Self-Medicating for Pain: A Public Health Perspective

Abstract

Background: Pain is one of the symptoms for which any man is willing not only to go to the doctor but also to resort to any means, including self-medication, to “get rid” of it. Self-medication is not only a current practice but also a public health problem, under the circumstances that it can influence the way in which a disease is diagnosed and/or treated in a timely manner, and, consequently, repercussions may occur on the cost of treatment, in the case of severe forms. Pain is a vital symptom, and the diminution until the disappearance of pain is a fundamental right of each individual; the analysis of ethical issues in the case of self-administration of analgesic medication has not been a major concern. Areas of Uncertainty: Understanding the problem is important to realize whether self-medicating for pain is a necessity or an abuse, and in this respect, we review scientific articles from international databases: PubMed and ProQuest. Data Sources: The study is based on the consultation of scientific articles from international databases—PubMed and ProQuest, the main keywords in the search being pain and self-medication, to which a stigma or public health is sequentially added. Results: Pain is becoming more and more a global problem and the extent of its spread can substantiate our assertion about pathology with pandemic impact. Under the pressure of patient associations, of the media, and of nonmedical authorities, the opinion about the need for a stoic approach to pain has long become an outdated theory, and chronic pain, beyond a multidimensional approach, is increasingly considered not only a useless element but also even a destructive one. Conclusions: Pain and self-medication must be addressed, including in medical practice, starting from their multidimensionality from the following perspectives: medicobiological, sociocultural, instructive-educational, legal-political, and especially ethical. They are not only individual health problems but also become, when connected with a stigma, a public health problem.

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“…[25][26][27][28][29][30][31] This shift reflects a change in thinking about substance use disorders in general as chronic, remitting diseases that requires long-term treatment to achieve optimal outcomes. [29][30][31] In this model, full abstinence is only 1 goal of treatment along with stabilization, safety, and function.…”

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“…Substance misuse in IPV-EW has been reported as a means of coping with the physical and emotional pain (Smith et al, 2012;Simonelli et al, 2014;Gezinski et al, 2021). Self-medication, defined in the general population as using alcohol, recreational drugs with analgesic properties, and prescription opioids to treat pain (Alford et al, 2016;Cil et al, 2019;Rogozea et al, 2020), can accelerate the progression from substance use to SUD (Timko et al, 2005;Lehavot et al, 2014;Hogarth et al, 2019); however, the use of psychoactive substances as self-medication is not specific to the IPV community -it is a common pathway to addiction across populations. Moreover, similar to research in other fields that links heavy and frequent use of psychoactive substances to risk of violence and assault, substance misuse and SUD has been shown to also place IPV-EW at an increased risk for future IPV victimization (Kingery et al, 1992;Kilpatrick et al, 1997;Cunningham et al, 2009).…”

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