Addiction has reached epidemic proportions in our society.  Everyone is affected by addiction in one way or another.  If a person is not dependent on a substance, they have a family member or close friend who is.  I have been an addictions counselor for many years and I have seen addiction destroy families, break hearts, send people to prison and take lives.  Addiction knows no boundaries.  It affects people of all ages, races and socio-economic status.  Although some people seem to become addicted easier than others, no one is immune to it.

       It is very common for people to seek treatment who have become addicted to medications that were prescribed by their primary care physician.  The prescription drugs of abuse and addiction that will be covered in this article are narcotics used for pain management and anxiolytics used for treating anxiety or sleep disorders. The addiction to stimulants used to treat attention deficient disorder and attention deficient hyperactivity disorder deserves it’s own discussion and will be covered in a future article.  Of course physicians want to help their patients feel better and relieve their discomfort.   I am certainly not saying that there is no place for such medications, because indeed there is.  What I am saying is that these medications need to be monitored very closely and given for the most minimal time possible.  In addition, patients need to be presented with complementary coping strategies at the very onset of treatment by their prescribing doctor.  This is vital, because the patient is putting their trust in the direction of the physician.  If the issue of the possibility of dependency is addressed up front and alternative methods are part of the initial treatment plan, at least part of the onus of responsibility for healing is transferred to the patient, as it should be.  When people are proactive in their wellness, the outcome for recovery raises significantly.

         Most people do not realize that they are becoming dependant on narcotics and anxiolytics until they try to stop taking them and are faced with the pain and discomfort of withdrawal symptoms.  I have been amazed at the staggering number of people that seek treatment for chemical dependency who have been prescribed narcotics or anxiolytics for several years and have never had alternative methods of healing and coping suggested to them.  My book, Peace, Power and As Sound Mind, an Emerging Approach to the Treatment of Addiction was written with this issue in mind.  It was written for the addicted person, those that love them, and the professionals that treat them.  Through this work, I offer time-tested, evidence-based alternatives that bring the client comfort while freeing them from the pain of addiction.  I have used these practices with clients for several years in residential treatment, intensive outpatient and private practice settings.  The results have been tremendous.

          When the body and brain are in optimal emotional, physical, and mental health, brainwaves synchronize appropriately to the stimuli around you, and your brain produces adequate amounts of neurotransmitters to help you feel alert, relaxed, focused, and peaceful. However, when you are under mental or emotional stress, eating an unbalanced diet, or consuming excessive amounts of caffeine, alcohol, or other mind-altering, mood-altering substances, the natural production of these neurotransmitters becomes unbalanced. Over a period of time, these neurochemical imbalances can result in addiction disorders, depression, anxiety, inability to concentrate, and other mental and physical illnesses.

          Many people seek treatment for addiction to opiates and anxiolytics that were prescribed to them for the management of pain, anxiety and insomnia.  These people must learn new methods for controlling chronic pain and anxiety as well as methods that help re-establish their circadian rhythms and sleep patterns.  Alternative methods of pain management, relief from anxiety and insomnia include deep conscious breathing, relaxation techniques, yoga, guided meditation and auricular acupuncture.  All of these methods have the effect of releasing natural, pain relieving endorphins in the brain.

          Deep conscious breathing is the cornerstone of emotional, mental and physical health.  Deep conscious breathing increases oxygen in the system, improves blood circulation, lowers the heart rate, lowers blood pressure, and improves strength and endurance.  Most people breathe shallow and do not get enough oxygen in their body.  This leads to fatigue, stress and anxiety.  Deep breathing releases tension and stress and has a profound effect on pain management.   Breath-work, as it is sometimes referred to, can be easily taught in the office and can be easily implemented into ones lifestyle. Learning to breathe effectively can create improvements in all areas of a person’s life.   If the primary care physician will introduce deep conscious breathing at the onset of treatment for chronic pain, she will give the client coping methods to deal with the period of time when the medication begins to wear off, enabling them to stay ahead of the pain.  In many instances effective breathing will have such a profound effect on pain management that the dosage of the narcotic can be minimized and the course of treatment can be shortened, avoiding the possibility of opiate dependency.

