The misuse of prescription drugs in America is on the rise. For a country with just 5% of the world’s population, we consume our share of medications and then some – three-quarters of the world’s prescription drugs! And in 2010, enough prescription painkillers were prescribed to medicate every single American adult every 4 hours for an entire month.

Most abused prescription drugs fall within three categories: painkillers, tranquilizers, and stimulants. In the past month, 6.2 million people have used prescription drugs non-medically. From this infographic, you can learn a little bit more about the people who abuse prescription medications: where they live (non-medical usage rates are highest in the West), where they got their drugs (mostly from friends and relatives), and the reasons teens cite for abusing Rx drugs (the #1 reason? They’re easy to find).

Please help us spread the word about prescription drug abuse by sharing this infographic with your friends, families, and readers.

Recently we published an infographic called “Your Baby on Drugs” to illustrate the harmful effects that drug and substance abuse while pregnant can have on the welfare of both the mother and the child to be born.

Feeling Good is an Inside Job

So, you’re clean and sober and your body begins the process by detoxing. Our bodies are ultra-efficient machines when they are working at their optimum potential. However, when we’re getting high and drinking, our bodies have been working overtime to filter out all the chemicals we’ve been abusing. Our liver is tired! Our lungs, exhausted! And our brains… worn out. Our bodies have been overworked and it, too, needs to recover.

Nutrition

You finally have your appetite back. This is a miracle in of itself! Our bodies are ready to heal, too. Over the years of our addiction, our bodies have been unable to correctly absorb the required amount of vitamins and nutrients. We have compromised our immune system. Proper nutrition is essential part healing of our bodies, mind and spirit for continued recovery.

It is important to consider nutrition in treating the over-all health of the recovering addict.

Taking Medication and Staying Clean

To just about any addict, the phrase, “Take as prescribed” is considered as a suggestion. Instead of one every four hours, they take 4, every hour. To recovering addicts, this is a joke. To others that think they don’t have a problem, this may be a warning sign.

Talk to Your Doctor, Sponsor and Friends

An addict’s body doesn’t know the difference between prescribed drugs and street drugs. A drug, is a drug, is a drug. So, when we go to the doctor for anything we explain that we are recovering addicts and ultra-sensitive to any mood or mind-altering drugs. We take a sponsor or another recovering addict with us to our appointment. We talk to our doctor about any alternative treatments that may be available. We find out if we can take a smaller dose.