What is the difference between drug use misuse and abuse

Share Buttons. However, there is a range of short- and long-term health consequences for each type of prescription drug used inappropriately: Stimulants have side effects in common with cocaine, and may include paranoia, dangerously high body temperatures, and an irregular heartbeat, especially if stimulants are taken in large doses or in ways other than swallowing a pill. Opioids , which act on the same parts of the brain as heroin, can cause drowsiness, nausea, constipation, and, depending on the amount taken, slowed breathing.

Depressants can cause slurred speech, shallow breathing, fatigue, disorientation, lack of coordination, and seizures upon withdrawal from chronic use. Parents, children, and prescribers must be educated on the impact of prescription drugs on the developing brain. Safe storage and disposal of medications diminish opportunities for easy access.

Prescription drug monitoring: Many people are calling on doctors and pharmacies to better monitor how and how often drugs are prescribed. Doctors more readily hand out prescription painkillers than they did ten years ago, and, according to some sources, pharmacists do not habitually check prescription drug registries, which help to identify potential over-prescribing and misuse. Another common example is people using ADHD medications like Ritalin to lose weight or increase their focus during late-night study sessions.

While the term drug abuse sounds very similar to drug misuse, the technical definition is a little different.

You can see from these definitions that there is a sort of progression from drug misuse to drug abuse and then to addiction, with the defining feature of drug abuse being that the drug misuse has gotten to the point that it is causing harm to the person. For example, if you start to misuse the painkillers in the earlier example to the point that you are driving under the influence of drugs or having difficulty safely managing your life or taking care of those around you, it has crossed the line into drug abuse.

Drug abuse is also where addiction starts to take root, as shown in the dependence syndrome above. Once you start abusing drugs on a regular basis, your body gets used to operating with those drugs in your system as its baseline normal mode. You also start to develop a tolerance, which means you will need more and more of the substance to achieve the effects.

If you try to stop using the drugs, your body will go through withdrawal, which can have unpleasant physical and mental side effects. The terms misuse and abuse are often used interchangeably, but there is a distinct difference.

Prescription drug ABUSE is the use of a medication without a prescription, in a way other than as prescribed, or for the experience or feelings elicited, as defined by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. For example, when a person takes a prescription drug to get a pleasant or euphoric feeling i. The abuse of certain prescription drugs — opioids, central nervous system depressants, and stimulants — can lead to a variety of adverse health effects, including addiction.

Those are examples of drug misuse because, according to the FDA, the person is treating themselves, but not according to the directions of their health care providers. Prescription medication is designed and intended to help with a variety of medical needs. However, misuse and abuse of prescription medication is all too common today. It is important to know the signs of both misuse and abuse in order to avoid negative consequences that ultimately follow.

The misuse or abuse of a prescription drug, in short, means there is no medical oversight. In other words, the misuse and abuse of drugs such as OxyContin can lead to respiratory failure simply by taking more than prescribed. Misuse and abuse of Xanax can lead to life-threatening withdrawal seizures.