tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142743152971096915.post749217498309892166..comments2023-10-05T04:44:25.174-05:00Comments on Addiction Inbox: No Pill for Stimulant AddictionDirk Hansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07429793255785560043noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142743152971096915.post-24660115264732078332008-07-16T09:39:00.000-05:002008-07-16T09:39:00.000-05:00Thanks for the thoughtful response. I admit that I...Thanks for the thoughtful response.<BR/><BR/> I admit that I was not thinking of AA and 12-Step procedures when I referred to "talk therapies." I had in mind formal psychotherapy, which has not been very useful in curing addictions, in and of itself.<BR/><BR/>It's a shame that methadone is the early example that tends to typify people's reaction to anti-craving drugs. Any such drug which is itself addictive is a problem--but the majority of compounds being tested today are not addictive drugs.<BR/><BR/>Carl Jung may have disparaged science as useful in addiction, but Bill W. disagreed. He believed in spiritual conversion, but he also was enthused about early scientific experiments using LSD to cure alcoholics. <BR/><BR/>First do no harm--hard to beat as a first principle. But the edges are fuzzy. If we do nothing for addicts, we do them serious harm. If we offer them safe but ineffective treatments, we also do them harm. <BR/><BR/>Most researchers, I think, are well past the "magic bullet" stage, and realize that nothing about pharmacological approaches to addiction treatment is going to be easy.<BR/><BR/>Thanks again for your thoughtful post.Dirk Hansonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07429793255785560043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142743152971096915.post-37518586468457168042008-07-16T05:04:00.000-05:002008-07-16T05:04:00.000-05:00Given that Freud at the behest of two seperate dru...Given that Freud at the behest of two seperate drug companies, both of whom are still thriving, wrote two seperate papers advocating and eulogising cocaine as a 'cure' for alcohol and morphine addiction, one is hard pressed to attach much credibility to his views.<BR/><BR/>On the other hand to suggest that 'talking therapies' has not had a favourable impact on drug addiction is grossly inaccurate as can be witnessed by the well documented evidence regarding the effectiveness of 12 step fellowships.<BR/><BR/>We need to acknowledge that addiction is an intractable, three dimensional condition, i.e. mental, physical and spiritual, for which science has yet to find a cure. As Carl Jung in an exhchange of correspondence with Bill 'W',the co-founder of AA pointed out, "science has no answer to this problem, psychotherapy alone is useless, what is required is a spiritual experience". <BR/><BR/>I would also point critics of 'talking therapies' to the peer reviewed highly aclaimed 'transtheoritcal model of Prochaska and Di Clemente, which has withstood considerable critcial examination, and is an invaluable framework within which the process of recovery can be achieved. It also has the added adavantage that each stage in the cycle fits elegantly with the underlying tried and tested principles contained within the 12 steps of recovery <BR/><BR/>Given that the majority of people start to use drugs in order to change the way they feel, thereby, bringing about an effortless, altered state of consciouness,in itself a 'spiritual experience', Jung's view makes as much good sense now as it did then.<BR/><BR/>Pharmacotherapy does have a valuable and in many cases, an indespensible role, to play in recovery; however we need to remember the World Health Organisation evidence which concludes that any drug which is effective in addressing addiction, does in itself, have a potential for addiction; methadone is just one example. Long term use of it as is the case here in the UK, is not just a question of swapping one addiction for another, but acquiring a secondary addiction.<BR/><BR/>We should also aknowledge that many of those on MMT continue to misuse other drugs, thereby escalating their problems. Further notwithstanding claims by the pharmaceutical companies, the latest drugs being pushed for opiate and alcohol dependence, also have an addictive potential. <BR/><BR/>Perhaps we should tread a little more carefully in being too enthusiastic about 'silver bullets' and pay heed to the urgings of Hippocrates to ' "first do no harm"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142743152971096915.post-19701820183140283632008-07-15T11:13:00.000-05:002008-07-15T11:13:00.000-05:00You are quite right, and studies seem to bear this...You are quite right, and studies seem to bear this out: The best approach is a combination of medical and cognitive therapies.<BR/><BR/> I emphasize the medical side, because kayakotto's attitude above is quite common, and we still have a long ways to go before the wisdom of pharmacological approaches to abstinence are more commonly accepted and understood. After all, it took years (and the battle continues) for people to get used to the idea that a pill, rather than meetings with a disciple of Freud, might work better on their clinical depression.Dirk Hansonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07429793255785560043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142743152971096915.post-70305618834024978622008-07-15T02:05:00.000-05:002008-07-15T02:05:00.000-05:00I can never understand why we keep having this arg...I can never understand why we keep having this argument about which approach is right. surley we should be embracing both 'talk theapy' and the medical approach to work together. I would argue that if both were used together properly and more often, success rates would increase.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142743152971096915.post-25700625156924683892008-07-14T11:16:00.000-05:002008-07-14T11:16:00.000-05:00It's not clear to me how the use of an effective a...It's not clear to me how the use of an effective anti-craving medication during withdrawal can be seen as "covering up" the problem of addiction. Moreover, since "talk therapy" has utterly failed to make a dent in addiction numbers, perhaps it's time for a medical approach?Dirk Hansonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07429793255785560043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142743152971096915.post-6805589825516506162008-07-14T10:31:00.000-05:002008-07-14T10:31:00.000-05:00I agree that stimulant and methamphetamine addict...I agree that stimulant and methamphetamine addiction is at all time highs and could easily be classified as being at epidemic levels. I am a firm advocate of the drug free approach to addiction treatment, getting the issues behind addiction out in the open, effectively dealing with them rather than covering them up with some other drug or medication.kayakottohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16363815198609483893noreply@blogger.com