Prescription Drug Abuse

More than 15 million Americans abused prescription drugs such as Oxycontin, Ritalin, and Xanax last year. Thousands died from overdoses. Drug poisoning has become the second leading cause of death from unintentional injury, exceeded only by motor vehicle crashes.

While these deaths are accidental, the behavior that caused them is not. Many people who are addicted to painkillers engage in "doctor shopping," convincing multiple physicians to write them prescriptions. A Center for Disease Control (CDC) study in West Virginia found that 21% of people who died from prescription drug overdoses had seen five or more different heath care providers for controlled substances in the prior year. Most states have drug-tracking databases aimed at preventing such abuse, but many are in need of improvement. In some states who do have the tracking system in place, it can take two weeks or longer before a new script shows up in the database. The Texas system does not allow for a "real-time" accounting in regard to the suspensions a prescriber may have. This year the federal government distributed $2 million for states to upgrade their databases. The upgrades are designed to test whether access to prescription data can reduce drug abuse. "The ultimate goal would be to give doctors real-time, on-line access to the data," said Robert Lubran of the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Excuses For Not Forgiving Others

1. The offense was too great.
2. They don't even think they've done anything wrong.
3. They aren't truly sorry.
4. They never asked to be forgiven.
5. They'll just do it again.
6. I don't like them anyway.
7. They did it deliberately.
8. Someone needs to punish them.
9. I'll forgive, but I won't forget.
10. If I forgive them, then I'll have to treat them right.
11. I don't want to. You can't make me.

When we let our resentments and regrets pile up it gets hard to "live and let live." We get angry, depressed, anxious, frustrated, and just generally unhappy and unsatisfied with almost everything. Gratitude becomes something that is hard for us to express. Sound like where you are right now? Talk to your counselor.