Opioids painkillers are derivative of opium poppy. An opioid is a drug used to treat chronic painful conditions like malignancy. The opium poppy is treasure house or reservoir of many useful compounds. Many compounds are isolated from opium plant. Heroin, the highly addictive drug is also an opioid and is derived from opium. The opium is wonderful gift of Mother Nature to man to treat variety of ill conditions and pains and aches. It is irony of fate that this most useful plant has been mostly abused in medical profession and in public life. Accidental deaths from prescription drug overdoses
in the United States now exceed those from traffic fatalities, according to Dr. Andy Mendenhall of Hazelden Addiction Treatment Centers in Oregon. Most of these deaths are caused by opiate drugs and relentless abuse of prescription drugs. Prescription opioid painkillers include morphine, condone, oxycodone, hydrocodone etc.Among the famous alkaloids of opium may be included, apomorphium, codeinum, morphinum etc. These are sold in the market under various brand names. As opioids are popularly known as painkillers, but this wrong notion prevalent among laity as these drugs block pain signals only and make the part insensible to feel pain. As the king of pain killing palliatives, opium played a very prominent role in old school therapeutics. By its seductive properties, has addicted many and reduced many who have sought its help to become its slaves for life.
Painlessness
Painlessness is its primary effect or side effect. The drug addict who persistently uses opioids for years becomes senseless to pain. The opium produces the condition of stoniness called numbness and painlessness. It so alters the consciousness of man that his senses become totally senseless or is greatly diminished. He starts living in coma like conditions of his consciousness. His breathing becomes rattling and stertorous. The effects of poisonous dose of opium are scarcely to be distinguished from a fully developed attack of apoplexy. The apoplexy attack is characterized by absolute loss of consciousness, pupils contracted to pinpoint, muscular relaxation, pulse slow and full with stertorous breathing. In such grave cases the death takes place by asphyxia.
The grand characteristic of the opium is the drowsiness, inertia, torpor, absence of reaction. These are the confirmed symptoms of persons addicted to opium eating or persons suffering from side effects from heavy overdoses of opium. Opium makes the beast of a man devoid of all moral sense and humanity. Two grand archetypes the snake and opium are in the very nature of man. Both of these are representative symbols of the darkest side of his psyche and behavior. Both of these energies tend man towards what is commonly called “sociopath”. These energies combined or singly rob the man all his piousness, propriety, and morality. Under the narcotic effects of these energies man becomes living Skelton oblivious to all emotion and moral sense.
Lying and concealing
The habitual painkillers become habitual liars. Whatever the habitual painkiller may claim that he or she speaks the truth,
but he can never be trusted. Lying becomes their way of life. The tell lies for trifling things. Lying is their defensive mechanism. They try to justify and prove their shocking and dirty behavior by telling lies. There is not an iota of truth what they speak or claim. Lying is conscious effort to dodge and deceive the other people to believe the contrary. Almost every addict uses this defensive mechanism successfully. The addicts conceal and steal things in a bid to deceive the family members. Some of the addicts become kleptomaniac. Their behavior is aberrated and perverted.Denial mode of living
Denial is classical hallmark of all addictions, irrespective of their nature and temperament. An addicted person is always in the denial mode of living. He goes on denying everything from medicine treatment to pains and discomforts of the body. He lives in a delusional state of well-being. The addict may be suffering from some terminal suffering but he will say to the doctor, “Doctor, I do not need your medicines as I am alright and I have no problem with my body, everything is fine and o.k.” he goes on refusing and refuting the medicines offered to him and the treatment meted out to him. The psyche of the addict is so programmed that it does not allow him to admit any suggestion or persuasion.
The addict cause themselves harm and injuries, they demolish their relationship with family and society, they get into financial and legal troubles, they may be on the verge of death .yet many will claim not to have any problems of any kind. They say they have no problems even with the substance to which they are so severely addicted. In one word this type of typical behavior may be termed as “denial phase of addiction”. It is most trusted arsenal and defensive mechanism of the addicts. Until the veil of this denial and rejection is lifted, an addict is unlikely to seek medicinal or psycho therapeutic treatment. And to break this denial and rejection on the part of the addict is really a hard nut to crack. The addict builds his defenses so meticulously that even the most experienced physician may find him helpless to break into the defensive's of the addicts. The addicted person truly believes that he does not have problem at all. It is very frustrating and irritating to be with an addicted who is in denial and rejection phase of his illness. It is not that the addict wishes to hurt the physician but he simply cannot see and understand the extent of his problems. He is in delusional or fixated state of well-being.
