Athletes are often willing to put their bodies and minds under tremendous stress, sacrificing everything for the opportunity to be the best. But at what point does sacrificing everything mean having nothing? Oftentimes, for athletes, opioids make that decision for them.

It’s just a little orange bottle. OxyContin, Percocet, Vicodin. Yet, these drugs can control the fates of athletes everywhere.

Athletes are frequently prescribed opioid pain medications following serious sports injuries — a common threat to an athlete’s ability to play and, at times, a threat to their entire career. While these drugs aid in the reduction of serious pain, it’s difficult for many athletes to foresee themselves becoming the cautionary tale of someone who lost it all to drugs and addiction. After all, why would it happen to them? “I won’t end up like that kid,” they say. “I’ll be fine.” Until they’re not.

So, what makes that little orange bottle so dangerous? It’s due to the specific class of drugs that opioids classify as. Opioids are substances that affect brain activity by altering one’s perception of pain. They activate the brain’s reward centers by releasing endorphins, making one feel better physically and mentally. It is one’s attachment to this feeling that makes opioids so addictive.

OxyContin, Percocet, codeine, Vicodin and fentanyl are some of the most common prescription opioids offered to athletes. Sports like football are a perfect example of how normal their prescription and misuse are for athletes. For reference, research published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence, an international journal, showed that of 644 retired NFL football players, “over half (52 percent) used opioids during their NFL career with 71 percent reporting misuse.” The study also found that some retired players still used opioids long after their professional careers have ended.

Opiate use is often an athlete’s way of coping with internal pressures, such as an unyielding fear of letting a team down or losing one’s position on the team in the midst of injury. Additionally, external pressures like parental intervention or coaching expectations often encourage misuse and shortsighted thinking, which is why education regarding the dangers of opioids is critical for these competitors. Athletes like to feel invincible, and these drugs prey on that desire. Athletes may use opioids in lieu of proper medical attention, whether due to a lack of medical insurance or accessibility, or with the explicit intent of willing their injuries out of their lives despite the medical advice they may have received. However, this approach usually bears the opposite result, prolonging and even worsening the condition of the injury in the long run. These drugs could provide temporary relief that athletes confuse with healing when, in reality, the continued physical stress on the affected area only hinders its recovery.

Athletes are especially susceptible to opioid addiction because of the lifestyle that comes with being an athlete. The standard of perfection that is set for an athlete is unrealistic, and the expectation to live up to this standard creates a culture of overachievement in which athletes are desperate to excel. And this desperation — one that is specific to athletic competitors — is what drives them to use opioids.

Pain is a terrible aspect of the human experience. One that is inescapable in nature, but by no means will it ever be worth the cost of a human life. It is for this reason that athletes should only be prescribed non-opioid pain medication.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, misuse occurs with about 21 to 29 percent of patients taking prescription opioids for chronic pain, and 8 to 12 percent of those people develop an opioid use disorder. This statistic is one that we should be combating, not increasing. One way of contributing to safer medical treatment is by prescribing non-opioid pain medications. Not only can non-opioid medications wean one off of opioids, but they, too, contribute to valued pain relief. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen and naproxen are examples of painkillers that serve the same function as opioids. American Addiction Centers points out that while these non-opioid medications vary in their levels of pain relief, they have been proven to be effective in managing chronic pain syndromes. They also highlight other alternative methods of pain management for athletes, such as acupuncture, massages, chiropractors, yoga and various kinds of counseling that can also relieve pain. Some of the therapies they mention, like cognitive-behavioral therapy and mindfulness-based stress reduction, offer safer ways of coping by improving psychological responses to pain.

Through social media campaigns and the implementation of an opioid-awareness-centered curriculum within schools, we can inform today’s youth of the dangers of opioids and offer other solutions that they may not have been exposed to previously. By doing so, we can discourage athletes from seeking out opioid medication, regardless of prescription. We can encourage health care providers to prescribe these non-opioid options by partnering with or sponsoring professional athletes and sports teams who are in support of the cause, especially those who have members that personally endure the struggle of addiction or are in recovery themselves.

There is no easy, quick fix for easing the pain of athletes, but there is only one answer to whether or not they should risk their lives looking for it. That answer is no. Even if alternative methods are not as effective, or even if the pain seems unbearable, there is always another option. One cannot relieve the pain of a human life that was lost to the disease of addiction. The moment that doctors and pharmaceutical companies choose to prescribe opioids is the day that they prioritize the athlete over the human being — it’s the day they decide that long, healthy lives don’t matter as much as the temporary pain relief that comes from the little orange bottle.

Julia O’Reilly is a freshman majoring in biology.