Addiction - Is Addiction a Disease?

This article comes from a booklet entitled "The Life Cycle and Mechanics of Addiction" by Gary Smith CCDC, Executive Director of Narconon Arrowhead and copies may be obtained at www.stopaddiction.com or 800-468-6933.

Is Addiction a Disease?

Whether a person is genetically or bio-chemically predisposed to addiction or alcoholism is a controversy that has been debated for years within the scientific, medical and chemical dependency communities. One school of thought advocates the “disease concept” which embraces the notion that addiction is an inherited disease, and that the individual is permanently ill at a genetic level, even for those experiencing long periods of sobriety.

Another philosophy argues that addiction is a dual problem consisting of a physical and mental dependency on chemicals, compounded by a pre-existing mental disorder (i.e., clinical depression, bipolar disorder or some other mental illness), and that the mental disorder needs to be treated first as the primary cause of the addiction.

A third philosophy subscribes to the idea that chemical dependency leads to permanent “chemical imbalances” in the neurological system that must be treated with psychotropic medications after the person has withdrawn from their drug of choice.

The fact remains that there is some scientific research that favors each of these addiction concepts, but none of them are absolute. Based on national averages, addiction treatment has a 16% to 20% recovery rate. The message is pretty clear that these theories are just that, theories, and we have a lot more to learn if we are to bring the national recovery rate to a more desirable level.

There is a fourth school of thought which has proven to be more accurate. It has to do with the life cycle of addiction. This data is universally applicable to addiction, no matter which hypothesis is used to explain the phenomenon of chemical dependency.

The life cycle of addiction begins with a problem, discomfort or some form of emotional or physical pain a person is experiencing. The person finds this very difficult to deal with.

Here is an individual who, like most people in our society, is basically good. He has encountered a problem that is causing him physical or emotional pain and discomfort that he does not have an immediate answer for. Examples would include difficulty “fitting in” as a child or teenager, puberty, physical injuries such a broken bone, a bad back or some other chronic physical condition. Whatever the origin of the difficulty is, the discomfort associated with it presents the individual with a real problem. He feels this problem is a major situation that is persisting. He can see no immediate resolution or relief from it. Most of us have experienced this in our lives to a greater or lesser degree.

Once the person takes a drug, he feels relief from the discomfort, even though the relief is only temp-orary. That drink or drug is adopted as a solution to the problem and the individual places value on the substance. This assigned value is the only reason the person ever uses drugs or drinks a second, third or more times.

There is a key factor involved in this life cycle scenario that determines which of us become addicts and which do not. The answer depends on whether or not, at the time of this traumatic experience, we are subjected to pro-drug or pro-alcohol influences via some sort of significant peer pressure that influences our decision-making process with regard to finding relief from the discomfort. Peer pressure can manifest itself in many different ways. It can come from friends or family members or through some avenue of advertising or promotion which, when combined with the degree of relief we receive from the drug or drink, determines the severity of the use. Simply put, the bigger the problem, the greater the discomfort the person experiences. The greater the discomfort, the more importance the person places on relieving it and the greater the value he assigns to that which brought about the relief.

For those that start down the path of addiction, they will encounter other physical, mental and lifestyle changes along the way that will begin to cause the individual’s quality of life to deteriorate. If the drug or alcohol abuse continues unchecked, eventually the person is faced with so many unpleasant circum-stances in his life that each sober moment is filled with so much despair and misery that all he wants to do is escape these feelings by medicating them away. This is the downward spiral of addiction. At this point for most there are only three inevitable outcomes: death, prison or sobriety.

