MYTHS AND FACTS ABOUT ADDICTION AND TREATMENT

Among the hundreds of myths surrounding addiction and treatment, the following are especially relevant to individuals who are beginning to question the true nature of their relationship with addictive substances and are considering the possibility of seeking treatment.
•    Myth: Addiction is a bad habit the result of moral weakness and over-indulgences.
•    Fact: Addiction is a chronic, life-threatening condition, like hypertension, and diabetes.
•    Fact: Addiction has roots in genetic susceptibility, social circumstance, and personal behavior.
•    Fact: Certain drugs are highly addictive, rapidly causing biochemical and structural changes in the brain. Others can be used for longer periods of time before they begin to cause inescapable cravings and compulsive use.
•    Myth: Bad, stupid, and crazy people are most susceptible to becoming addicted to alcohol and drugs.
•    Fact: Addiction is an equal opportunity disease. It does not discriminate in any way against any class of people. It strikes equally among individuals in all ethnic, socio-economic, intelligence, and emotional wellness categories.
•    Myth: If an addict has enough willpower, he or she can stop abusing alcohol and using drugs.
•    Fact: Few people addicted to alcohol and other drugs can simply stop using them, no matter how strong their inner resolve. Most need at least one course of structured substance abuse treatment or drug and alcohol rehabilitation to end their dependence on alcohol and other drugs. Some achieve sobriety through participation in community-based support organizations (e.g., Alcoholics Anonymous), but relapse rates under this condition are very high. The most effective approach is one that combines residential treatment, community-based support and rehabilitation treatment centers.

•    Myth: Many people relapse, so treatment obviously does not work.
•    Fact: Like every other treatment, addiction treatment cannot guarantee lifelong recovery. Relapse is often a part of the recovery process; it is always possible--and treatable.
•    Myth: Once sobriety is achieved, whether with or without the benefit of treatment, most individuals can eventually return to social use of alcohol and/or drugs.
•    Fact: Addiction is a chronic condition that does not disappear, even after extended periods of sobriety. This is caused by neuroplasticity wherein a pathway is formed in the brain due to repeated use of a substance which is triggered everytime the substance is used. This is true regardless of the individual's drug of choice, level of self-control, or length of abstinence.
•    Myth: An individual who is addicted to one drug or family of drugs can undergo treatment for and recover from addiction to that particular drug and still use other drugs with impunity.
•    Fact: Cross-addiction nearly always occurs when an addict tries to switch drugs, regardless of the reason. Cross-addiction invariably takes the form of one or the other of two possible outcomes: 1) The individual quickly becomes addicted to the second substance, or 2) The individual returns to the original drug of choice while under the influence of the second one.
•    Myth: We have reached the limits of what we can do to treat addiction.
•    Fact: Treatment of addiction is an ever progressive field. Today's treatment providers are being challenged to stretch their knowledge base and find more effective approaches to prevention, intervention, and alcohol addiction treatment. 


We at Anatta Humanversity offer a Client specific , non medical, voluntary treatment process that incorporates Meditation , Counseling processes as cornerstones .

It is our experience that true recovery happens only in freedom.

ADDICTION TO PRESCRIPTION DRUGS

Addiction to alcohol and illicit drugs has always been spoken about, prescribed medication has remained silent but IS also a frontline addiction..

Addiction to prescription drugs is on the rise in India and across the world.

There are drugs to sleep, there are drugs to wake up, there are drugs to perform, there are drugs for pain , there are drugs to focus in exams , there are drugs to treat various physical ailments which are being abused on a large scale-pain medications, cough syrups etc etc..

There is a chemical maelstrom brewing  in the brain and body of a large population of humanity addiction to which is as life threatening as addiction to alcohol and illicit drugs . Even more so as, because as they are “ prescription meds” they are thought to be “ safe” and far less harmful.

In the west addiction to prescription drugs are rampant amongst teenagers who hold  “Pharm parties” wherein a punch bowl is filled with medicines  pinched from the medicine cabinets of  their parents. The kids then take turns going to the punch bowl grabbing  a fistful of tablets and eating them most times with alcohol. Several times due to the ignorance of the kind of medicines consumed and the drug interactions between them or side effects and the combination with alcohol proves fatal.

Several times Psychiatrists and some Drug rehab centres prescribe medications for various disorders and the patient continues on them without a follow up and ends up getting addicted to them.