          Breath work is a powerful antidote to anxiety and panic.  When the patient can learn to breathe slowly and deeply though the nose and out of the mouth, a panic attack can almost always be avoided.  Deep conscious breathing can slow down the thought patterns, enabling the person to rethink and stop looping and intrusive thoughts.  When the patient can learn to breathe in slowly to the count of ten and breathe out to the count of twelve, their blood pressure will lower, their thoughts will slow down and they will have the ability to address the underlying fear causing the anxiety.  Benzodiazapines can be extremely addictive and dangerous to detox from.  Seizures from anxiolytic withdrawal, in particular, benzodiazapines, are not uncommon.  When these medications are used, it is wise for the prescribing physician to make it clear up front that they are being used in the interim and monitored closely, as the patient works with a therapist and develops effective and appropriate coping methods.  I have found breath work to be a powerful tool in helping patients address the discomfort of anxiety and have taught them the tools to avoid panic attacks.  Although, deep breathing should not be considered as a stand-alone treatment when a patient is detoxifying from benzodiazapines, due to the danger of seizure and even death, it does help make the process easier and more comfortable.  In addition, it empowers the patient with coping tools to use for ongoing recovery.

          Acupuncture has been used for thousands of years in eastern medicine with excellent results in alleviating all kinds of ailments, including pain, anxiety and depression.  When combined with psychological counseling by addiction specialists, acupuncture can be a holistic method to help manage the pain and discomfort of withdrawal symptoms and curb cravings.  In my practice, I use the NADA (National Acupuncture Detoxification Association) protocol for auricular acupuncture extensively with my clients.  The NADA protocol uses five specific ear acupuncture points on each ear for addiction treatment:

Sympathetic point – Balances sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous

systems and has a strong analgesic effect. 

Shen-men point – Called “Spirit Gate”, has a calming and relaxing effect to

help alleviate anxiety and nervousness that can accompany withdrawal.

Kidney point – Tones and stimulates the source of energy and essence that

is often damaged through chemical abuse. The kidney point can also help

resolve fear and increase the willpower needed to overcome addiction.

Liver point – Promotes repair of the Liver from drug and alcohol abuse and

aids in resolving anger and aggression.

Lung point – Strengthens the immune system and accelerates    

detoxification. Emotionally, it is associated with grief and letting go.

Auricular acupuncture has the effect of increasing the release of inhibitory neurotransmitters in the brain, while decreasing the release of excitatory neurotransmitters. This has a powerful effect in helping clients who struggle with anxiety disorders.  Because the effects of acupuncture seem to be cumulative in effect, the typical protocol is to administer acupuncture four times a week for the first month, then decrease the procedure to three times a week for two weeks and then weekly treatments as needed.

          It is exciting to see more and more primary care physicians and psychiatrists embrace acupuncture as a complementary approach to the treatment of addiction.  It is very effective in the initial withdrawal phase, alleviating nausea, pain and anxiety.  It is equally as effective in the post acute withdrawal phase, which in some cases, can last several months.   Auricular acupuncture, when used consistently, effectively alleviates symptoms such as fear, depression and anxiety that often lead a patient back to alcohol or drug use.

          Auricular acupuncture is equally effective in a group or individual setting.  In many cases, it relaxes the patient so that they are able to be more present and focused in the therapy session.  Auricular acupuncture, when used in the residential treatment setting, has the effect of making the client more comfortable, keeping them engaged longer which increases completion rates.  If the client completes the treatment process successfully and follows up with additional support, the prognosis for long-term sobriety increases dramatically.

          Yoga is a strong complementary component in the treatment of addictions. Yoga is used as a viable component of therapy for the treatment of addictive and co-occurring disorders with tremendous success, enabling people to live healthy, productive lives, often without the aid of psychotropic medications. Although at times it is met with resistance, when people let go of resistance and lean into the practice they begin to see its benefits and quickly become more open to it. Part of recovery is learning to get out of our comfort zones and learning to do things differently.

          Yoga quickly builds strength and stamina in the client.  The slow meditative poses teach the patient the principle of developing a strong core with a quiet mind.  This is particularly beneficial for the client who struggles with anger issues or who tends to be reactionary.  Yoga teaches us to breathe into difficult situations and allow them to gently and naturally take care of themselves.

