Posted by JCB on June 22, 2001, at 22:24:27
In reply to Re: Addictive meds in general:Gdog, Gilbert JCB, posted by Sulpicia on June 22, 2001, at 17:04:48
Sulpicia, I'm afraid I was misunderstood, because I agree with your comments. Maybe this example will help clear up the point I was trying to make about addiction/dependency/physical/psychological and their relationship to each other. I often have clients who are addicted to pain killers. When they stop taking them, their body reacts with a compensatory response of hypersensitized physical pain. Pain from the injury they originally sought medication to treat AND new pain manafested in muscle crams, aches & pains, etc. This is purely Physical Withdrawal symptoms from a physical addiction. Too often, however, over the course of taking pain medication to, lets say alleviate back pain, they inadvertantly find out that the pain killers also kill emotional pain (i.e. the kids are less frustrating, mother-in-laws are more tolerable, you get the picture) During accute withdrawal, people experience their original pain hypersensitized as well as additional aches and pains. These usually become manageable throught other treatments (we refer our clients to pain management clinics if indicated). Just as the pain medication killed emotional pain, the post-accute withdrawal from pain medication is usually a difficulty coping with day to day life stresses. This is completely understandable. Its also the bodies compensatory response to the absence of the drug. Here is where people either go back to their drug or continue to recover. People need to be around other people who understand what they are going through, thats why 12-step programs are so very popular and effective. I also recommend individual counseling, if applicable, to address possible personal issues that may not be appropriate for group discussion (i.e. past abuse issues, childhood trauma, etc.) I chose this example because I believe it more clearly illustrates my philosophy in treating chemical addiction. However, these basic concepts are appropriately generalized to most other drugs, especially CNS depressants (benzos, alcohol, opioids, etc.) I've found when treating people with stimulant addictions, the dynamics are somewhat different. The treatment, however is quite similar. I hope this has been helpful. For the record, I'm a licenced mental health counselor and certified chemical dependency counselor with 5 years experience in working with chemically dependent adults and their families in a hospital outpatient setting.
poster:JCB
thread:1356
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010618/msgs/67532.html