Depression as a Barrier to Recovery

There seems to be a lot of confusion of the role depression plays in addiction recovery. There is the theory of "dual diagnosis" where it is believed that depression needs to be treated as a mental illness that is existing along with the drug addiction or alcoholism. I don't personally agree with that idea, but regardless of my beliefs depression and the handling of it is a very real and vital part of any lasting addiction recovery. When those of us who have been in the throes of addiction and the addictive lifestyle take a look at the very real damage we have caused by our actions to self and others, it almost naturally follows that we are going to feel depressed about these things. This is quite aside from the clinical definitions that the pharmaceutical industry would have us buy into, in an effort to further line their own pockets with additional prescirption sales, many of which have their own addictive qualities, to say nothing of sometimes horrendous side effects. Narconon Arrowhead, a drug free holistic approach to addiction treamtne, has a page on their website that explains the phenomena and handling of depression in real, understandable, and compassionate terms. Take a look and see if you don't agree.

Read the Article - The Second Barrier to Successful Recovery: Depression

Holistic Drug Rehab Enables Native American Man to Reclaim his Life from Drugs and Alcohol

Hi!. Got another success story I would like to share with you. I really enjoy reading the success of others in beating drug and alcohol addiction. It is a tough road for all involved, the addict and his loved ones. So here you are hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Kayakotto

Drug-free, Holistic Drug Rehab Enables Native American Man to Reclaim his Life from Drugs and Alcohol

Gilbert Moses, Jr. was a young Native American man that many people tried to help starting when he was fifteen years old. That was when he starting taking alcohol to school, keeping it in his locker. Soon after, he was kicked out of school and got into trouble with the law for fighting. Unfortunately, it took many years for him to find a program that would both relieve him of the need for alcohol and his tendency to get into fights.

It wasn’t that he didn’t try to find help. Multiple trips to rehab failed to give Gilbert the tools and life skills he needed to stay clean. Drinking progressed to drugs. “Every time I left a rehab,” Gilbert commented. “I went back into the same situation. I kept getting in trouble and losing jobs. I got sober in rehab but didn’t learn how to stay sober. It was a dwindling spiral.”

After 25 years of attempts to get and stay clean, Gilbert’s tribal counselor asked him if he really wanted help. Gilbert looked at the time he’d spent in jail and how the same problems kept coming up over and over again. He said yes, although he didn’t expect the next rehab experience to be very different from the ones he’d done in the past. He was about to find out that some rehabs are very different. He flew to Canadian, Oklahoma to the long-term holistic drug rehab Narconon Arrowhead.

read entire article

Narconon Drug Education Study

There are lots of different opinions when it comes to drug addiction and treatment, with lot of passionate imput on almost any view. One think I think most of us can agree on however is that prevention is the preferable treatment whenever possible. With that in mind I would like to pass on the results of a recent study in regards to the Narconon Drug Education programs that take place all over the world. The independent study shows this to be a truly effective preventative measure. Take a look at it and see if you don't agree. If at the end of it you would like additional information you can always go to www.stopaddiction.com for a free booklet entitled "Guide to Addiction Recovery for a Lifetime.

Love Kayakotto

Background

An estimated 13 million youths aged 12 to 17 become involved with alcohol, tobacco and other drugs annually. The number of 12- to 17-year olds abusing controlled prescription drugs increased an alarming 212 percent between 1992 and 2003. For many youths, substance abuse precedes academic and health problems including lower grades, higher truancy, drop out decisions, delayed or damaged physical, cognitive, and emotional development, or a variety of other costly consequences. For thirty years the Narconon program has worked with schools and community groups providing single educational modules aimed at supplementing existing classroom-based prevention activities. In 2004, Narconon International developed a multi-module, universal prevention curriculum for high school ages based on drug abuse etiology, program quality management data, prevention theory and best practices. We review the curriculum and its rationale and test its ability to change drug use behavior, perceptions of risk/benefits, and general knowledge. Read More...

Rehabilitating Lost Talents and Abilities

I came across this news release at my favorite drug rehab website recently and wanted to share this with my readers. I personally know this individual and had the opportunity to work with him on several occasions. To me it is a never ending source of amazement to realize just how much rehabilitation can occur for an individual suffering from addiction. Read the story and you see what I mean.


