Opioid addiction’s beginnings can be traced back to 1999, when they were commonly prescribed as an option for people with chronic pain. By 2010, deaths were increasing. Not only were there prescription opioids in the home, but heroin on the street. In 2014, synthetic opioids like Fentanyl (50-100 times more potent than morphine) and Carfentanil (more formidable still) appeared in heroin, and deaths continued to rise.
Opioid use in Wisconsin had tripled by 2016, following a national trend. By 2017, there were more deaths by opioid overdoses than car accidents in the state. That same year, 72,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses.
It’s not just adults; increasingly, adolescents are finding, using, and abusing opiates. And they’re overdosing. Among 15- to 24-year-old deaths in 2016, more than 12 percent were due to opioid exposure. At the same time overall use had tripled in Wisconsin, it was a 4-fold increase in deaths for young people across the country.
In the State Targeted Response (STR) to the Opioid Crisis Final Prevention Activity Report (2019), a review of how opioid addiction is addressed, none of the methods employed by local and regional coalitions specifically focus on adolescents. The very same data suggests adolescent opioid addiction is as troublesome in urban areas as it is in rural areas. Locally, hardest hit counties for adolescent opioid overdoses are Brown, Manitowoc, and Sheboygan (Wisconsin Department of Health Services, 2019).
It’s high time we talk about opioids and our kids. Even more important is how. Keep it simple and make it clear: It’s not just addiction they risk, but death.
What are opioids?
Opioids inhibit pain signals between the body and the brain. When prescribed, they treat moderate to severe pain. Alongside pain control, opioids have addictive qualities. Prescription names include Vicodin and OxyContin, Oxycodone and Hydrocodone, and Percocet.
What are opioids used for?
Opioids can make some feel extreme relaxation or happiness. This “high” is the addictive component. Opioids also have side effects like confusion, drowsiness, nausea, constipation, and slowed breathing.
How does opioid addiction happen?
Addiction to opioids starts when an individual’s tolerance increases. As a result, they may take higher and/or more frequent doses. This habit may lead to unmanageability, a hallmark of addiction, and loss of control.
Where are opioids?
Because opioids are a prescription medication, they can be found in the home. More than 50 percent of adolescents and young adults who misuse opioids obtain these prescription drugs from friends or relatives (Hudgins et al, 2019). When a addiction develops and prescriptions are not available, someone may feel compelled to look for heroin, an illegal drug with similar effects.
How do opioids cause death?
When they’re taken in particularly high doses or misused, opioids limit a person’s ability to breathe. Respiratory depression can happen, meaning breathing slows or stops completely. The risk rises if someone has never taken an opioid before, or if the opioid interacts with other medications/drugs. If heroin is cut with synthetic opioids like Fentanyl or Carfentanil, risk for respiratory depression and death grows exponentially because they are so powerful.
Connect with your kids
In adolescents, addiction to opioids tends to begin with an increase in mental health symptoms. For example, when a young person experiences more anxiousness, depression, or another kind of mental health concern, they may also feel more helpless and hopeless. Some identify substance use as a means to cope. This is especially important to consider in times as challenging and uncertain as these.
In another 2019 study, adolescents “resorted to prescription opioid misuse more when they had observed it in the social network” (Abraham, Thakur, and Brown, 2019). Social engagements may be limited due to the ongoing pandemic. However, if your son or daughter is experiencing more-than-normal anxiety or depression, keep open eyes and ears on who they are connecting with—and how.
Writer Johann Hari speaks on the value of connection when it comes to addiction. In his TED talk “Everything You Know About Addiction is Wrong,” he calls connection the “antidote” to addiction. Research agrees: Adolescents with strong bonds to family and school are less likely to misuse opioids (Abraham, Thakur, and Brown, 2019). COVID-19 represents a new normal. And while there are challenges, there are also opportunities. Think of it as a time to strengthen the connection with your kids.
Bethany is a Mental Health and Addiction Recovery Therapist with Rogers Behavioral Health in Appleton. She also sees Clients as an outpatient provider at Fox River Counseling in downtown Oshkosh.
Resources
Abraham, O., Thakur, T., & Brown, R. (2019). Prescription opioid misuse and the need to promote medication safety among adolescents. Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy, 15, 841-844. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1551741118305953
Creswell, P. D., Gibson, C., Theobald, J., & Meiman, J. G. (2019, April). Exposures to Opioids Among Wisconsin Children and Adolescents, 2002-2016. Wisconsin Medical Journal, 118(1), 9-15. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31083827#
Hari, J. (2015, June). Everything You Know About Addiction is Wrong. In TED: Ideas worth spreading. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/johann_hari_everything_you_think_you_know_about_addiction_is_wrong?language=en
Hudgins, J. D., Porter, J. J., Monuteaux, M. C., & Bourgeois, F. T. (2019, November 5). Prescription opioid use and misuse among adolescents and young adults in the United States: A national survey study. PLOS Medicine. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002922
Johns Hopkins Medicine. (n.d.). What Are Opioids?. In Opioid Addiction. Retrieved from https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/opioids/what-are-opioids.html
Prince, J. M., & Seiden, W. B. (2017, June). The National Opioid Epidemic: Local, State, and National Responses. Wisconsin Medical Journal, 116(2), 57-60. Retrieved from https://www.wisconsinmedicalsociety.org/_WMS/publications/wmj/pdf/116/2/57.pdf
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (2019, May 13). In Opioids and Adolescents. Retrieved from https://www.hhs.gov/ash/oah/adolescent-development/substance-use/drugs/opioids/index.html
Wisconsin Department of Health Services & Alliance for Youth. (2019, July). Wisconsin State Targeted Response to the Opioid Crisis (STR) 2018-2019 Final Prevention Activity Report July 2019. Retrieved from https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/opioids/data-reports-studies.htm
Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Division of Public Health Office of Health Informatics and Office of Preparedness and Emergency Health Care. (2019, June 25). Wisconsin Suspected Opioid Overdose Report. Retrieved from https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/publications/p02339a.pdf
