Millions of Britons are becoming addicted to analgesics

According to the UK National Health Service, more than 62 million patients are prescribed painkillers every year. There has been a 30% increase in the number of people requiring painkillers over the past five years.

These figures are direct evidence of a real epidemic of addiction to painkillers.

Compared with 2010, 4% more prescriptions were written in 2011 – 62.5 million, and compared with 2006, this figure increased by 28% – then 48.9 million prescriptions for analgesics were written.

In reality, the consumption of these drugs is even higher, because drugs such as ibuprofen and paracetamol can be bought without a prescription, and in the UK they are even sold in supermarkets. A recent market study by the market research company SymphonyIRI Group shows that the annual increase in sales of over-the-counter painkillers is 4.1%. Around six billion drugs were bought in supermarkets alone.

Doctors are particularly concerned about the high consumption of drugs that contain codeine, an opiate that belongs to the narcotic drug family. These drugs include Solpadeine Max, Nurofen Plus, Panadol Ultra and Sindol. These drugs cause a feeling of relaxation and are available over the counter.

The UK's National Health Service says demand for codeine-containing drugs has increased by 45% in the past three years. Around 27 million packs of the painkillers are sold over the counter, and more than 2.5 million are prescribed by doctors each year.

David Grieve, founder of the Over-Count helpline, which helps people who feel they are dependent on medication, says the public treats painkillers like any other product sold in stores. People don't think of them as medicine and don't understand all the possible consequences of self-medication.

David Grieve says that in the last few years, almost 32,000 people have sought help from Over-Count after realising that their use of codeine-based drugs had led to their addiction. Most of the victims were women of average means. Grieve believes that this is only a small number of people who have decided to seek help. He also notes that many people have little problem getting a prescription from a doctor, and in extreme cases they act through nurses.

In 2011, more than 3.5 million prescriptions for codeine-based drugs were written by doctors, up from 2.4 million in 2006.

A survey of 2,000 adults conducted in a pharmacy showed that one in four people takes painkillers. People attribute this to stress and fatigue.

Doctors warn that long-term use of analgesics can be harmful to health. Paracetamol, if taken for a long time, can cause liver and kidney dysfunction, and ibuprofen is dangerous because it can provoke gastric ulcer.

[ 1 ], [ 2 ]