Opiate Addiction | The Causes

According to psychiatrist, Dr. Domenick Sportelli, 80% of all heroin users started with a prescription opiate. But there are additional factors that elevate the risk of developing this type of addiction. In this session, Dr. Dom sheds light on the causes, risk factors, and prevention strategies of opioid addiction you need to know.

00:00 Intro
00:27 1. Biological & genetic factors
01:49 2. Environmental factors
02:11 3. The untreated mental health disorders that impact addiction
02:45 4. Social factors you need to know
03:08 Protective factors in your control
04:59 Why do genetics actually play a role?
08:05 Childhood behaviors that indicate risk for later addiction
09:51 5. The "gateway drugs" that may lead to opioid addiction
13:08 6. "Transition times in people's lives are a critical, vulnerable moment"
14:09 7. How the drug is taken
15:26 8. Accessibility to substances at home
17:25 9. The "wiring" of the adolescent brain
18:23 Prevention strategies for addiction risk factors
18:50 How to watch more & what to watch next

#Addiction #OpioidCrisis #MedCircle #mentalhealthawareness #mentalhealthmatters #mentalhealth #opiates #opiate

[glendanewell]

One really good reason that people start pain meds is because of PAIN!!! I know this does not apply to every single person but for older adults who get ignored by the local physicians then you have no choice if pain is chronic and severe!! There has to be a better solution to helping and not just ignoring!!

[laurencejones]

Pain that is so intense that it completely robs you of any quality of life is the problem. My doctor trusts me not to abuse my Fentanyl, but she told me that there are some people she would never prescribe an opioid pain medication to. I’m a good candidate for opioid therapy because I respect the medication, I use only as directed, and I’m grateful to have it prescribed to me.

[HollyWould]

The way I explained it to people was like there was always something missing(My whole life) and the 1st time I tried pills it filled that void perfectly. I felt "NORMAL" for once in my life. Got to the point I was taking 10- 80mg oxys A day. It took me losing my babies to wake up. The consequences are still effecting me 8 years clean. I never got 1 of my babies back so I worry about her becoming an addict.

[justincase]

these videos continue to blow my mind because they really are helping me understand my own life. As an addict since 14 and getting on heroin by 18, it is a hard truth in a lot of ways but it is very insightful. Thank you for doing these videos, very helpful. 🙏🏻

[Julieanne]

My mom was a single parent and she had mental health issues and she used heroin. Watching her sick- hurt me she wasnt able to move -, mental hospital's had become routine !
i swore i would never touch it i swore i would never become like that, at such a young age it just takes that split second, i drifted - i became what i swore i would never. ✴✴✴

[cleopatraleons]

It’s insane how most psychiatrists I’ve seen they never checked if there was a history of drug addiction in my family. Not even once.

[raymondkinsella]

“The substance is only the painkiller, the pain is the problem” Sr Consilio Fitzgerald

[freshlimejuice]

I love the dog sleeping peacefully on the floor 😄

[hagridsbeardguy]

One thing I learned throughout my addiction journey is that once I reached the point where I even wondered whether or not I could be dependent it was already too late. People who aren’t self medicating aren’t even pondering the question, it’s not going to be on their radar. If you’re thinking about the ‘what ifs’ and even slightly concerned about whether or not you’re at risk - it’s likely because your subconscious is making observations about your frame of mind and thoughts or behaviours that already indicate that you’re not in safe waters.

[tcmomcoffey]

Also it's very sad I'm some towns you can not even get daily real needed medication example I been on the same dosage of xanax since age 15 due to literally not being able to leave home ptsd agoraphobia panic disorder but now so many Dr's say well we don't or won't or can't prescribe because ppl that either abused them or what have u now the entire world is affected on what others do w medication that could really save someone life

[lraze]

This is SO HELPFUL!! Thank you very, very much! From the non-addict wife of an opiate addict :) God Bless You!

[JemDreamz]

Even if you are aware of these tendencies you can still get wrapped up in them.

[Suzettecs]

I am raising my daughters 2 children ones 1yr and ones 3yr.
My daughter used heron, fentanyl & meth… while pregnant! Baby daddy used the same as well .
They lost there rights to the kids .. There is a bond that the 3 yr old has with his mom & dad! He adores them .. and they visit often..
My heart is so broken for them!
This helps me so much! Still is there more I can do to help my grandchildren avoid addiction as they get older?

