To understand the opioid crisis and how people get addicted, one must understand addiction itself.

The Oxford definition for disease is "A disorder of structure or function in a human, animal, or plant, especially one that produces specific signs or symptoms or that affects a specific location and is not simply a direct result of physical injury." Addiction is a disease. When someone is addicted to a drug, the drug takes over their life, and most of the decisions they make are to benefit their addiction. Drug addiction is misconceived to be something bad people have or people with no willpower. The people that say those things have never experienced what it is like to have an addiction or have someone close to them be taken over by one. Overcoming a drug addiction is a hard process and takes more than just themselves; having a strong support system with people that believe in you is the best thing a person struggling with an addiction could have.

How do people get addicted to opioids?

Opioids attach to proteins called opioid receptors on nerve cells in the brain, spinal cord, gut, and other parts of the body. When this happens, the opioids block pain messages sent from the body through the spinal cord to the brain. The different opioid receptors shut down in order to release dopamine to make people feel euphoric. After that feeling of euphoria, you want to feel it again, so you keep taking them. Many people resort to buying drugs illegally after their prescription ends.

Is the pain and mental health of leaving patients a higher priority then what they could become if addicted to opioids?

Opioid pain relievers are generally safe when taken for a short time and as prescribed by a doctor, but because they produce euphoria from dopamine in addition to pain relief, they can be misused. Also, patients whose brains are more susceptible to addictive behaviors should manage their pain with medicine that is not addictive. While the pain goes away, addiction begins. Studies have proven that ibuprofen and acetaminophen work better than opioids do when it comes to pain relief. Since these are stronger and way less dangerous, often there is no need for opioids.