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PRESCRIPTION DRUGS MISUSE - SIGNS, RISK FACTORS AND WHEN TO SEEK HELP
Published At : September 24, 2026
Prescription drugs are meant for a given health condition and must be taken under the strict direction of a certified specialist doctor . When a medicine or a drug is administered to our body , the drug undergoes changes in various organs of the body where it is absorbed, utilised, disintegrated and later flushed out of the body . Similarly various organs too may show different responses to these drugs which manifest in change in organ specific markers. This complex interplay results in different tolerability and efficacy for the drugs by the individual. So any diversion in the route, duration of administration and dose of the drug other than what is prescribed by the doctor can be harmful and counts as a misuse.
Signs that a person might be misusing prescription medications are:
The person might be repeatedly taking larger doses than prescribed. It may happen unknowingly or knowingly .
When the directions of how to take the medicines are not been properly explained they may wrongly use larger doses.
Sometimes the person may knowingly be taking larger doses if symptoms are not controlled.
Such persons may report frequently to the doctor requesting early refills or reporting lost medication.
Sometimes they may seek prescriptions from multiple clinicians.
Some individuals may emphasise on treating the symptoms rather than being assessed for a proper diagnosis. They may self medicate with medications easily available
Some may try taking medication belonging to another person known to them.
Some may conceal use of medication from friends and family.
Few individuals may resort to forging, stealing, buying, or selling prescriptions.
Such individuals continue misusing medications despite problems at work, school, home, or in relationships.
In the process of misusing these drugs they develop strong cravings or difficulty controlling use.
Since there is a strong preoccupation with obtaining or taking the medication other interests are neglected.
Noticeable changes in sleep, mood , energy, or behavior are noticed.
Declining work/school performance or problems with relationships.
Financial or legal problems related to obtaining medication.
Experiencing withdrawal states like seizures, tremulousness of the body in case of benzodiazepine withdrawal, change in bowel habits, body aches, abdominal cramps in opioid medicine withdrawal, poor bowel movement in laxative withdrawal etc
Misuse of prescription medications can be sometimes chronic i.e. when the person has been taking an exceeding dose of the prescription drug for a long time, in such cases, the body might develop tolerance to the medicines. As the body slowly adjusts to the increasing doses, there are no dramatic alteration of body parameters but prolonged use make the drug less efficacious, commonly seen with benzodiazepines, beta lockers, opioids etc
However if such drugs are used in large quantities over a small period of time , the body parameters like blood pressure, oxygenation of the body, alertness and consciousness may be affected adversely
Risk factors for misusing the prescription medications can be various
Previous substance use or substance use disorder especially alcohol, opioids, or other drugs.
Inadequately treated Mental health conditions
Chronic pain or other long-term medical conditions like osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, low back ache, chronic headaches, diabetic neuropathy, post herpetic neuralgia, particularly when medicines with dependence potential are prescribed.
History of prescription-drug misuse or overdose.
Family history of substance use problems.
Easy access to dependence causing medicines — having unused medicines stored unsupervised at home or access to someone else’s prescription.
Adolescence and young adulthood are stages where experimentation and peer influence can increase risk of such misuse.
Acceptance in a peer and social environment of non medical use of such prescription drugs.
History of emotional deprivation, trauma, neglect, difficult life circumstances in early childhood
Lack of understanding of medication risks, including interactions with alcohol or other drugs.
Certain medication characteristics — drugs with short half lives can produce an instant high or medicines with dependence-producing effects, including some opioids, sedatives, and stimulants, carry greater misuse potential.
Precautions in using prescription drugs
We should always seek doctors’ expert guidance on how to continue, increase or decrease the doses of these medications.
We should not share our prescription with others and vice versa.
Discussing the benefits and adverse effects of the medicines with the doctor helps us to understand the medicine better and helps us to make an informed choice.
Seeking help is essential, sooner the better.
When a person seek help, there is shift from denial to acceptance of misuse by the individual which is necessary for a successful outcome.
If we observe any one around us using prescription drugs in ways other than prescribed by the doctor, a non confrontational open communication with the patient is needed.
However if it is being used in very harmful doses and if there is history of previous such usage, prompt treatment from doctor is required and patient may need to be brought for hospitalisation for supervised care.
If the patient has a tendency to develop dependence on other substances, help should be sought regularly so that misuse of prescription drugs could be prevented.
If there is a tendency to cope with difficult emotions and situations by misusing the prescription drugs, working on developing adaptive coping helps.
Elderly people often may face sleep problems and may tend to randomly use sleep medicines. Proper care and support is required to avoid misuse and treat them.
Approaching the right expert (or department) also helps in unnecessary use and misuse of medicines. Since many symptoms of pain, sleep etc are constant across different diagnoses, it may be difficult for the patient to search for the right expert doctor. A proper guidance from the family physician may be helpful.
Help should be sought if there is a medical history of physical pain and use of opioid pain medicines frequently, certain patient groups with reduced kidney functions may be prone to use opioid pain medicine more frequently.
In nutshell, indiscriminate and unguided use of prescription drugs can do more harm than good, complicating the primary condition and having poorer outcomes