Mental Illness and Drug Addiction

Last Updated on Saturday, 15 October 2011 04:21 Written by Natural Health Team Saturday, 15 October 2011 04:21

Health Information about Mental Illness and Drug Addiction

Drug addiction, despite being seen by many as some sort of failing of the mind, is not listed as a mental health disorder. Substance abuse has escaped that category despite the fact that comparatively less troublesome ailments or sicknesses like social anxiety disorder and (in some circles) insomnia are listed as possible or acknowledged mental health conditions. The facts known about drug addiction show that it is a biological and physiological condition, with the body craving the effects that these narcotics have on the brain. The divide between mental disorder and drug addiction is a very thin, blurry line, but there is a line. However, recent research is starting to reveal information that is making this line seem even thinner and more blurred than it already is. It would appear that drug addiction and mental conditions, such as social anxiety disorder and depression, are not as distinct form one another as initially thought.

In layman’s terms, when one person shows signs of being a drug addict, there’s usually some sort of mental health condition riding the coattails, though not everyone who’s crazy is a junkie, and not every drug addict is insane. The psychological problems tend to vary from patient to patient, though things like social anxiety disorder are common in teenage addicts, along with depression, performance anxiety, and a few behavioral disorders. Schizophrenia, bipolar and unipolar depression, and other personality disorders are also commonly observed to tag along with addictions, though not always with narcotics and other illegal drugs. Nicotine and alcohol addicts also tend to have a host of mental health problems riding in their wake as well.

Some recent studies are showing that damage to certain regions of the brain may be responsible for making people more likely to develop addictions, with the amygdala taking center stage in the study’s findings. This does not take away anything from the natural addictive abilities of substances such as alcohol, opioids, and nicotine, but it does serve to explain why some people appear more likely to become addicts than others on a psychological level. The studies also discovered that addictions for people with damaged amygdala are not only more prone to addiction, they are also less likely to discern from one substance to another in their abuse. Findings showed that it didn’t seem to matter what the substance was or what the effects it had on the mind and body were, so long as they had the potential to be habit-forming and the subjects were exposed to it regularly.

Obviously, since mental health problems such as social anxiety disorder and dissociative identity disorder can make someone more likely to become an addict, there are things that need consideration. A number of drug addicts can and do claim that external factors forced them into their substance abuse, with several of these reasons being highly similar to things that trigger mental illness. With psychological conditions now leading to substance abuse, is there now reason to believe that those who are genetically predisposed towards mental illness are, logically, also more likely to become addicts?

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Drug Companies And Your Health — Is There A Conflict Of Interest?

Last Updated on Tuesday, 4 October 2011 07:10 Written by Natural Health Team Tuesday, 4 October 2011 07:10

Health Information about Drug Companies And Your Health — Is There A Conflict Of Interest?

Drug companies are very much in control of the shaping of health care in America.  They provide enormous amounts of compensation to hospitals, universities, and journals of medicine, as well as to the government and even the media.  They basically control the overwhelming majority of everything related to medical care including that which is is taught to doctors in medical school and in their later practices.  They control what methods are allowable, what is able to be prescribed, what is published in medical journals, and what is legal medical practice as well as what is not.

Dear reader, when you are considering health care on a personal level, please do not be ignorant of the fact that every drug company is interested in just one thing – PROFIT.  This produces a very serious conflict of interest when it comes to true health care in this country.  Your doctor is very likely supplying drugs to you that sponsoring drug companies pay him handsomely to promote.  Their promotion however certainly does not in any way imply that they are the best prescription for what ails you and most of these drugs actually cause side effects that are worse than the disease.

If a lack of vitamin C in your diet has caused you to suffer from a condition known as scurvy do you suppose that your doctor could legally prescribe a fresh oraganic orange as a cure?  The simple answer (as well as the sad one) is NO.  Drug companies cannot patent and make huge profits on oranges since they are God’s medicine and grow on trees (maybe in your own backyard) and so they do not allow them to be prescribed as a cure for scurvy.  Of course if major drug companies were able to figure out a way to patent an orange, you would soon find yourself paying a truckload of money to purchase one and there would also be a label attached to it that would say that it was your prescription cure of  the condition you were suffering.  Medical journals would be allowed to write about the orange as the perfect (drug) for the healing and prevention of scurvy as well as a host of other benefits.  What would be missing however, is the small print about the dangerous side effects of ingesting oranges since they don’t have any injurious side effects unless of course you are allergic to them.