[billnyilas]

I need to tell you something that I think so many people in authority, particularly law enforcement, just don't understand. Essentially, addiction problems should be handled by MEDICAL personnel, NOT LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL. Let me make it clear to you what happens, and results, which do absolutely no good, but instead cause terrible damage to a user and society in general. because of things a user of illegal psychotropic drugs is forced to doWHEN A PSYCHOTROPIC SUBSTANCE/DRUG BECOMES ILLEGAL ***(NOTE: I'll use the term "psychotropic" essentially to mean a substance that gets you "high."
It's clear to me, and very many others, including those in the medical and legal community, the main reasons for making certain psychotreopic drugs illegal, which I'll list below:
First off, It makes law enforcement look good, in that they are doing their job and getting the illegal drugs off the street as well as punishing those addicted to those drugs, often by incarcerating them.
Those who truly benefit from the illegality of psychotropic substances are as follows:
(1) Law Enforcement, including police officers making a fortune in overtime just to process a simple marijuana arrest, which they are more than happy to do.
(2) The Judicial System, which includes judges, lawyers, prosecuters, and others with jobs in the legal profession
(3) The prison system, which is all too happy to keep drug offenders in their jails. Much of the prison system in the U.S. is privately owned, so the more people incarcerated in their facilities, the better for them. There are literally THOUSANDS of people who are doing time for possession of small amounts of marujuana, which is a disgrace to this country but a real bonus for the prison system.
(4) ORGANIZED CRIME - Anyone who has a knowledge of the prohibition of alcohol in this country that began in the 1920's and lasted into the 1930, will realize the DISASTER and total failure that it was. It spawned the Organized Crime organized groups that are still in existence today, and are flourishing for the same reason...the illegality of psychotropic drugs.
It is clear that making a psychotropic drug illegal DOES NOT WORK!. Besides benefitting organized crime, it has much worse effects, as I'll show below.

HERE IS WHAT IT SHOWED:
DRUG TYPE (DEATHS 2021) (DEATHS 2020)
Synthetic Opioids (fentanyl) 71, 238 57, 834
Psychostimulants (meth) 32, 856 24, 576
Cocaine 24, 538 19, 927
Natural/semi-synthetic (prescription) 13, 503 13, 722
As you can clearly see, the deaths due to Fentanyl overdoseswere FIVE TIMES the deaths from PRESCRIBED OPIOIDS (Vicodin, Percocet, etc.). What is the reason for that? It's the absolute failure of Law Enforcement and non-medical people to understand addiction! Law Enforcement is bragging about how they have taken PRESCRIPTION pain medication off of the streets and made it almost impossible to get in any legal way. ALL NARCOTIC pain medication is strictly monitored via a database throughout the U.S., and in effect has stopped "doctor shopping" and made it nearly impossible to get legal pain medication without a prescription, which nearly every one is sent to the pharmacy electronically.
You, and Law Enforcement, would think that taking Opioids off the street would end the massive amount of deaths due to PRESCRIPTION Opioids. THAT COULDN'T BE MORE INCORRECT! Instead, addicts turned to buying street "Opioids, " which in effect are some filler (like lactose) with Fentanyl added to it in order to give the user a high and stop the terrible pain of withdrawl. The problem with that is the fact that Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid that is similar to morphine but Fentanyl is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. It is a major contributor to fatal and nonfatal overdoses in the U.S.. Because of the potentcy of Fentanyl compared to prescription Opioids, the terrible result is this:
Synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, are now the most common drugs involved in drug overdose deaths in the United States. In 2017, 59.8 percent of opioid-related deaths involved fentanyl compared to 14.3 percent in 2010. Also see the chart above for the years 2020 and 2021.

