Young and the Restless: Nick’s Addiction Destroys Everything – 5 Devastating Consequences Ahead

Young and the Restless gives Nick Newman (Joshua Morrow) struggling with pain every day. He’s not being honest about the extent of it, and he may be headed down the dark and scary path of addiction.

Nick’s Current Struggle on Young and the Restless

Not too long ago, Sharon Newman (Sharon Case) took Nick back to the doctor and they wrote him a refill on his pain pills. That’s a good thing because after he ran out of the prescription meds and he was still in pain and was raging—I think in part because of the pain—he did consider taking one of Matt Clark’s (Roger Howarth) fentanyl pills, but he didn’t.

Then Sharon helped him get a legitimate refill. So, for now, even though Nick is still in a lot of pain from breaking his leg and the surgery, at least he’s got one bottle of legal pain meds that he can still go through. But that refill is going to run out, especially with him taking more pills than he should. And then what happens? The doctor’s not going to keep refilling the opioids. That’s not what doctors do anymore.

Nick Newman’s Breaking Point: Will Pain Pills Lead to a Y&R Addiction Storyline?

We can all see that Phyllis Summers‘ (Michelle Stafford) and Cane Ashby’s (Billy Flynn) attack on Newman is really stressing Nick out. The threat of Matt Clark had been upsetting him, especially since he’s to blame for the car crash that broke Nick’s leg that required the surgery in the first place. Also, I don’t think Matt Clark is done.

We’re in February sweeps and they exited him off-screen. That would be insanely bad writing and a big miss for ratings. So, we’ll see. But we’ve also always seen that Nick’s got a short temper. He always has, but it’s gotten even shorter lately. Like when he was arguing with Phyllis about her teaming up with Cane and using the AI to take everything from Victor Newman (Eric Braeden) and the other Newmans.

Then, Noah Newman’s (Lucas Adams) planning to leave town with his much older lover, Sienna Bacall (Tamara Braun). Sharon is spiraling because she just found out Mariah Copeland (Camryn Grimes) kidnapped Dominic Chancellor (Ethan Ray Clark) and ran off with him. So all of this is going to have Nick stressed out. That’s going to aggravate his pain, and I think that one bottle of pills he got is going to go really fast.

Fentanyl and the Newman Family: The Dangerous Path to Illegal Drugs on Young and the Restless

From there, I think it’s feasible that Nick may turn to fentanyl or some other illegal drug once the doctor cuts off the legal pain meds. If he wasn’t going to take the drugs that Matt Clark gave him, I think Nick would have already flushed them or tossed the bag out, but he didn’t.

I think one tablet of fentanyl may be enough to get Nick hooked given the addiction gene that runs in the Newman family. So, we’re going to talk about some of the bad outcomes if he does pop those illegal pills that Matt Clark gave him. The road to addiction could lead Nick to some very bad places.

First of all—and this would be a terrible thing to do—we could see his judgment so askew that Nick goes and winds up in bed with Phyllis. Obviously, she and Cane are going to crash and burn because he’s still in love with Lily Winters (Christel Khalil), and he already told Billy Abbott (Jason Thompson) that what he’s got going on with Phyllis is not love.

Manipulation and Betrayal: Nick and Phyllis’ Complicated History on Y&R

This week, Victor tells Cane that he’s got Lily and the twins and he’s trying to scare Cane into stopping the Newman takeover. If that works and Cane backs off, I think Phyllis is going to turn on Cane in a heartbeat. And I think Phyllis will try and continue the Newman takeover plot on her own.

Nick might think that he can outsmart her, get close to Phyllis, convince her to stop, and try and use her feelings for him to shut her down. But if Nick’s on drugs, his judgment’s not going to be the best and he might mess up while trying to manipulate Phyllis. You know, Nick has a long, complicated history with Phyllis.

And yes, she is a train wreck, but she’s also been in love with Nick for a long time. At one point, he loved Phyllis. And if he’s deep in the throes of addiction, I think Phyllis might get the chance to sink her claws into him again. And that leads us to the next possible disaster to talk about.

The End of Shick? How Addiction Could Ruin Nick and Sharon’s Young and the Restless Reunion

The second thing is that Nick may screw up things with Sharon. She and Nick were on their way to a reunion. They shared a couple of kisses and they talked about reuniting and it seemed to be that they agreed on it, but then nothing happened. It’s not even a slow burn for Sharon and Nick at this point. It’s a no burn. There’s not even a simmer of action happening between them.

It’s like Josh Griffith hates the idea of writing anything romantic for Nick and Sharon. Or maybe he just forgot. I don’t know how to explain the fact that he just abruptly dropped it. If Nick spirals into addiction, I think fans of him with Sharon may never get the real reunion they were hoping to see at last.

Now, I will say if Nick is struggling with addiction, I think that’s something Sharon can handle and help with. But if Nick gets too close to Phyllis, that could be a dealbreaker. I think Sharon would be absolutely disgusted if Nick tangled with Phyllis after what she’s done to his family.

Violence and Rage: The Dark Side of Nick Newman’s Hot Temper on Y&R

Over and above Nick being with Phyllis, if Nick’s not thinking clearly, he might fall in bed with random women. Maybe strangers, maybe chicks he meets while out looking for street drugs. I think that would be something Sharon couldn’t handle or tolerate. Another thing we could see if Nick falls into opioid addiction is he could turn really violent.

I mean, Victor’s son is already a hothead and Nick has a tendency to punch first and think about it later. So, he might get physical with Cane because he’s already eager to give him a beating. That could get him arrested. Nick might snap at Sharon. There’s no telling who Nick might let loose on.

I don’t think he would physically hurt Sharon, but he may throw things around and scare her. Even without pills in his system, I mean, we know Nick got a terrible temper. He’s been like that for years. So, I would expect more anger, more rage, and him maybe smacking some people around.

Nikki Newman and Jack Abbott: Confronting the Signs of Opioid Addiction

Another thing we might see is that if Nick’s getting hooked on painkillers, then Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott) and Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman) may be the first ones to notice the signs of addiction. But I think if either of them approached Nick, I think he would lash out at them.

Addicts always get defensive. They deny they have a problem. And Nick might spew ugly things at his mom, Nikki, and snark about her sobriety issues, making her paranoid. You know, addicts can get really mean and they say stuff they wouldn’t otherwise.

I think Jack in the end could end up saving Nick if it goes down this road because Jack’s been addicted to pills. So, he really understands the struggle. But I think Nick would have to be pushed to accept help.

Ruining the Brotherhood: Nick and Adam Newman’s Fragile Bond on Young and the Restless

The last thing to consider if Nick gets hooked on drugs is that he may ruin his newfound brotherly bond with Adam Newman (Mark Grossman). They’ve gotten really close recently, but before that, Nick and Adam had years of rivalry, and we all know that drugs bring out the absolute worst in people.

So, Nick might start being a real jerk to Adam. And I think he might figure out that Nick is struggling, and I think Adam might actually try to help, but I think Nick would just lash out at Adam and say, “Oh, you finally have all of Victor Newman’s attention.” That kind of thing.

I think Nick’s going to lash out at a lot of people. Addicts usually turn on people they love. And Nick’s already snapping at Sharon, at Noah, and at Sienna. He’s threatened to get physically violent with Cane. He was threatening Phyllis. And that’s before Nick touched illegal drugs. If he pops a fentanyl, I think from there, all bets are off.