In the case of scurvy, a conventional medical treatment that would be deemed legal and even mainstream might very well prove to be totally ineffective in providing a cure, and moreover the administration of that which the drug companies have allowed as legal medicine might prove to be dangerous.  The treatment would most certainly be very expensive and again it would not matter in the least that it was dangerous or didn’t actually work, it would still be the only legal prescription for your condition.

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I hope the reader is beginning to see that placing his or her personal health into the hands of a drug company, or a doctor who is bought off by such a company, is not the wisest path to pursue.  There are certainly alternative routes to your health that might very well not be given the blessing of the drug company or the medical establishment but this does not mean that such an alternative is not effective.

Natural Health Alternatives

Natural health alternatives are interested in the complete wellness or well being of a person.  Holistic practitioners deal with the whole person and do not view the body as separate unrelated parts.  Every infirmity is a whole body infirmity and the cure will only be realized when diet and lifestyle changes have been implemented.  A tumor is not a localized problem, rather it is a whole body problem which might be the result of a liver that is not functioning properly, a colon that remains constipated, a vitamin D deficiency, a lack of exercise, a lack of enough pure water, or any number of other possibilities.  The answer to complete healing is not to attack the tumor but to support the body’s own God given immune system which is capable of healing any and every disease known to man.

If you have been diagnosed with a serious disease and your local doctor refuses to acknowledge that your diet and lifestyle caused it, then you should flee from that establishment as quickly as your weakened body and immune system will take you. Above all you should certainly not fall prey to the notion that an exorbitantly high priced prescription drug will bring health and healing even if the commercials you have been bombarded with show glowing healthy individuals running effortlessly on a sun drenched beach.

It should make perfect sense to you that your miraculous body is willing and able to heal any disease that your unhealthy lifestyle has caused and that if you provide your amazing body with the necessary nutrients that it needs you will experience perfect healing and perfect health.  If in reality true health and well being is not what you desire but rather a quick inappropriate fix from some annoying symptom, then natural health is certainly not for you.  However if your desire is to find out the cause and cure of your present infirmity as well as to live your life in optimum health each and every day then a natural health and healing approach is your only reasonable option.

Whether it be something monumental such as excessive weight gain, high cholesterol, heart disease, or something as non life threatening as acne, the true source of healing will now and forever be found in a healthy diet and lifestyle. If you are not willing to go the extra mile to initiate true healing then you should definitely be prepared for the worst.   Whatever the physical, emotional, or spiritual imbalance plaguing you today,  I urge you to take control of your own health and begin to make positive choices that will pay great dividends for a lifetime.  No one can make this decision for you but once you begin to understand the cause and cure  of your present physical or emotional imbalances, the restoration of health to your body, soul, and spirit is just a positive faith (resulting in action) response away.  A great sense of health and wellness will begin when you recognize that your present way of living is detrimental, and then choose to make positive lifestyle changes that will forever impact your life and the lives of those who love and care about you.

Find out about the benefits of natural health and healing and begin to make lifestyle changes that will keep you healthy and happy for the entirety of your life.  Abundant living until the age of 100 or more years should be the norm and not the exception.  Change your diet and lifestyle and enjoy perfect health for the entirety of your years on this planet and then die peacefully in your sleep.  God has created your body to live in such a fashion, and it is up to you to progress through life in accordance to His plan.  Natural health and healing through dietary and lifestyle changes is the only way that you will ever experience a full and abundant  life.  It’s really a no-brainer but nevertheless it is your choice and your choice alone.   This writer’s humble advice is to choose life!  I hope you agree.

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Mental Health and Drug Abuse

Last Updated on Sunday, 2 October 2011 04:21 Written by Natural Health Team Sunday, 2 October 2011 04:21

Health Information about Mental Health and Drug Abuse

Alcohol abuse is overrated, while drug abuse is underrated. The DSM manual suggests that substance abuse there are differences in the definition of drug and alcohol use. To confuse matters worse the law has its own version of who is an alcoholic or drug addict. Some of the symptoms that help professionals determine if alcohol and drugs are a problem include, excessive drinking/drugging, problems with the law, withdrawal symptoms, shaking of the hands, and so forth.

