Following research by the NRC, Ingrid Weijnen (director of innovation and development) was a guest on L1 Radio, where she explained about addiction to painkillers.
Following the coverage in De Limburger of July 29, 2019, Ingrid Weijnen gave an interview on radio L1, where she talks about what the environment can do, but also what we as a clinic can do.
The reason was research conducted by the NRC (click here for the full article ) signaling that there are increasing numbers of addicts to heavy painkillers and the question is why. We too see, in our practice, an increase in clients with an addiction to heavy painkillers such as Oxycodone, especially among certain target groups (doctors, and nurses; they are quite easily able to get them). On the one hand, pain management is part of the treatment of (seriously) ill patients; on the other hand, we also see that patients are becoming increasingly empowered and demanding pain management. However, the question at stake is: is it about pain or nice? After all, you also get a nice feeling from morphine/opiates, your mood improves. You notice this after just one time and then a learning effect quickly occurs; because the brain wants more of that nice feeling.
At U-center, we can help clients with addiction to painkillers with a holistic approach focused on tapering and behavioral therapy. We offer psychoeducation on the mechanism of addiction and pain perception, and learning to deal with pain differently through cognitive behavioral therapy, ACT and relaxation exercises. Also, at U-center, we pay attention to other/underlying issues such as trauma, anxiety, depression), which we treat simultaneously. In addition, we include family and the workplace in our approach.