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Oxycontin addiction has come to the attention of drug abuse watchdog groups nationwide as Oxycontin addiction has increased many times over in recent years. Oxycontin addiction is a new phenomenon in that Oxycontin was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) only 9 years ago in 1995. Oxycontin addiction is as severe as heroin addiction because they are both derived from opium. Although man-made by the pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma, Oxycontin addiction is no less severe just because it is a synthetic drug. Like heroin, Percodan or Percocet, Oxycontin addiction must be treated in a detox facility where doctors can aide withdrawal with medications and licensed counselors can address new behavioral skills.

When taken orally or injected in this powder form, the time-release structure is by-passed and the user experiences a rush similar to heroin. The mind and body easily become obsessed with this pleasurable rush and a physical craving can develop causing addiction. Oxycontin addiction manifests through chronic use and increasing tolerance so that more of the drug is needed to feel the same effects smaller doses once provided.

Opioids like Oxycontin and heroin block pain messengers to the brain and central nervous system. They also increase the amount of dopamine in the brain which causes increased feelings of pleasure and euphoria. Consequences result as the body seeks a balance and compensates for the increased dopamine and increased pleasure. Tolerance develops when the body compensates and the individual soon needs more and more Oxycontin to get the same pleasurable feelings that one or two doses used to provide. Oxycontin addiction creeps up on the individual until acquiring the drug becomes a full time obsession affecting friends, family, career, kids, finances and possibly involving the police.

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