Substance abuse and mental health problems
To the editor:
Most of the people stricken with substance abuse and mental health problems understand that addiction is a brain driven, bio-psycho-social spiritual illness.
Traditional recovery treatment programs, including individual counseling, residential treatment program, Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotic Anonymous, Celebrate Recovery and recovery coaching have a done a great job developing effective approaches to the psychological, social and spiritual aspects of addiction.
Unfortunately most these programs do not teach their clients the skills necessary to address or manage the brain imbalances that underlie many addiction and relapse rates are chronically high (as high as 70 percent after five years) because many of the people who try to stay sober are often plagued by depression, anxiety, ADHD, chronic insomnia and many other problems. They often seek relief by going to doctors and psychiatrists who prescribe psychotropic medications which they may be required to stay on for life. Many persons leave treatment on more drugs than they entered on and many of these drugs are toxic with serious side effects and do not address the root causes of brain imbalance.
Over 50 years of research supports an alternate approach to addressing addictive behavior. Many people are learning to feed their brains and bodies the simple nutrients required for optimal and balanced functioning, many recovering people are empowered to create a stable and enduring recovery and a vibrant life. The body needs a “pro-recovery” diet that includes amino acids, vitamins, minerals and healthy fats. This process will effectively jump starts the repair process and frequently leads to dramatic decrease of withdrawal symptoms. These supplements can be found at any vitamin store and/or many online sites, they are cost effective and they can be taken as needed without a prescription.
The treatment programs which utilize this approach have been shown to have a much lower relapse rate than programs which don’t. Finally, these treatment programs have identified underlying physiological disorders which many people self-medicate by using mood altering chemicals and disorders include depression, anxiety, ADHD, hypo- or hyper-thyroidism, adrenal dysfunction, and food intolerances. These disorders can be easily identified and treated.
Further information may be obtained from books such “Seven Weeks to Sobriety” by Joan Mathews Larson, PhD; “End Your Addiction Now” by Charles Gant, MD; “The MoodCure” by Julia Ross, MA., “How to Quit without feeling S**T” by Patrick Holfords.
K. Philip Jurson
Hodgdon
