Treating Prescription Drug Addiction

For an increasing number of people, what started as a medical need, results in a burdensome prescription addiction [addictions to pain medications (opiates) or anti-anxiety medications (benzodiazepines)], leaving patients taking more and more pills to stay one step ahead of the painful symptoms of withdrawal.

Prescription addiction cases involving painkillers and anti-anxiety medications are often baffling. After extended use of anxiety treatment medications and pain medications (opiates) many people experience a paradoxical effect, with intensified symptoms of anxiety and pain.

With increased dosages over time, pain medications can, in fact, cause more pain, and anxiety medications can create anxiety.

In his book, Brain in Balance, Addictionologist Fred J. Von Stieff, M.D. explains how and why these phenomena occur, as well as the most effectual forms of treatment. To provide the best pain-killer addiction recovery and anxiety treatment possible, doctors must treat patients’ neurochemical imbalances, thereby avoiding the relapses that often occur among people contending with prescription addiction.

Most medical professionals, patients, and addicts are currently battling against prescription addiction with limited knowledge and limited resources. Dr. Von Stieff’s book, Brain in Balance, fills that void of understanding – clarifying how the brain’s neurotransmitters are affected and commonly harmed by the misuse of prescription narcotics (opiates) and anxiety treatment benzodiazepines (even throughout the process of prescription addiction treatment). Of course benzodiazepines and pain-killer narcotics do have a place in modern medicine. But as with all things powerful, they must be handled with caution and care.

In Brain in Balance, Dr. Von Stieff explains how to safely treat prescription addiction, while addressing mental health issues and pain issues, thereby minimizing the chances of relapse.