If a person drinks everyday of the week and relies on alcohol, then you are probably dealing with an alcoholic. There are philosophers who claim if a person needs a drink at breakfast, that he or she is an alcohol. Some philosophers claim that if you drink more than six-pack weeks then you are an alcoholic.

The fact is, most of the people nagging or evaluating alcohol and drugs has a problem them self or has gotten help someone in their lifetime to treat their own problems. Therefore, as you can see addictions, dependant alcoholics, and other types of alcoholics and drug addicts may alter. First all, any chemical that causes harm is a potential danger to your being.

In other words if you start out drinking when you are fourteen and continue through your lifetime without alcohol causing you trouble, or else landing you a spot in jail, then you are probably not an alcoholic according to few. The fact is the ones that are drinking and driving and getting caught are alcoholics according to the system although the level of alcohol in the blood plays a role in the determination.

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The truth is the law sometimes over dramatizes and the system is out to make all the money they can, so we all might be alcoholics by the time they are done with us. Alcoholism and drug addictions are complex, in the sense there are too many misconstrued inputs and often the label is placed on individuals according to culture and history. If you parents drank alcohol then the system sometimes will claim you as an alcoholic.

The fact is, Jesus drink wine in moderation, so drinking in moderation is not a bad thing. The problem becomes a problem when the person has difficulty putting down the bottle and/or increases their intake as well as combining drugs with the alcohol to get an affect they was had. If someone will steal or lie to get alcohol or drugs then you know they have a real problem.

However, most alcoholics and drug addicts have bigger problems than addictions and this is often ignored. For example, people with mental illnesses often resort to alcohol and/or drugs to find relief of their symptoms. Now if a professional is treating this person for his or her diagnose and progress is moving along the person often feels healthy and the alcohol and drugs are out the door.

In my studies and opinions, I disagree with alcoholism and drug addictions if the person is able to stop once the mental illness is treated. This means that the person was suffering and the substances was a mechanism to help them cope.

On the other hand, if the person is treated for mental illnesses and his or her drug and alcohol habits continue, then I think you had better get out the chair and start talking ‘one day at a time.’ Alcohol was once known as the “Devils Drink.” The White men are the originator of the source, and since its beginning it has caused serious complications, including death, abuse, and other related crimes.

Drugs are optional since the system often makes them available by teaching individuals what the drugs contain. The root of all-evil is money, and if a person sees that he or she can gain, they may take advantage, but fall into a snare in between. The system is overwrought, since they put alcoholics and drugs addicts in jail and not seeking help for them.

The solution to humankind’s problem is helping and not hurting or promoting. If we can’t get along now, what makes you think you are going to heaven?

Destigmatizing Mental Illness: Mental Illness Awareness Week October 2-8, 2011. Roberta Price, a mother, grandmother, and member of the Coast Salish Peoples in Richmond, British Columbia.
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Natural Health: There are lies, more lies and statistics in the effectiveness of pharmaceutical drug

Last Updated on Saturday, 1 October 2011 01:10 Written by Natural Health Team Saturday, 1 October 2011 01:10

Health Information about Natural Health: There are lies, more lies and statistics in the effectiveness of pharmaceutical drug

The words in the title about statistics are well known, usually in a slightly different version, but I feel it is a little unfair on statistics. However it is true that most of us don’t know how to interpret statistics and even if someone does know it might take a few minutes to sit down and decode what the figures are actually saying.

I have spent a good amount of time looking at research articles over the last couple of decades and have become interested in the question of when or whether one should take the drugs recommended by doctors. I have been asking people how effective they expect a drug to be that is prescribed by their doctor. Most of them expect the drug to be 90 – 100% effective, a few drop the figure to 80% or more and only one person has thought that it might be as low as 70%.

This is in stark contrast to the fact where there is often less than 5% effectiveness and drugs with a proven effectiveness of less than 0.4% are regularly prescribed to the tune of billions of dollars a year for the drug companies. Doctors often talk about patients being unrealistic in their expectations. But who is being unrealistic?

A good case in point is a paper I looked at about Herceptin, a much hyped drug for women with hormone positive breast cancer. It sounds absolutely great when the advertising says “the treatment group has only 62% of the risk of recurrence, metastasis or death.” It sounds at a quick reading that things are 62% better.

