Ibuprofen: A Mental Addiction

Sage Dieterle

Ibuprofen vs. AdvilAdvil is merely ibuprofen with a brand name.The active ingredient is ibuprofen, an NSAID (non-

steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) that is a pain reliever and fever reducer.

"Solubilized ibuprofen" is ibuprofen that has been completely dissolved in a liquid center inside a soft capsule shell. In the case of Advil Liqui-Gels®, the solubilized ibuprofen is in a liquid center inside a soft capsule shell. (http://www.advil.com/faqs?tid=20)

ThesisIbuprofen can be considered a

psychological or mental addiction in athletes because of the repeated substance abuse without major need for it, external pressure to perform well, false correlations, and cultural influences on athletes.

Guiding Questions

What influences can pressure athletes at a high level to take extra ibuprofen?

What perceptions cause the psychological need for this drug?

Is there a strong cultural influence that encourages/allows athletes to be more persuaded into using ibuprofen?

Are pills and pain killers more socially accepted now for athletes to take before every game?

Psychological AddictionIn the APA Dictionary of Psychology,

psychological dependence is defined as “dependence on a psychoactive substance for the reinforcement it provides” (Gerrig)

Influence of External PressureMany athletes are under immense pressure

to perform well and at a high standard. “Kids are under pressure to play at a much

higher level and with more intensity than they did decades ago. A player who shows potential may play on two or three different teams during a single season. And Safe Kids found there’s a lot of pressure to stay in the game—even when you’re hurt.” (http://advancingyourhealth.org/orthopedics/2012/05/21/athletic-injuries-young-athletes-play-through-pain/)

Pressure Continued“It’s very important for the kid to stay on the team, so a lot

of times they’ll mask the injury,” says Dr. Fletcher. (http://advancingyourhealth.org/orthopedics/2012/05/21/athletic-injuries-young-athletes-play-through-pain/)

For many athletes, there are many influences such as parents who want success and are dissatisfied when no such greatness is achieved. Players may want to boost their performance, or try to take

away any jitters or pre-game pain by taking a few pills, but a couple pills one game may turn into a pre-game habit even when there is no trace of soreness.

Pressure may come from overbearing coaches, who may preach winning and have expectations that, if not fulfilled, can be detrimental to a players self confidence. The amount of stress that can be put on players is very high and suffering an injury is something that players do not want to waste time dealing with. This in turn will influence athletes into taking ibuprofen or Advil and not dealing with an injury, thus returning to the pills each time they play to handle the pain, often taking much more than needed to handle the soreness.

Further PressureThe psychological addiction may also be, inadvertently

contributed to by the teammates on one’s team. As one player takes out the ibuprofen bottle, 6 or 7 others may crowd around as the pills are passed around.

Teammates may encourage a pill or two to just “ensure” that there are no pains during the game. And that performance may provoke athletes to think they need the pain killer to make sure they play well, when really there may be no correlation between the two.

Many players, after taking some pain killers such as ibuprofen before a game, tend to take it before other games or practices “just in case.” The need to perform well is overtaking athletes and influencing them to take pain killers excessively and further promoting mental addiction to the drugs.

College InfluencesTeen athletes aren’t the only ones who are exposed and at risk of becoming mentally addicted to ibuprofen or Advil.Collegiate athletes are also susceptible to becoming

dependent on ibuprofen. “There seemed to be several misconceptions of the

medications among the athletes. 36% of those athletes who took more than the recommended dose believed that taking more would make the pain go away faster. 89% of them took more because they thought that they needed higher doses due to their larger sizes. (Adult doses are not based on body weight.) And 41% of athletes took the medications because they expected pain after activity, while 31% took them to avoid missing practice or a game.” (Geier, 2011)

Division 1 SoccerFormer Division One athletes, Jason Dieterle

and a few teammates from Marist recounted that, “We used to take turns going to the pharmacy to get the ibuprofen, every couple of days to a week a new person would buy a bottle, and we all took a couple before each game, and most practices. It was just a routine, the same as lacing up your cleats.”

This is a prime demonstration of how the pressure to perform well can influence the decisions of athletes and easily become a bad mental addiction to which it is not recommended to use long term.

False Correlations of IbuprofenThere is a strong belief that taking an anti-

inflammatory drug such as ibuprofen will help athletic performance. However, self treatment consisting of taking wrong dosages can do more harm than good. Also when taking large amounts each time before playing, the body becomes less responsive to the drugs, called sensory adaptation.

Sensory Adaptation- diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation (Myers, 2011)

The less responsive someone is to the drug, they are inclined to take more pills as a result, furthering the mental addiction.

False Correlations Cont.Ibuprofen can be considered a psychological

dependence when athletes presume that after one game they played well in, that it was the ibuprofen’s doing and they need to take more, each time they play.

There may be no noticeable pain but the drug is taken anyways to help performance and it is a potentially dangerous habit to have.

Effects of Long-Term Ibuprofen UseNSAIDs may cause an increased risk of

serious cardiovascular thrombotic events, myocardial infarction, and stroke, which can be fatal. This risk may increase with duration of use.

NSAIDS can also cause an increased risk of serious gastrointestinal adverse events including bleeding, ulceration, and perforation of the stomach or intestines, which can be fatal. (http://www.drugs.com/pro/ibuprofen.html)

State Level ExampleThe ECNL Soccerplus CT team players are all under

pressure to perform exceptionally, the stress from playing in front of upwards of 60 college coaches a game takes its toll. Many girls refuse to succumb to the pressure or pain o playing and this is where Advil and ibuprofen come in. Almost every other girl has a bottle in her bag and when one comes out, we all just take a couple, whether it be in practice or a game. For those without pain it serves a placebo to calm nerves. No one asks questions, there is no need to explain why u need them, you just take as many as you “need” for some girls, an average dose consists of 3 to 4 pills. Granted there are many who have real pain, but 3 to 4 pills is a large amount to be taking as a teen.

From a Biological StandpointThe need to take multiple pills for ibuprofen is

partially a result of genetics. Understanding that each individual will have a different pain tolerance is crucial in saying that athletes can develop a mental addiction to ibuprofen.

A persons threshold for pain has to be taken into account. Absolute threshold is the lowest level of stimulation that a person can detect. (http://dictionaryreference.com/browseabsolutethreshold)

More sensitive people will be more inclined to take ibuprofen before a game if they have even the slightest of pains such as a small bruise, which can lead to the feeling that they need the ibuprofen in order to function normally in the game.

Psychologically…A persons’ attention to pain is also a factor in their

intake of ibuprofen. Some athletes know they have pain and chose not to acknowledge it. Some don’t have any but have the perception they need pain killers anyway because they could think of something that is sore if they really thought about it.

Learning also plays a role in this because the social environment can contribute to views that everyone takes these common pills everyday, they can help me too.

Culturally, American society has helped promote certain drug dependence such as ibuprofen by making it non-prescription and acceptable to take extra if you think you need it.

ResourcesGerrig, R. J. (n.d.). Glossary of psychological terms.

Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/research/action/glossary.aspx

Geier, D. (2011, February 22). Use of nonprescription pain medications among athletes. Retrieved from http://www.drdavidgeier.com/use-of-nonprescription-pain-medications-among-athletes/

http://advancingyourhealth.org/orthopedics/2012/05/21/athletic-injuries-young-athletes-play-through-pain/)

Myers, D. G. (2011). Myers' psychology for ap*. NY: Worth Publishers.

http://www.drugs.com/pro/ibuprofen.htmlhttp://dictionary.reference.com/browse/absolute+threshold