A lot of people make a snap judgment or have strong opinions when they hear this sort of question: “Should we use medication to treat addiction?”
Half of the people get a bit angry and declare that using medications to treat addiction is completely ridiculous, because they argue that we are only creating more dependency. The other half of the people might have the belief that medication is useful or even necessary for some people to get off of drugs or alcohol. So what is reasonable to believe?
I think there are always going to be strong opinions on a topic like this because so many people will base their ideas on this off of their own experience. For example, I know of several recovering addicts who tried to use some form of medication in order to help them with their addiction, only to fail with it over and over again. Finally they got clean and sober without the use of medication, so now they are firm believers that the path they took is the only way.
On the other hand, there are examples out there of people who have done the opposite. They struggled to get clean for years, and finally found success after using some form of medication to assist them. So they are heavily biased towards the use of medication to help with addiction.
My own experience has shown me a few things about this:
1) I experimented with using medications to help me, long before I made the real decision to get clean and sober. They did not work for me. But, understand that I had not really surrendered at the time. So, medications cannot work miracles.
2) After being clean and sober for a few years, I tried using medication again to help me quit smoking. Failed. Ended up quitting successfully years later going cold turkey. Again, just my experience though, obviously many people out there have used medication to help them successful quit.
3) Working in a treatment center, I get to see a large number of clients who get started on certain medications to help them with addiction while they are in treatment. These would include things such as Campral to help fight alcohol cravings and Suboxone maintenance to help with opiate dependence. In both cases, I have to say that nearly everyone who starts on these medications ends up coming back to treatment at some point in the future for another round of detox. This is just a disturbing trend I have noticed, and something that I did not expect.
4) People who are quick to jump on using medication as their primary strategy for recovery seem to always relapse. Not too shocking, but a good indicator I think.
So based on these experiences of mine, I have to say that our current medical knowledge and resources don’t really help that much as far as the idea of treating addiction with “magic pills.” What I’m saying is that we are a long way off from that point, and that in a lot of cases it seems like medications do not really seem to help much.
On the other hand, I still have hope for the future and for the idea that we can start treating addiction as a chemical disease of the brain, and that we can make progress in this area so that we can help more addicts and alcoholics. But at this point I doubt that medications will ever be the first live of defense against addiction…..
Recommended Reading
- Overcoming Addiction
- Addiction Recovery is about Discovering New Layers of Information
- 5 Ways to Supercharge Your Recovery, Avoid Relapse, and Dominate Your Addiction Over the Holiday Season
- Addiction Medications Interview
- Holistic Addiction Treatment Center
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
TIME FOR PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY
Responsibility brings power
“To be tested is good. The challenged life may be the best therapist.” — Gail Sheehy
Time spent on my personal co-creative process of recovering a life that I knew was meant for me opens my eyes to truths on a continuous basis.
One of these truths is that for my adult life, I was responsible for the poor outcomes, and am responsible each day for the day’s outcome as it relates to my balance. It has taken time to accept personal responsibility.
My coaching teacher and mentor, Dr. Randin Brons, publishes an “Idea Generator” weekly, and it certainly generates ideas inside of me. It likely will also generate thoughts within you if you keep an open mind. He writes this week:
“What holds you back from being all that you are?
In your journal, list at least 5 things that hold you back.
Now review your answers. Have you blamed people or factors outside of yourself?
It’s important to understand that ALL obstructions are rooted in our internal blocks. Even the problems that appear to be outside of us are only reflecting back to us problems we have inside. Once we address our inner issues, the outer problems disappear.
Be personally accountable for everything in your life and watch your perspectives shift. We claim our power when we accept responsibility for our lives.”
Again, taking personal responsibility for me life was a learned skill, and it has been a process learned over time, and an area that requires continuous focus.
Want to more fully understand the “how” and “whys” of taking responsibly, and what it means? I can be reached at khbray@hopeserenity.ca.
“Conscious evolution begins as we take responsibility for clearing our own obstructions.” — Dan Millman
How can you say that people that use medication almost always end up relapsing>? Almost all addicts end up relapsing at some point or another-irregardless of the use of medication.
How many failed attempts at rehab or detox have most people been through before they are successful in recovery? The research shows us that this is a relapsing disease–using medication has nothing to do with that-it just is what it is. More to the point, you can’t say the medication was the reason for relapse if the person is no longer taking it. People on medication don’t relapse usually–it’s people who stop taking the medication that relapse. Relapsing on most medications is pointless due to the blocking nature of the meds.
Your not making linear connections. What your saying is like saying “insulin causes blindness!” because some people on insulin still don’t have their diabetes controlled, so some do suffer devasting consquences of their illness, like blindness. However, its not the insulin that caused it, it’s the diabetes!
Just food for thought: our bodies and minds are just too different to make an assumptions based on our own experiences or even those of people we know. I know many many people that are living full happy lives right now because of addiction medications-that doesn’t mean that every addict should be instantly put on meds…and it surely doesn’t mean that my experience and my friends experiences make up a “trend”. I leave the scientific research to the people that know what they are doing–and forty years of research PLUS tells us that using medication to treat any illness only works if someone is taking it, if their disease responds to the particular meds and if the person is allowed to name and claim their own path back to wellness.
Those are some good points, Arm-me. I will concede that my opinion is based on a rather small sample size. However, it is bigger than you imply as being just a “group of friends.” I have worked at a treatment center for 4 years now that has a capacity of about 40 clients with an average stay of about 7 days…..so I am actually seeing quite a bit of “data.”
Believe me, I have high hopes for the future of medication and using it to treat addiction. I really, really hope they do some great research and find some magic pills. But based on what I see, this approach is still lacking.
Again, just my observations (and opinion)…..
Thank you for your comment Arm-me, I really appreciate your input on this.