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Addictions
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Breaking the Cycle
Ron Parks, MD & Shan Parks
Data
from the 1999 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
NHSDA survey showed that about 14.8 million Americans were
using illicit drugs at least once during the prior month.
About 3.5 million were dependent on illicit drugs and an additional
8.2 million were dependent on alcohol. In another study from
the same agency, the total economic cost of alcohol and drug
abuse was estimated to be $245.7 billion in 1992 alone. This
includes costs of treatment, prevention, related health care,
reduced job productivity, loss of earnings, increased crime
and social welfare needs. Recognition, successful early interventions
and treatment are critical in alleviating the great degree
of pain and suffering for all involved and in reducing the
staggering cost to society.
Some
of the early warning signs of drug and alcohol abuse are:
increased drinking or use of other drugs; changes in job or
school performance; changes in attitude and mood as depression,
irritability, suicidal threats or actions; unexplained changes
in eating, sleeping habits, physical appearance, physical
complaints, blackouts and temporarily memory loss; behavioral
problems as dishonesty, sexual promiscuity and stealing; change
in relationships especially with new friends known to drink
or use drugs; alcohol on breath, slurred speech, staggering,
appearing spaced out; missing alcohol or money around the
house; and the presence of drug paraphernalia as pipes, pill
boxes, etc. Because addictions can switch, all types of addictions
are in need of early recognition and intervention such as
compulsive eating, gambling, Internet, computer, sexual and
pornography addictions.
If
you are a significant other such as a spouse, friend or employer
and see early signs of addiction, do not ignore, as you may
inadvertently be a contributor to the severity of the problem.
Seek help and information from local resources or the Internet*.
Other places for help may be your primary care physician,
addiction specialists or one of the Twelve Step Programs as
Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous.
An
appropriate intervention or treatment program can be set up
once a qualified individual or program completes an addiction
assessment. An Integrative Psychiatrist and Medicine specialist
should also be included in the team. The reason for this is
the high degree of other co-existing problems that may need
addressing before addiction treatment can be successful or
sustained. This includes many common nutritional, hormonal,
allergy/immune and metabolic problems, or other medical and
psychiatric conditions.
Proper
nutrition and diet can be critical especially if signs of
deficiencies and hypoglycemia exist. Imbalance or deficiencies
of minerals such as magnesium, copper, and zinc; amino acids;
essential fatty acids; vitamins such as B6, B12 or folic acid;
related nutritional and digestive factors; and hormonal deficiencies
(as thyroid problems) all can be corrected if appropriate
assessment is done. A National Comorbidity Survey showed that
individuals with mood disorder are 2.3 times more likely to
have a substance use disorder than those without mood disorder.
For bipolar disorder there is a 9.7 times greater chance of
having alcohol dependence, and a 8.4 times greater chance
of having another type of drug dependence problem. Attention
deficit, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive, and schizophrenic
disorders are also commonly associated with addictions. Recognition
and treatment of these problems associated with addictions
may include education, psychotherapy, behavioral therapies,
natural complementary therapies or possibly medication when
other interventions are not successful.
*Addiction
resources on the web:
health.org
www.nida.nih.gov
www.niaaa.nih.gov
casacolumbia.org
onlinerecovery.org
healingresource.org
jointogether.org
Ronald
R. Parks, M.D. practices integrative medicine and psychiatry
in Asheville. Shan Parks, a technical writer/editor, assists
Dr. Parks at the Asheville Center for Integrative Medicine
and Psychiatry and with macrohealthmedicine.com.
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