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Pain Management Health Center

Pain Medication: Are You Addicted?

What to know about becoming addicted to pain medications.
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By Eric Metcalf, MPH
WebMD Feature
Reviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD




Pitcher broke the man's fall, which crushed a vertebra in her upper back. Ever since then, she's had chronic pain. To manage it, she's had a prescription for a drug that's widely feared and often misunderstood: morphine.

"I've never been 'high' from morphine," she says, nor has she ever been tempted to take more than the prescribed amount. But she says she's wary of becoming addicted.

She's not the only one with that fear. "Addiction" is a widely used word. But many people don't use it accurately.

What Addiction Is ... and Isn't

Addiction is far more than a craving. It also means there are troubling consequences that can often disrupt someone's personal life or job. 

"Addiction means the individual has lost control over the use of the drug. They're using it compulsively, there are consequences to using the drug, and they continue to use it anyway," says Gary Reisfield, MD. He's a chronic pain and addiction specialist at the University of Florida.

Tolerance and dependence are not the same as addiction.



People who aren't addicted can develop drug tolerance or dependence. And both can be absent in people who are addicted to certain drugs.

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