          Yoga practice that is combined with guided meditation is particularly helpful for the person recovering from addictions.  This is because the core component of addiction is shame and guilt.  What we believe in our heart, we will manifest in our lives.  Guided imagery and positive affirmation have immense power to change one’s belief system.  When clients are taught to look for the positive aspects of themselves and their life experiences, this is what they begin to focus on.  What we focus on is what we create.

          Allopathic medicine have aided humanity in immeasurable ways, there is no question about it.  But, we must consider as well that we are all responsible for our emotional, physical and mental well-being and that within each one of us is tremendous power to create peace, power and a sound mind in our lives. My encouragement is for the primary care physician to empower their patients with these time-tested, evidenced based methods of treatment in combination with acute treatment of symptoms.  What a gift you will be offering to those who place their trust and their very lives in your hands.

 

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Using Mind-Body Medicine in the Treatment of Addictions

Rhonda S. McBride, PhD, LCDC

When people are active in an addiction, or are early in recovery, they often have looping or repetitive thoughts. They are in a constant state of anxiety or hyper vigilance.  Many have endured traumas because of the lifestyle they have been living. If a person has been using a psychosomatic drug such as a stimulant or depressant for a long period of time, their brain chemistry becomes imbalanced. This chemical imbalance can show itself as: anger, anxiety, depression, bi-polar disorder or even psychosis.

Psychosomatic drugs mimic neurotransmitters that the brain naturally produces.  The brain no longer thinks it needs to produce these.  The person is left with a chemical imbalance.  Sometimes the person even has psychotic thoughts and behaviors resembling schizophrenia.  In such cases, psychotropic medications are often prescribed to relieve these difficult and painful symptoms.

Many clients tell me that they do not want to take medications. Many people report that when taking these medications they no longer feel like themselves. I am sometimes amused that this client would drink a fifth of vodka a day or take a handful of pills to get loaded, but refuse psychotropic medications.  However, I do understand that by the time they get to treatment, they are tired and truly want to feel what it is like to be clean and sober.  My experience has proved time after time that when people genuinely want to get well, and are committed to the lifestyle and behavioral changes necessary; they can, in most cases, heal without the use of psychotropic medications.

When your body and brain are in optimal emotional, physical and mental health, your brain waves synchronize appropriately to the stimulus around you and your brain produces adequate amounts of neurotransmitters to help you feel alert, relaxed, focused and peaceful. However, when you are under mental or emotional stress, eating an unbalanced diet, consuming excessive amounts of caffeine, alcohol or other mind altering, mood altering substances, the natural production of these neurotransmitters become unbalanced.

We live in a world today that is constantly on the go. We are connected by internet, cell phones, Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, television, and the list continues. The common question is “How much can I get done, in the least amount of time?” There is, however, a cost to a society that is so fast paced.  The major cost is stress.  Stress has been linked to almost every illness of modern society.

The number one need cited by patients entering substance abuse or psychological treatment is to find peace of mind.  The focus of this article will be the use of mind-body methods that have proved effective in helping the client do just that.  These methods include yoga, meditation, deep conscious breathing, affirmation, and guided imagery.

Let’s begin with conscious breathing. Conscious breathing is the cornerstone of emotional, physical, mental and spiritual health. Deep conscious breathing improves blood circulation, lowers one’s heart rate and blood pressure and improves strength and endurance. Most people breathe shallow and do not get sufficient oxygen in their system.  The result is fatigue, stress, anxiety and a lower immunity to disease. Deep conscious breathing can help significantly with alcohol craving.

Yoga and meditation can be strong components in the process of recovery. Yoga, as union, implies perfect harmony of body, mind and spirit.  It strengthens and adds stamina to one’s body.  In addition yoga teaches the struggling addict to lean into uncomfortable situations verses resisting them.  Yoga and meditation are both very effective in slowing down the obsessive, compulsive mind that is common in addiction and early recovery.

As we consistently slow down our brain wave activity by using effective mind-body methods we naturally bring our brain chemistry and our lives into balance! Not only do these methods help us feel peaceful and relaxed, they increase our energy, focus and stamina!

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