Pic 0: The title card appears before transitioning to a screen that displays a series of phone messages between Abby and Wes.
WES: Oh hey, how did your study session with Kate go?
ABBY: Great! I think Kate’s going to be ok.
WES: That’s cool. I heard she was asking around for some pills though. Not the best idea. Think she’s ok?
ABBY: Yeah, we talked about it. I think she’s done with that.
WES: Hey, let’s meet up. Maybe I have some useful information anyways.
Pic 1: The screen returns to Wes in front of a blank background.
WES: So Abby didn’t give Kate any of her meds, and she talked about why it wasn’t a great idea. Things are still cool and Kate will probably be fine.
But everyone’s got to make their own choices in life, and some want to find out for themselves. What happens then? I mean, I wonder how can I help a friend avoid the most dangerous stuff.
Okay, maybe first I should tell you about what happens in the body if you take some of these meds over time, without a doctor’s supervision. You know me, always doing more research.
Pic 2: The word “Tolerance” appears in big red letters under Wes, along with text that reads “With regular exposure to a medication, your body adapts and the meds have less of their intended effect.”
WES: There are some medications that our bodies adapt to over time. Building tolerance means you need more and more to feel the effects.
Pic 3: The text is replaced this time with the word “Withdrawal” in big red letters, accompanied by text which reads “Physical and psychological effects of stopping or reducing a medication during dependency.”
WES: After our bodies adapt like that, it starts to need the medication just to feel normal. So if you reduce or stop the medication, you experience withdrawal.
These symptoms can start out just unpleasant enough to make us want to keep taking the medication, to make them go away. But sometimes they can be dangerous or even lethal.
Pic 4: The screen changes to one titled “Withdrawal Symptoms” with the examples “Sweating, vomiting, restlessness, fatigue, shakiness, and others.” After a moment, the screen returns to Wes, with the word “Dependency” in big red letters underneath him with text that reads “When a body has developed tolerance to a medication and will experience withdrawal if the medication is stopped.”
WES: So dependency is when your body has become tolerant to a med and you experience withdrawal symptoms if it's stopped or reduced.
Pic 5: The screen changes to one titled “Dependency” which has an image of pills inside of a green circle with text that reads “Prescribed meds taken as prescribed has Reduced risk.”
WES: Not all medications cause dependency, and if your medicine is prescribed, a doctor can help find the right balance to get the right effects while reducing the risks.
Pic 6: Another image of pills appears on screen in a red circle, with the text “Meds not prescribed and/or not taken as prescribed has Higher risk.”
WES: Medications that can cause dependency are more likely to be prescribed short term, to help recover from an injury or something like that. But if they’re taken longer or differently than prescribed, that risk of dependency increases.
Pic 7: The screen returns to Wes in front of an abstract background.
WES: Medications that can cause dependency are more likely to be prescribed short term, to help recover from an injury or something like that. But if they’re taken longer or differently than prescribed, that risk of dependency increases.
If you don’t stop, well, it’s going to get harder and harder to enjoy. You spend more money and more time trying to get that same feeling that’s further away. But that whole time your body is adapting it’s getting even more dangerous.
See, tolerance doesn’t necessarily protect you. An amount that feels like the “new normal” might still be messing up your liver and kidneys and stuff.
Pic 8: The word “Overdose” appears under Wes in red letters, accompanied by text that reads “A lethal or toxic amount of medication.”
WES: And the amount of a drug that would cause an overdose, that goes up, but it’s still unpredictable. You’re riding even closer to that ledge to get the high feeling, so it’s, I mean, I could try racing a car along the edge of cliff, but who’s certain that they’ll always be in control.
There’s another thing about overdoses that people don’t always get: it can happen to anyone at any time.
Pic 9: The text underneath “Overdose” changes to “The amount of medication required for an overdose varies from person to person, and over time.”
WES: The amount it takes to overdose is so unique to a person, and changes based on a lot of other factors. What’s safe for one person, could cause an overdose for someone else. And an amount someone used a year ago, could cause an overdose to that same person today.
Even if you think you know your body and your tolerance, it changes based on a lot of different factors. That’s something doctors are trained to deal with.
Another misconception is that “overdose” is a big scary word that only happens if you’re doing the really dangerous stuff like heroin or fentanyl.
Pic 10: A bar graph appears titled “National Overdose Deaths 2019” with two bars, one in red and one in yellow. The red bar is titled “Prescription Opioids” with the number 14,139 at the top. The yellow is slightly smaller, with the number 14,019, and the title “Heroin.” At the bottom, the citation reads “CDC, 2020.”
WES: But, in 2019, there were over 14 thousand overdose deaths involving prescription opioids, which is slightly more than the number of overdose deaths involving heroin.
Pic 11: A blue bar appears next to the others, smaller than the others, with the number 9,711, with the title “Benzodiazepines (RX depressant).”
WES: And overdose deaths involving benzodiazepines, a kind of depressant, were also high, at almost 10 thousand.
We might hear about an overdose when it’s a celebrity, but often it’s kept private, out of respect for the victim and their family. And to reduce bad press for the community or school. So, maybe I don’t hear about it happening around me that often, but it doesn’t mean that it isn’t happening.
So that’s how it works, and why even medication prescribed by a doctor can be dangerous if it’s misused.
But if you’re worried about someone, if you’re hanging out or partying, and they don’t seem in control of their body? Don’t blow it off. Maybe they’ll sleep it off, or maybe not. You don’t really know what they’re on.
Pic 12: The words “Helping a Friend” appears with the text that reads “Ask them what they took: Drugs, pills, drinks, how many” and “Don’t leave them alone.”
WES: Whatever the answer, if your instincts tell you something is off, trust your instinct and don’t leave them alone. It takes time for some drugs to kick in and they could get worse.
If they’re incoherent, seem not in control of their body, or tell you they took a combination of medications, they probably need medical help.
Even if they look like they’re sleeping peacefully, they could need help.