Paper Example on Opioid Abuse Disorder: Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatment

Introduction

Opioids include a wide range of versions from the natural extract from the poppy plant and the synthetic versions. The synthetic versions include drugs such as tramadol, morphine, heroin, hydrocodone, oxycodone, and codeine. These are potent analgesics that alleviate pain when used under prescription but cause feelings of euphoria and well-being when used recreationally. In the onset of opioid abuse, people can conceal the exploitation of the substance. However, as dependence on the drug becomes more prevalent, specific symptoms and signs begin to manifest in their lives, and it becomes harder to conceal them. While signs of the abuse depend on the particular opioid being abused, some common symptoms exist.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

Behavioral Symptoms

Lying about pain intensity to receive opioids prescription, stealing medicines from other patients and friends, isolation of oneself from friends and family, poor performance at work. Most importantly, persons suffering from opioids abuse disorder, make appointments with multiple different doctors in a bid to receive multiple prescriptions for opioids.

Physical Symptoms

Changes in personal appearance such as weight loss and poor hygiene, puncture wounds or sores suggesting IV drug use, nausea, reduced motor, and coordination skills, and digestive problems such as diarrhea and vomiting.

Cognitive Symptoms

Poor problem solving and impaired judgment, a feeling of detachment from one's surroundings, slowed thinking and difficulties in maintaining concentration.

Psychosocial Symptoms

Becoming hot-tempered, irritability, paranoia, depression, emotional swings, and sudden, unprovoked outbursts.

Diagnosis of Opioid Abuse

The diagnosis of substance abuse disorder requires a thorough assessment and evaluation by a psychologist, a psychiatrist, or a registered alcohol and drug counselor. Although blood and urine test exist and are used to asses substance abuse, they do not stand as a diagnostic test for addiction. However, these tests are essential removing uncertainty on whether an individual is abusing opioids. Moreover, these tests are a significant aspect in examining levels of opioids in the body and therefore a crucial tool in monitoring treatment and recovery.

Opioid use disorder is more of a clinical aspect and requires history, psychiatric and medical examination for a proper diagnosis to be commenced. Appropriate laboratory tests are imperative in distinguishing the different type of opioids along with other medications that an individual is abusing. Following the establishment of a distinctive opioid abuse disorder, it is imperative to ascertain whether there are any medical and psychiatric problems. Henceforth, the diagnosis will require a health practitioner to assess a victim orally or through written examination criteria.

Treatment of Opioid Abuse Disorder

A variety of ways exist with which to treat opioid abuse disorder. However, these approaches depend on the individual, extent of the disorder, and the type of opioid that they abuse. A universally accepted option for treatment of opioid abuse disorder and addiction is the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). CBT is a popular and highly effectual treatment that aims at changing the thinking and behavioral patterns behind people's troubles (Jazaieri, Morrison, Goldin & Gross, 2015). The mode of operation behind CBT is the changing of victim's attitude and behavior by focusing on the individual's cognitive process and how it relates to the person's behavior and deals with emotional problems (Freeman, Freeman & Garety, 2016). The importance of CBT is that an opioid abuse victim is actively involved in their healing process, feels a sense of control, and learns skills that prove useful in maintaining wellness in life.

In some cases, the treatment is multifactorial with the combination of therapy and use of medicine. Depending on the condition of a victim that came for treatment, a health practitioner may decide to prescribe medicines to reduce the intensity of withdrawal symptoms and also treat ailments caused by the opioids. The goal of withdrawal therapy is to enable a victim to stop taking the addictive drug in the shortest time possible. Some patients require admission to a hospital or a rehabilitation center while other receive the therapy on an outpatient basis. Moreover, detox may involve a gradual reduction in the intake dosage or may involve a temporary substitution with other substances. These substances include buprenorphine and methadone that work to decrease withdrawal symptoms and cravings. Naltrexone takes away the high feeling when one abuses opioids and is used to prevent a relapse (Brady, McCauley & Back, 2015).

Cultural Hinderances of Treatment

In as much as there is a set criterion such as the DSM-5 for practitioners to follow (Boscarino, Hoffman & Han, 2015), there are cases that prove hard to diagnose. An African American victim of opioid abuse may prove hard to diagnose owing to cultural influences. According to Liao, Xu, Zeng & Merigo, the language barrier is an aspect that limits the collection of valuable information to use in a proper diagnosis (2015). For instance, non-English speakers do not understand questions about their history of using opioids and may give wrong information. Cultural beliefs also play part in making it hard for this type of medication to work for African Americans'. Some cultures believe that medical practitioners should only be women and therefore a male counterpart is not welcome to deliver treatment.

A cultural attribute may also hinder treatment in cases where treatment requires a prescription of medicine. Some cultures believe the intake of synthetic medicine is an abomination. Therefore, when a loved one needs prescription medicine for a full recovery, families, and communities reject the medicines making it harder for the victim to recover. Socioeconomic status is also a challenge in implementing this model of treatment in the African American population. Most of the community has a low socioeconomic status, and most live under the minimum wage compared to the whites.

The treatment process for opioid abuse disorder requires a considerable amount of money to fund for therapy, accommodation, and medicines to reduce withdrawal symptoms. More so, some withdrawal symptoms turn out as ailments caused by over usage of opioids and thus require medical attention. The African American community is, in most cases, unable to fund for the treatment and victims often go untreated. Some communities view the disorder as a bad omen, and they hide or reject such people. By doing so, the person is victimized to isolation and loses chances of getting help. In these communities, a significant percentage of the elderly abuse opioids. Since it is wrong to go against the will of the elderly, they are provided with whatever dosage of opioids they ask for, and it would be hard to treat an individual who is not withdrawing from the abuse.

Conclusion

The multifactorial treatment approach including therapy and use of medicine is a useful model for people suffering from opioid abuse disorder. However, the model does not work to all people as it would not work with African American patients. The model is not ideal for the population of African American communities with a low socioeconomic status and strong cultural beliefs. The requirements of the model have to be followed to ensure a complete and successful recovery. Therefore, communities that feel certain aspects of the treatment procedure go against their cultural beliefs will not receive the treatment and may require a set of new procedures to treat opioids abuse disorder.

References

Boscarino, J. A., Hoffman, S. N., & Han, J. J. (2015). Opioid-use disorder among patients on long-term opioid therapy: impact of final DSM-5 diagnostic criteria on prevalence and correlates. Substance abuse and rehabilitation, 6, 83.

Brady, K. T., McCauley, J. L., & Back, S. E. (2015). Prescription opioid misuse, abuse, and treatment in the United States: an update. American Journal of Psychiatry, 173(1), 18-26.

Freeman, D., Freeman, J., & Garety, P. (2016). Overcoming paranoid and suspicious thoughts: A self-help guide using cognitive behavioral techniques. Hachette UK.

Jazaieri, H., Morrison, A. S., Goldin, P. R., & Gross, J. J. (2015). The role of emotion and emotion regulation in social anxiety disorder. Current psychiatry reports, 17(1), 531.

Liao, H., Xu, Z., Zeng, X. J., & Merigo, J. M. (2015). Qualitative decision making with correlation coefficients of hesitant fuzzy linguistic term sets. Knowledge-Based Systems, 76, 127-138.