Self Improvement

from CounselorDave

In 1956 the American Medical Association (AMA) declared Addiction to alcohol and other drugs, to be a disease.  The American Psychiatric Association (APA) followed the AMA, in 1960.  Addiction to AOD qualifies as a disease by meeting the following criteria:

Primary: The illness exists in and of itself. (But may manifest in addition to other illnesses.) Chronic: Does not go away, heal spontaneously or remit. Progressive: Over time it gets worse. Symptomatic: Can be diagnosed by the way it manifests in a person’s physiology, behavior and lifestyle. Fatal: If left untreated will result in death. Treatable: Proven medication, therapies, and lifestyle changes do result in the ability to live without the abused substance.

Development of an addiction begins with the voluntary decision to use drugs. No one starts out hoping to become an addict, but as one uses over a lengthy period of time, control of use decreases proportionately.

One who is initially a voluntary user can become a compulsive and obsessive drug user, or addict. An ever-increasing body of scientific evidence suggests that the transition from voluntary user to addict occurs through a combination of processes, including a series of brain changes affecting neuro-transmitters (brain chemicals) that result from repeated drug abuse.

Because changes in brain structure and function are fundamental to the development and expression of addiction, it qualifies as a brain disease–a brain disease that translates into compulsive behavior and obsession with the drug.

We have finally learned that we do not have separate minds and bodies.  We understand biology and behavior to be inseparable. Addiction proves this link. This physiological-behavioral view of addiction brings about new drug issues our society must face? First, the fact that addiction is a brain disease does not make the addict a victim with no responsibilities.

Addiction begins with a decision to use drugs (no one thinks they will become addicted), and the addict has to be actively involved in their own treatment for it to work.

But we do need to overcome the moral dilemma that the addict became ill as a result of their own behavior and deal with the brain disease once it is there.

 

That addiction is a brain disease helps explain why people need treatment; why most cannot just stop through exerted will power.

They literally have a changed brain. Because addiction is a complex bio-behavioral disorder, that’s development and expression are tightly woven into social context, addiction treatment inevitably has many different variations and techniques, sometimes including medicines and behavioral therapies.

As a brain disease, addiction is much more complicated than using a lot of drugs. Addiction has wide range of medical, behavioral and social consequences that affect one’s ability to function in virtually every area of life and society.

Thus, treatment cannot be just abstention from drug use; it must be restoring the individual to fully functioning in the family system, on the job and in overall society.

The best treatment combines medications, behavioral therapies and necessary psychosocial services in different combinations as are appropriate on an individual basis.

That they have this brain disease helps us to understand and explain why untreated addicted criminal offenders have such high post-incarceration rates of recidivism to both drug use and crime.

Untreated, the disease returns to previous severity nearly immediately after they are released back into the community.

On the other hand, initiation of a well-assessed, individual treatment plan, has proven to be greatly effective and numerous studies reflect that even a single treatment episode can dramatically reduce later criminality and drug abuse.

These facts seem to be leading to a national trend to blend both health and public safety approaches in dealing with addicted criminal offenders. Examples include diversion to treatment programs, drug courts and incarceration-based treatment programs.

 

A combination of Research, Medical professionals, Psychologists, and Certified Counselors are advancing success in treating the Disease of Addiction, monumentally.  If society can overcome the stigma attached to mental illnesses and in particular addiction, as it did with leperacy, cancer, and other misunderstood diseases, with proper funding, addiction will become a commonly, successfully treated affliction.

 

from addiction


When the Soviet Union fell and greater freedoms became available to its citizens, an undesirable side effect of this change was greater access to narcotics. In particular, heroin. And, as in many other countries, along with a heroin epidemic comes HIV infections resulting from the sharing of needles used to inject heroin. Estimates of the number of heroin addicts vary from three million to six million of the country’s 142 million citizens.

Like in America, some Russian doctors propose the use of substitution therapy with methadone. But unlike America, the treatment of heroin addiction with methadone is illegal. In fact, the discussion of the subject is forbidden, as is the promotion of the treatment on a website. Sometimes, even the mentioning it in conversation can bring legal sanctions down on a person.

In 2006, an influential anti-methadone article was published in the Russian Medical Newspaper, then reprinted and distributed to addiction treatment specialists. The article claims that the methadone will be subject to illegal diversion and that heroin addicts are kept addicted while the pharmaceutical companies make a profit. Passions run high as medical and government officials bicker back and forth on risk reduction through substitute drugs that keep people from injecting heroin illegally, and other forms of treatment.

“If harm reduction is one’s only goal, then methadone may be a viable treatment,” stated Derry Hallmark, Director of Admissions and Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor at Narconon Arrowhead. Narconon Arrowhead is one of the country’s leading drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, located in Canadian, Oklahoma. “However, if a person’s goal is to live drug-free, then methadone may not be the best option to treat heroin or opiate addiction. Some drug treatment professionals may keep a person on methadone substitution for a long time, meaning that the person does not learn to live drug-free on their own.”

The Narconon program is a fully drug-free program, meaning that every participant goes through a withdrawal step at the beginning of the program, assisted by nutritional support and physical exercises that calm and extrovert the person and relieve the discomfort of withdrawal. This is followed by a sauna program that uses a dry-heat combined with nutrition and an exercise program. This step flushes out old drug residues that may be connected with cravings. With lowered or eliminated cravings, the former addict is now free to take part in the counseling that allows them to leave guilt and depression behind, and learn the life skills that can enable them to make drug-free decisions in the future.

“The Narconon program offers a viable alternative for the person who wishes to experience life without any reliance on drugs,” added Mr. Hallmark. “Our seventy percent success rate means that we are able to return many drug-free individuals to productive lives.”

If you know anyone who needs help to overcome a drug addiction, please contact us at http://www.stopaddiction.com