Myths about will power and moral weakness keep people with opioid use disorder from receiving effective medications like methadone, buprenorphine and naltrexone
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Thursday, July 13, 2023
Maintenance, Methadone, Failure, Nicotine, Bureau of Medical Services (U.S. Department of State), Diabetes, Friends, Buprenorphine, Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Opioid use disorder, Research, Medicine, Naltrexone, Caffeine, Heroin, Death, Morphine, Risk, Euphoria, Drug, Weaning, Family, Medication, Dentistry, Birth control, Pharmaceutical industry
Methadone and buprenorphine prevent intense cravings and other symptoms of withdrawal, while naltrexone works by blocking the effects of opioids.
Key Points:
- Methadone and buprenorphine prevent intense cravings and other symptoms of withdrawal, while naltrexone works by blocking the effects of opioids.
- We asked what they thought about using medication to treat opioid use disorder.
- Across all four groups, we heard three myths about using medication for opioid use disorder.
Medication isn’t trading one drug for another
- Many of our participants expressed the belief that using medication is the same as using opioids to get high.
- This misperception is likely rooted in the outdated idea that recovery is defined by total abstinence from all substances, except perhaps caffeine and nicotine.
Medication is an important part of long-term recovery
- A community member we spoke with said, “It’s a way of weaning them off everything.
- Guidelines from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services discourage rapid tapers and affirm that long-term use is the best way to prevent relapse, overdose and death.
Long-term treatment counts as success
- Many of our study participants voiced the belief that long-term use of medication means the treatment did not work.
- Just as those with high blood pressure or diabetes may need to remain on medications for the long term, so might some people with opioid use disorder.
- Keeping people in treatment and alive through use of medications is treatment success, not failure.
- The latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates nearly 83,000 deaths in 2022 involved opioids.