I am making this comment to the author of this YouTube post in the hope that he will pass it along to the people that truly understand what drug addiction is all about - that by taking Opioids off of the street and making them nearly impossible to get them legally by prescription has NOT HELPED TO REDUCE DEATHS DUE TO OPIOID USE - IN FACT IT HAS MADE IT 5-TIMES WORSE!
What is needed is an entirely different approach to the Opioid problem. PEOPLE WHO ARE ADDICTED TO OPIOIDS NEED TO BE ABLE TO RCEIVE THE OPIOIDS THAT THERE BODY CRAVES IN A SAFE MANNER UNDER MEDICAL SUPERVISION. Until that happens, very many people will die from Fentanyl overdoses. The great musical artist, Prince, was one of the casualties of a Fentanyl overdose.
I am begging you, Dr. Sportelli, to make it clear to others, especially our legislators, that the current method to solve the Opioid problem IS NOT WORKING and they need to understand why. PROHIBITION NEVER HAD, AND NEVER WILL, PREVENT THE USE OF SOMETHING THAT IS IN DESPERATE DEMAND BY PEOPLE. THAT IS A KNOWN FACT THE WE SHOULD HAVE LEARNED FORM THE PROHIBITION LAWS THAT WERE PASSED IN 1920 AND LASTED TO 1933.
Many will deny what I am about to say, but not much has been done to truly do what needs to be done to finally end the Opioid problem in this country BECAUSE OF THE PEOPLE IN POWER THAT I HAVE LISTED ABOVE IN NUMBERS (1) - (4) ARE RECEIVING HUGE FINANCIAL BENEFITS FROM THE ILLEGALITY OF OPIOIDS AND OTHER PSYCHOTROPIC DRUGS THAT ARE KILLING SO MANY PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY.

[TheLastSecretGarden]

God, this one was so uncomfortable for me.

My late brothers used to talk about how they were addicted to sugar as children. They always used to say that they were "born addicts." It's interesting to me that they saw that in themselves. When I reflect on it, yes, I can see that addictive behaviour extremely present in them as young children, but it's so easy to pass that off as just "childish behaviour." I really seriously don't think my parents could see it for what it was. My brothers and I were raised by grieving parents (children born after the loss of a young child, our oldest sibling) so my parents were incredibly indulgent and permissive. I think that really fed into it all.

I also learned, after my brothers passed, that my Dad had a very short stint as a heroin addict long before we were born. It all seems to make sense now.

Interestingly though, I do not have an "addict brain" and have never abused any substances. I am the person who could not tolerate taking painkillers and I can't even take things like antihistamines because they have an opiate-like effect on me. I cannot in any sense tolerate that feeling. I almost feel like my body has protected me from any sort of addiction. But when you say that someone with an addict parent is 8 times more likely to experience a pleasurable experience with an opiate, it makes so fucking much sense to me. My brothers got into opiates when they were 15 and 16 because their best friend was stealing oxys from his parents. I firmly believe that they were addicts from the very first time they ever tried it. They have said as such many times over the years. The experience was just too overwhelmingly pleasurable for them, it's like they were hard-wired specifically for it. However, I have only taken painkillers one single time in my life (after I got my wisdom teeth taken out) and it was a genuinely horrendous, negative experience for me, and I ended up flushing all of the pills. 3 siblings and two very different reactions to such drugs. It's interesting.

I truly believe in the addict brain and that my brothers could only have avoided opiate addiction (and eventual death from fentanyl poisoning) had they never, ever encountered the drugs entirely. What started with marijuana turned very quickly (and so young) to oxy which turned to heroin which turned to coke and crack and meth and fentanyl until it killed them. My brothers were incredibly smart, talented, funny, hardworking, artistic, loving, empathetic, sensitive people who deserved to find out that there was a life for them outside of their addictions, but it has to come from within. Nothing my parents and I did over the course of 15 years ever had any effect at all. I really feel as though my brothers simply submitted to their addictions and accepted their fates and could not see a way around it. But I believed in them until the very end. My parents never gave up on them. These boys were not living in the streets, unwanted, they were loved and supported and they didn't have mental illness, adversity, poverty, any sort of the typical challenges. I just firmly believe they were predisposed to addiction and and it was worse than my family ever really realized. I know there's a different timeline where they got clean and got to live the good life. But on this timeline, the drugs and the addiction speaks so much louder than love and logic, and bad, horrendous, God awful things happen to good people.

[andrewcampbell]

Real reason for high relapse is the ex addict finds himself once again just as he was before he started his addiction subject to the same pressures misunderstandings injustices paranoia complications and pain that maid him reach out for heroin in the first place

[thislittlethingcalledlifea]

So yes having an addictive personality can make you more prone to using drugs but what can be done to stop this? Do I just need to live with a hole and feel like sh*t everyday? Some don’t know how to be normal but society sees us as “bad” “evil” or “undisciplined.” Wish there was more compassion and understanding for the addict….

[ianimal]

It's inevitable and if the addict has money, or access to it, society enables them. Somehow I was blamed for a drug problem that existed before I was around and has persisted long after I left. Witnessing familial destruction from afar ever since.

[KD_]

Thanks so much for this informative and helpful video!

[kathleengivant-taylor]

Wish I could be as pain free and anxiety free as the dog sleeping peacefully on the floor. Beautiful dog