Unique Drug Rehab Program Restores Love of Music to Formerly Addicted Concert Violinist

For fifteen years, concert violinist Michael Ginsburg lived in a nightmarish world composed only of drugs and his addiction to them. His musical skills were left far behind as he sought out and used the drugs that his addictions demanded.
“Drugs completely robbed me of my music,” said Michael. “I started out studying music at The Julliard School, the New England Conservatory of Music and the Peabody Institute in Baltimore. But then after starting to use marijuana, my grades plummeted, I stopped studying or playing music and quit school.”

Over time, Michael developed addictions that included all the most commonly abused drugs, including methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and prescription drugs. Michael started working as a DJ at all-night raves, using other drugs all too often found around Dallas: Ecstasy, ketamine and LSD. When he got into trouble in a city where he was working as a DJ, he usually wound up homeless, so he would move on to a new city. “In fifteen years, I lived in eighteen states,” he said.

read more...

As a Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor, this is what it is all about for me! I have always believed in true and lasting drug rehabilitation and wins like this are what keeps me going in this sometimes heartbreaking profession.

I like to hear any wins you may have as well.

Narconon Arrowhead Joins the United Nations in Celebrating the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking

Ten years ago, the United Nations determined that the world drug problem had reached a level of seriousness to warrant a “vigorous plan of action to reduce both the supply and demand for drugs.” Since then, the U.N. has encouraged its member nations to implement strategies that reduce trafficking and demand within their borders.

But the international fight against drugs has proven to be a stubborn opponent. A survey released on June 18, 2008 by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime showed that coca cultivation in Columbia, Peru and Bolivia showed “marked increase” in 2007 over any year since 2001. This increase is despite the expenditure of billions of U.S. dollars to reduce or eliminate cultivation of coca, the plant from which cocaine is derived.

In keeping with their goals of reduction of demand and trafficking, the United Nations has designated June 26^th as the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. A recent report from the U.N. Commission on Narcotic Drugs stated that “a decline in consumption generally occurs in countries that have implemented long-term and sustained demand reduction strategies.”

“A demand reduction strategy must and always will include effective treatment for those addicted to heroin, cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine and other drugs,” stated Gary Smith, the Executive Director of Narconon Arrowhead, one of the country’s leading drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, located in Canadian, Oklahoma. “If an addict goes through treatment and does not eliminate the cravings, depression and guilt that keep him locked in his addiction, then he is likely to use another addictive drug, often soon after he leaves rehab.

“Because the long-term, holistic and drug-free program at Narconon Arrowhead addresses and handles all three barriers to addiction recovery, 70% of our graduates stay clean and sober after they leave,” Smith added. “Since its inception in 1966, Narconon has been completely dedicated to the same goals as those described by the United Nations.”

Those who have a loved one suffering from addiction have little to celebrate unless they can find a way to help the addict recover from addiction. To help in this situation, Narconon has just released a free booklet titled Guide to Addiction Recovery for a Lifetime. Families can learn what addiction is and how it can be overcome, how to evaluate addiction treatment programs, and how to approach the addict to convince them to get treatment.

Those wishing to receive a copy of Guide to Addiction Recovery for a Lifetime can call Narconon Arrowhead at 1-800-468-6933 or visit their website at drug rehab. The Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation program was founded in 1966 by William Benitez in Arizona State Prison, and is based on the humanitarian works of L. Ron Hubbard. In more than 120 centers around the world, Narconon programs replace the loss and pain of alcohol or drug addiction with productive, enjoyable lives.

Is Addiction a Disease?

Our topic for the day is one that has a lot of varying opinions, Is addiction a disease? Some say yes, some say no, many of us are stuck in the middle on this subject. As an ex-addict of 7 years and as a Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor I of course have an opinion on this subject. I must re-state that it is my opinion only and is not meant as any form of advice or direction. I do not believe that addiction is a disease in the normal sense of the word. Can it set one up for various ailments and disease as a result of abuse and addiction - Of course! But to say that it itself is a disease is a bit misleading at best, as far as my thinking goes. The link above I feel gives a very nice introduction to the subject and I would like to know what others are thinking in regards to the idea?