People who experience chronic pain and dream of better health and well-being may seek to achieve this by using narcotics. Counselling and reassurance may do little to soothe physical discomfort. Chronic pain sufferers indicate that without a continuing supply of narcotics, they become disabled by an inability to cope with pain, and their lives are unbearable. To what degree this is true before taking narcotics is under question. Self-examination is a way to explore how you feel and what you might do.

Physicians believe narcotics are appropriate for some pain sufferers, but it's come under fire that doctors prescribe them too freely for patients who could be helped in other ways. While it’s advisable to take chronic pain reports seriously, physicians must also address a pain source separate from the pain itself. As doctors will contemplate whether pain is real enough for drug treatment, patients are left to deal with the matter. Some choose suicide. The ones who 'stick it out' wish doctors could awaken and feel the pain of the experience to know how real it is.

This said, consider the origins of chronic pain are hard to identify. Doctors trained as problem-solvers may hesitate to diagnose and treat what they can't see, especially when their position will be surrounded by so much controversy. Even when a pain source is clear, like a pair of torn spinal discs, physicians may resist prescribing narcotics because they fear federal regulators and understand strong drugs, in the short- or long-term doses, can build powerful addictions.

At the same time, some pain sufferers admit their pain is so bad, their life all but stops. When physicians are prohibited from renewing narcotic prescriptions, it's difficult to find another physician to prescribe them. Patients may be labelled as addicts or 'problem cases' associated with physicians who are under investigation for prescribing habits. This leaves the pain sufferers without effective treatment.

Physicians find themselves between a rock and a hard place. One thing that causes them to get concerned is the possible abuse to the detriment of true need and appropriate use, as well as the prospect of losing a license for perception of inappropriate prescriptions. Its not widely acceptable to use hard drugs for serious illness, even if regulations are slowly evolving.

Doctors face conflicting guidelines at state and federal levels. They are duty-bound to ease patients' pain, but prescribing too many strong drugs or dispensing them too freely can lead to suspicion and federal investigation. What is acceptable remains open to question. It brings up quality of life issues, control, and fear of error in judgement. Should you prioritize the status quo, doctor's license or patient care?

If people you know experience challenges due to chronic pain, or if you do yourself, then you'll gain new insight into the crux of this murky issue. Even if you don't, imagine yourself as suffering. What would you do? Who would you support? Which treatments would you seek? How you evolve to see health and well-being, what is possible or desirable or, what is a perceived opportunity in life, changes greatly.