Well not quite… Not at all in fact. – The 62% of the risk of recurrence or spread of the disease or death is… – An improvement of 37% against what it would have been without treatment which means an improvement of 37% of 22% (deaths which could have happened) which is – An absolute improvement of just over 8% for disease free survival – But if we look at overall survival it is only a 0.9% improvement – that is, out of 1000 patients only nine extra survive two years, or less than 1 in 100 – Or if it is averaged out over the life of everyone, an increase of just under 3 months of disease-free survival and four to five months of additional time till death.

Somehow one life saved out of 100 or an extra five months of survival doesn’t sound so great – nothing like the 62% in the advertising. And when you take into account the suffering due to side effects during treatment and the reduction of quality of life during that time you might like to think of much more fun ways to use up the last years of your life.

When a doctor wants you to take some drugs, especially when it is a life and death issue you don’t want to know the advertising figures, you want to know how much disease free survival time the studies show and how much overall survival time there is. And if the doctor waffles on about a few more months, work out whether months of suffering during chemo is worth the few more months that you might or might not get.

So, with all this in mind – is the problem one of statistics? Or is it that the marketers, the drug companies, are just doing the best they can for their shareholders by promoting their products in the best way they can.

One of the problems is that most doctors wear rose tinted spectacles when it comes to interpreting the figures. At best the doctors are intensely caring, want to do the best for their patients and are incredibly busy, too busy caring to delve into the vast swamp of biomedical literature. It is much easier to read the guidelines provided by the drug companies, or their medical associations which are sponsored by the drug companies.

You deserve better than that. You deserve to know the facts of actual effectiveness. As an example, the average survival time for women with breast cancer is 20 years. In Australia and elsewhere in the developed world between 78% and 85% of women survive 5 years (depending on where I get the figures). Chemotherapy only contributes 1.5% to survival at five years. That isn’t a typo. Only 1.5% of the 78% to 85% survival is due to chemo.

If it is going to cost you a lot of money for your drugs, of any sort, then work out whether you could do better by taking regular exercise, eating more raw and lightly steamed fresh vegetables, fruit and use the money to improve your overall quality of life than to take a drug with little effect.

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When Drug Abuse Gets Complex Because of Mental Health Disorders

Last Updated on Saturday, 24 September 2011 04:21 Written by Natural Health Team Saturday, 24 September 2011 04:21

Health Information about When Drug Abuse Gets Complex Because of Mental Health Disorders

Having one of many mental health disorders along with a drug abuse problem makes dealing with either one that much more complicated.  It is hard enough when the individual with the disease has to deal with alcohol or drug abuse by itself.  Add to that anxiety, depression or a bi-polar disorder and the only thing that can truly help is a dual diagnosis treatment.  Getting traditional drug rehabilitation just will not suffice when mental health disorders are now part of the prognosis.  Not only does the person have to overcome one of the strongest physical dependencies that exists, but symptoms of a mental illness are also raging.  The good news is that with the correct drug rehabilitation and dual diagnosis treatment, the individual can overcome both of these situations and gain control over their life.

Recovery can be elusive when dealing with both mental health disorders and drug abuse, but there is hope.  It takes discovering the perfect dual diagnosis treatment center and patience, compassion and understanding on the part of the family of the abuser.  The very best chance at full recovery during drug rehabilitation is when both issues are treated simultaneously.  And even with this dual diagnosis treatment, many times there are relapses.  This shouldn’t be discouraging.  Most drug abusers recover from relapses and become totally well again. 

Many people are curious as to which disease came first and wonder if one had an affect on causing the other.  That’s like asking what came first, the chicken or the egg.  The truth is that very often, drugs and/or alcohol are used when depression or any one of the many other mental health disorders manifest themselves.  In order to “numb” life and what is causing the depression, prescription drugs are often used as well as alcohol.  It all begins very innocently and soon, there is a physical dependence and the individual is in need of drug rehabilitation and dual diagnosis treatment.

Mental health disorders are caused by many factors, either alone or in a combination of others.  The environment, genetics and many other aspects play into the possibility of having a mental illness.  When a person is at risk for a disorder, drug and/or alcohol is even more desirable but unfortunately, that is exactly what could push the person beyond the point of no return.  Early and correct diagnosis of the dual problem is the best chance of full recovery.

blogs.mercola.com – Dr. Joseph Mercola and Robert Whitaker, a health science writer talks about the real cause of mental illness and psychological problems in America. (Part 1 of 7)

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