|
|
Addiction and Alternative Medicine
By Randi Fredricks
return to articles
| 
Addiction is a dependence, on a behavior or substance, that a person is powerless to stop. The term has been partially replaced by the word
dependence for substance abuse. Addiction has been extended, however, to include mood-altering behaviors or activities.
Some researchers speak of two types of addictions: substance addictions (for example, alcoholism, drug abuse, and smoking); and process addictions (for example, gambling, spending, shopping, eating, and sexual activity). There is a growing recognition that many addicts, such as polydrug abusers, are addicted to more than one substance or process. For our purposes, the word addict and alcoholic are interchangeable.
Description
Addiction is one of the most costly public health problems in the United States. It is a progressive syndrome, which means that it increases in severity over time unless it is treated.
Causes and Symptoms
Addiction to substances results from the interaction of several factors:
- Drug chemistry - Some substances are more addictive than others, either because they produce a rapid and
intense change in mood; or because they produce painful withdrawal symptoms when stopped suddenly.
- Genetic factor - Some people appear to be more vulnerable to addiction because their body chemistry
increases their sensitivity to drugs. Some forms of substance abuse and dependence seem to run in families;
and this may be the result of a genetic predisposition, environmental influences, or a combination of both.
- Social learning - Social learning is considered the most important single factor. It includes patterns of
use in the addict's family or subculture, peer pressure, and advertising or media influence.
- Availability - Inexpensive or readily available tobacco, alcohol, or drugs produce marked increases
in rates of addiction.
- Individual development - Before the 1980s, the so-called addictive personality was used to explain
the development of addiction. The addictive personality was described as escapist, impulsive, dependent,
devious, manipulative, and self-centered. Many doctors now believe that these character traits develop in
addicts as a result of the addiction, rather than the traits being a cause of the addiction.
Diagnosis
In addition to a preoccupation with using and acquiring the abused substance, the diagnosis of
addiction is based on five criteria:
- Loss of willpower
- Harmful consequences
- Unmanageable lifestyle
- Tolerance or escalation of use
- Withdrawal symptoms upon quitting
Treatment
Treatment requires both medical and social approaches. Substance addicts may need hospital treatment
to manage withdrawal symptoms. Individual or group psychotherapy is often helpful, but only after
substance use has stopped. Anti-addiction medications, such as methadone and naltrexone, are also commonly used.
The most frequently recommended social form of outpatient treatment is twelve-step programs. Such programs are
also frequently combined with psychotherapy as well as other methods. There are twelve-step groups for all
major substance and process addictions. All twelve-step groups are based on the original twelve steps of
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). The twelve steps of AA are as follows:
- We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable.
- Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
- Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
- Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
- Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
- Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
- Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
- Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
- Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
- Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
- Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only
for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
- Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics
and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
Alternative Medicine
Alternative medicine, sometimes called complimentary medicine, is very effective when used with other support
systems, such as a twelve-step program. All of the alternative approaches are used by non-addicted people as well,
as opposed to a twelve-step program which is addiction specific. Some of the alternative methods that recovering
people have found useful are as follows:
- Body Work – Massage, acupressure, acupuncture, energy work, kineseology, etcetera. Body work is very
effective is relaxing, reducing stress and balancing the energy of the body.
- Nutrition – Nutrition and exercise are often overlooked by addicts. In addition, drugs, alcohol and stress
from addiction can significantly deplete the body of vital nutrients.
- Herbology – Herbs can be particularly useful for the stressed-out immune system of the addict.
Pharmacology is often not eh answer as it can produce side effects and cause further stress on the already
compromised immune system. Aromatherapy and the use of essential oils can also help with healing.
- Coaching and Counseling – Counseling has come a long way from the classic dogma where the patient
primarily sits and talks. One of the most effective methods, started in the 1970s, is Neuro-Linguistic
Programming (NLP). Originally designed after the most effective therapists and psychiatrists of our day,
such as Virginia Satir and Milton Erickson, NLP tends to have far faster results than traditional psychotherapy.
- Meditation – Meditation helps to quiet the mind and induces relaxation. People can learn to meditate in a
variety of ways. Many people use an experienced teacher or spiritual guide.
- Learning Disabilities - Reportedly half of the people the Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) are addicts.
In addition, addicts have a variety of other learning disabilities. There are a variety of ways to treat
learning disabilities that have the added benefit of improving concentration and moods. The most prevalent
treatment is psychoacoustics, a form of sound therapy.
- General Medicine – Naturopathy, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurvedic, Homeopathy and Alternative
Dentistry all have unique ways of treating the body and addiction naturally. Many people respond better to
Alternative General Medicine than they do to Tradition Medicine, primarily because Alternative Medicine
stresses preventative medicine and building the immune system, whereas Traditional Medicine tends to
depend primarily on the use of pharmacology.
There's also a school of thought that addiction and codependency share the same roots. Just as an alcoholic or an addict is addicted to a substance, the codependent is addicted to some person, place or thing, such as the relationship with he alcoholic or addict. This dynamic is seen more often than not in the immediate family of the addict.
|
|
|
Monday, January 05, 2009
