Morphine Abuse and Treatment

Morphine is an opiate drug used to treat severe pain. It is generally not prescribed to patients outside of a hospital setting because of the fact that, morphine is highly addictive, even in small doses. Morphine is used for the relief of both short-term and long-term pain, in a medical setting, morphine is used to treat:

• Extreme pain relief
• Pre-surgery anesthesia
• Severe cough relief
• Chronic diarrhea
• Shortness of breath

Morphine exists as white silky crystals, cubical masses of crystals or white crystalline powder. It is soluble in water and slightly soluble in alcohol. As with any addiction, if an addict wants morphine, there are a number of ways to get to it, most of them are illegal. Warning signs of that you or someone you care for may be abusing morphine are:

• Blurred vision
• Double vision
• Involuntary eye movement
• Slurred speech, fainting or uncoordinated muscle movements
• Tremors or seizures
• Memory loss
• Hallucinations, abnormal thinking or exaggerated sense of well being
• Extreme agitation

Although it may be difficult to think about what it would be like to confront a family member about addiction, it is even more difficult to bury that loved one: morphine addiction can kill any addict from the health risks involved. Morphine makes you a different person, and that person is not warm, funny or safe. While morphine can initially make you feel more pleasant, the effects quickly wear off. Besides the dangerous effects morphine has on your body, withdrawals or even high doses can make you anxious, irritable, angry, violent or even psychotic. Identifying morphine abuse is just the first step, the next step is getting treatment and to a safe place.

Questions to Ask a Morphine Rehabilitation Center

Most people who call with questions initially focus the services and therapy strategies offered by the morphine rehab center. The following are some questions on this topic to help get you started:

• Before I come to your center, do you conduct a preliminary assessment or evaluation to get a better understanding of my needs?
• Do you provide detox services, and are they medically supervised?
• Do you offer medication as part of treatment, if appropriate?
• Do you have a primary philosophy that you work with, such as 12-step or faith-based?
• What types of therapies do you offer, such motivational counseling and cognitive or behavioral therapies?
• How is the treatment plan developed?
• What does an average therapy day/week look like?
• Do you allocate time in the treatment plan for group and individual therapy, education sessions, opportunities for reflection and support groups?
• Do you provide services related to addiction, such as treatment for co-occurring mental illness or social, vocational or legal services?
• How often do you assess an individual’s treatment plan to ensure it meets changing needs?
• What are some of the ways that you encourage people to stay in treatment long enough to increase their chance for success?

These questions serve as a good start for your investigation of a morphine rehabilitation center. Learn more about morphine abuse at Morphine Addiction Help.

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