Reset Reality: Help for Painkiller Addiction

Disclosure:I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Reckitt Benckiser Pharmaceuticals Inc. I received a promotional item as a thank you for participating.

I can admit that I’m guilty of stereotyping the type of person who might suffer from an opioid prescription painkiller addiction. It’s easy to assume that the person has poor judgement, morals,upbringing or leads a troubled life. It’s what we assume. I thought that way until our family experienced this issue with an extended family member. None of those things were true about that person. The only factor in that person’s life was that they had surgery and became reliant on the medications after using them for pain. That was it. It changed my entire thinking about this issue.

Opioid prescription painkiller and heroin addiction is a chronic disease that affects more and more Americans every year. The addiction is dangerous because it can actually alter the brain’s chemistry. Opioid’s are effective at treating pain, but over time they can succeed in “resetting” the brain so one begins to physically and psychologically feel they need the opioid. One may not even realize this is happening.

If you or a loved one are struggling wit this issue, there are resources that can help, such as Reset Reality which is a public health initiative designed to spread awareness and understanding about opioid prescription painkiller addiction. This online resource can be used to screen symptoms, find a doctor and make the best decision.

It is amazing how little accurate information people have on this subject. Even for myself, after having two C-sections, I know how easy it can be to just need that pain medication to make it through the day with a newborn – or newborn twins in my case. Fortunately, I had a husband who was watching out for this very thing and encouraged me to start pushing through without the medication, or dropping my dosage until I learned to cope with the pain from healing.

Through the resource, you can also see other stories and testimonials to help shed light on the fact that this happening to people across the country – people like you and me. You can learn, through success stories, how people ‘reset their reality’ and recovered.