In Prescription medications addictions the most common classes of drugs involved are:

Opioids [for  cough,  pain] eg Oxycodone ,Hydrocodone,  Codeine cough syrups etc

Central Nervous system depressants [ for anxiety ,sleep disorders] eg alprazolam, diazepam, pentobarbital sodium etc

Stimulants [ ADHD medication etc] eg Methylphenidate[ADHD med] , Amphetamines etc.

Medical consequences of prescription drug abuse include the following.

   Opioids  can cause an increased risk of choking , low blood pressure, a slowed breathing rate and potential for breathing to stop as they suppress the respiratory center in the brain, or a coma.

Eg.When abused, promethazine-codeine cough syrup presents a high risk of fatal overdose due to its effect of depressing the central nervous system, which can slow or stop the heart and lungs. Mixing with alcohol greatly increases this risk. 

Withdrawals from opioids-  Restlessness, muscle and bone pains, Insomnis, diarrhea, vomiting, involuntary leg movements.

          Sedatives and anti-anxiety medications (anxiolytics)  can cause memory problems, low blood pressure and slowed breathing. Overdose can cause coma or death.

Abruptly stopping the medication may be associated with withdrawal symptoms that can include hyperactivity of the nervous system and seizures.

Stimulants can cause dangerously high body temperature, heart problems, high blood pressure, seizures or tremors, hallucinations, aggressiveness, and paranoia.

We at Anatta provide drug & alcoholrehabilitation and  have come across several clients who have been treated with psychiatric medications for their addiction wherein the person afflicted finally uses both the substance of their choice and the prescribed medications thereby ending up with multiple addictions.

We are one of the best rehab centres in India who treat these clients non medically after tapering off all their medications incorporating various meditation techniques that are psychotherapeutic along with Counselling and other techniques that take the person within allowing healing to happen.

Substance Abuse and Women

Across the centuries the status of women has improved from being treated as Adam’s rib or the weaker sex to receiving equal rights to being at par with men on all fronts. The woman of today is thus a Superwoman managing home and work with élan and going beyond all conditionings - except a very deep rooted conditioning of emotional dependency. This rarely leaves room for her to develop as an individual ; thus making her vulnerable to dependency and co-dependency.

There are growing economic instabilities due to which both spouses have to work or in the upper class the woman feels emotionally neglected by an over occupied spouse. In all instances the woman feels under appreciated.

Thus, despite financial and educational independence they turn out to be emotionally challenged.

 All these factors result in leaning towards addictions. The disadvantage in the case of women substance abusers is that they have an easier access to money and places of hiding the substance. Hence the abuse is detected after a longer period of time and still remains hidden many times due to fear of social stigma.

Physiological effects of Substance abuse on Women

Women are affected physically quicker and in a worse manner as compared to man owing to their shorter stature, metabolism and hormones.

Long-Term Consequences: Women experience negative physical consequences and complications from alcohol sooner and at lower levels of consumption than men. Evidence suggests that women progress significantly faster in developing dependence, organ damage, and diseases with much lower levels of alcohol/drug consumption. Women are more likely to die many years earlier from alcohol abuse and dependence.

For eg – cirrhosis of liver, Diabetes, Hypertension, cardiac conditions, malnutrition, painful or irregular menses, amenorrhoea [absence of menses] at times, various cancers,  fetal abnormalities, Alzheimer’s ,Dementia etc

The loss of inhibitions and rationality owing to the substance abuse makes women also more vulnerable sexually and to sexual abuse.

The very roles she plays- mother ,daughter, spouse, friend etc are all affected by her usage .

In the bargain, the woman is ridden by guilt, resentments and fears which isolate her from her own true self and her loved ones

 However the woman can be trained to access her inner potentials - to learn to love and esteem herself - make herself not just financially independent but also free herself emotionally and be her own person.

Treatment
For a woman to recover – she requires an intimate and therapeutic setting where her confidentiality is maintained and she can regain her dignity, independence and find fellowship within and around her. Women thus experience living a life away from substance in a conducive and loving environment.

We at AH provide such an environment.
It is a most beautiful experience to see a woman learn from her own experiences, realize her own inner potential and individuality to blossom into the human being she is meant to be without finding the need to go back to the Substance.