Medicinal abuse risk greater for dementia patients

The long-term use of narcotic pain medication, psychoactive drugs and opioid painkillers can prove to be lethal, state experts. The problem faced in India is that while psychiatrists prescribe it for a short-period of time, over the counter abuse leads to long-term use which poses the risk of developing depression and also early onset of dementia.

Early onset of dementia

The overuse of anti-anxiety drugs, painkillers and sleeping tablets for more than nine weeks at a stretch is termed as addiction by doctors. Cancer patients are prescribed medication for at least three weeks, but only under the supervision of an oncologist.

Dr A. Shekar Reddy, consultant psychiatrist at Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences explained, “Some patients can’t cope up with pain and these brain relaxing drugs calms them down. When that happens addiction begins. Due to long-term use, there is shrinkage of brain and early onset of dementia. This abuse is also one of the major reasons neurologists are seeing patients as young as 40 years onwards with early onset of dementia.”

The other side-effects seen in patients is liver damage. Experts state that these medicines are given for short durations. Response of the patient is evaluated. If there is not much of a difference then it is again prescribed but only for a short period of time.

Stop hopping from one doc to another

Psychiatrists usually prescribe drugs for controlling a range of conditions — from alcoholism, anxiety and bipolar disorder, to opioid dependence, phobias and other mental illnesses. But patients are often counselled to not give into medicinal abuse. Dr Ramana Cherukuri, consultant psychiatrist and director of Asha Deaddiction Center, explained, “While counseling is carried out, there is no strict implementation at the level of distribution of medicines where these drugs are given away freely. Sleeping tablets, cough syrups and anti-anxiety drugs are most abused.”

Another problem faced by psychiatrists is that the patients who begin to abuse the medication do not visit them again. Dr Cherukuri explained, “They keep on hopping from one doctor to another making it very difficult to track their progress. And this is a major problem because patients put themselves at a higher risk of drug overdose.”

Why people get addicted

While people do not take medications for fever, stomach pain and also other physical problems for long, they fail to understand that the same applies for mental illnesses too. Dr Minhaj Nasriabadi, psychiatrist at Apollo Hospitals, explained, “Despite counselling, there are a section of patients who get addicted to the medications. The soothing effect that it has on the brain gives them  relaxation and they begin to yearn for it regularly. In doing so, they are found to increase the doses on their own which is very dangerous. Some of the patients even shift to injections which becomes quite a problem.”

Various studies have shown that 40 per cent of the patients get addicted to sleeping tablets and also other forms of opioids.