Opioid Crisis)
What are the dangers and side effects of prescription drug addiction?
It is a common misconception that prescription drugs are safer than illegal ones. In fact, many of them have dangerous side effects, and are sometimes many times stronger than illicit street drugs. Some of the biggest dangers of prescription drug abuse and addiction include:
- Coma
- Seizures
- Tremors
- Hallucinations
- Heart disease
- Breathing issues
- Dangerously low or high blood pressure
- Fatal prescription drug overdose
What does treatment for prescription drug addiction involve?
Treatment for prescription drug addiction usually begins with detox, particularly for opioids and benzodiazepines, which can cause dangerous withdrawal. Armada Recovery offers inpatient prescription drug detox, so our team can look after you and manage symptoms with medication and emotional support.
You will then begin a program of therapies as part of our prescription drug rehab plans. These are offered at both of our Akron and Dayton treatment centers on an outpatient basis, so you can take part in therapy while living at home.
After you have finished rehab, we then offer extra support to help you adjust to your new sober life. For some people, this involves partial hospitalization, while others benefit from additional outpatient care. The right course is decided between you and your care team so we can give you the best treatment possible.
Get help for prescription drug addiction today
If prescription drugs are threatening your life or harming someone you love, Armada Recovery can help. Contact us today, and our expert team will answer all your questions and help you get started.
References
https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/OHIOGOVERNOR/2024/10/30/file_attachments/3052169/2023%2BUnintentional%2BDrug%2BOverdose%2BAnnual%2BReport_FINAL.pdf
https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/reports/rpt39467/2021NSDUHsaeSpecificStatesTabs122022_0/NSDUHsaeOhio2021.pdf
https://ccbh.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/IncreasingRacialDisparitiesInOhioOverdoseRates_3.2025.pdf
https://www.apha.org/getcontentasset/9d45c5ab-4694-4401-9683-40288bb58147/7ca0dc9d-611d-46e2-9fd3-26a4c03ddcbb/ohio_pdo.pdf