Meth is not a myth

Methamphetamine, or "meth," as it commonly is called, is a highly addictive brain stimulant. Nationwide, over the past five years we've witnessed a dramatic increase in addictions to this deadly, illegal drug.

Because methamphetamine easily is produced in rural clandestine laboratories using extracted ephedrine and other easily-obtained chemicals, there has been a significant rise in its manufacture in this geographic area. In response, local pharmacies are eliminating easy access to all over-the-counter medications that contain pseudoephedrine.

Methamphetamine is versatile. It can be produced as a powder, paste or crystal, and may be injected, snorted, smoked or taken orally. Meth produces a terrific "high" that is extremely addictive. The drug eventually causes dramatic health and social consequences for the user.

National statistics raise serious concerns, and many feel we are experiencing an epidemic. Last year, more than 9,000 labs were reported in rural areas, and in 2004, more than 12 million people reported they had used meth at least once, a 25-percent increase since 1996.

Not only is the use of methamphetamine itself dangerous, but its production poses great risks to neighborhood children. Young people living in areas of meth production often are exposed to the drug and its toxic byproducts. Sadly, more than 80 percent of children in meth-producing homes tested positive for the drug.

Methamphetamine causes serious mental aberrations, including confusion, hallucinations, memory loss, insomnia, violent behavior, paranoia, panic reactions, depression and psychosis. Users also experience significant physical deterioration, such as skin lesions, burned lips and intractable sinus infections. These visible reminders, however, do not reveal the hidden effects: damage to virtually every organ in the body.

Treatment for the methamphetamine addict poses unique problems because of the impact on brain chemistry from long-term use. Once meth has been withdrawn from the addicted individual, he or she experiences intense cravings while the brain struggles for months to return to normal functioning. This means the addict will experience an extended period of not feeling well, and will suffer from depression and anxiety. Recovery often is slow, so treatment for methamphetamine addicts must be intense and prolonged. And that is expensive.

Methamphetamine addiction is creating serious challenges for the community. Child protective service agencies are struggling with the increase in child neglect; emergency rooms are laboring with the multiple health problems associated with addiction; and law enforcement agencies are overwhelmed by meth production and the violence resulting from its use.

But as with any drug addiction, there is hope for recovery and a return to sanity. The solution always begins with our willingness to acknowledge the problem and rally community resources.

For additional information, please contact Ed Hughes at The Counseling Center Inc., 1634 11th Street, Portsmouth, Ohio 45662, or e-mail ehughes@thecounselingcenter.org. I welcome your comments here too.

Beating eating addiction

March's article discussed the general nature of food addiction. Some people experience problems with food as much as an alcoholic does with alcohol.

We know a large percentage of overweight people do not respond well to traditional diets because these plans focus on food restrictions. Yet, the food addict finds it impossible to reduce the amounts of certain foods because they result in intense cravings. So, food addiction is a progressive, physiological condition characterized by the inability to control the consumption of certain foods; the persistent craving for those foods eventually leads to physical, emotional and social crises.

Here is a list of the most common signs and symptoms of food addiction:

• secret eating
• rapid eating
• using food to alter mood
• purging and fasting
• excessive exercising
• growing concern over weight
• disappointment over many failed attempts to diet
• preoccupation with food
• emotional problems and mood swings
• neglecting proper nutrition to pursue certain addictive foods
• feeling defeated and powerless
• negative feelings toward oneself

The substances that usually fall into the category of addictive foods include refined sugar, flour and other refined carbohydrates. Food addicts report an obsession with foods that contain sugar. On ingredient lists, these may appear as corn syrup, dextrose, honey or molasses. Flour in any form poses a problem for the food addict, as do other refined carbohydrates such as white rice, corn and potato chips.

This explains the obsession with pizza, ice cream, candy bread, cake, pie and essentially any food that contains sugar, flour and high fat. Food addicts will never be able to control their intake of these foods. The only solution is abstinence.

Caffeine and nicotine also are problematic for food addicts. These drugs further destabilize their blood sugar level, which in turn intensifies cravings. Alcoholic beverages similarly are detrimental because of their alcohol and sugar content.

So, if you're a food addict, what can you eat?

You'll need to focus on quality carbohydrates such as fruits (which contain natural sugar that can be eaten in moderation), vegetables and lean meats. Substitute brown rice for white rice and use oatmeal as a primary source of grain.

Because food has been a focal point for years, your biggest challenge involves a change in lifestyle. Attaining abstinence will bring on a period of discomfort, much like the drug addict experiencing withdrawal. Your body will react to the absence of the addictive foods; there will be cravings, sleeplessness, irritability and anxiety for several days.

But one thing you don't need to experience is hunger. You should eat whenever you are hungry, avoiding big meals in favor of frequent smaller meals. And finally you will be pleasantly surprised. The craving for addictive foods will end and you will discover the difference between hunger and craving.

To learn more about food addiction, I recommend you read Food addiction: The Body Knows, by Kaye Sheppard. This is an excellent source for beginning your recovery from food addiction.

Fighting Addictions to Food

Millions of people suffer from the symptoms and consequences of America's most common, undiagnosed and untreated obsession -- food addiction. In response, innumerable supposed "cures" in the form of diets, weight-loss programs and pills have made their way to the marketplace. The history of food addiction treatment is similar to the sad history of drug addiction treatment: confusing and questionable theories backed by money-making scams that have been perpetrated upon vulnerable, suffering people.

A Mixed-up Message

The next time you pass through the checkout lane at the grocery, take notice of the magazine covers. Each highlights a diet promise such as, "Lose 10 Pounds in 10 Days," "Get Ready for the Beach with the Grapefruit Diet" or "Lose that Tummy with our Movie Star Diet." And on the same cover, you'll find a picture of the biggest double-chocolate layer cake you've ever seen. The conflicted message here is the same consumer who wants to lose 50 pounds also wants to eat that cake.

The World of Diets

In all fairness, some overweight people who adopt one of the hundreds of diets promoted by magazines, books, physicians, dietitians and the media will be successful, at least in the short term. But there are many more who have tried many of these diets and yet continue to struggle with their weight. Are these people weak-willed or emotionally unstable? No, they suffer from food addiction.

Food addiction is the result of an abnormal metabolism of certain foods, which produces a mood elevation that, in turn, creates a craving for more of those same foods. So, just like drugs, certain foods in certain people produce a "high" that is then repeatedly pursued. The problem with most popular "diets" is that they include these addictive foods, which assures the continuance of craving and the ultimate failure of the diet.

Unfortunately, but understandably, most people blame this failure on a lack of commitment, poor will power or emotional instability, without realizing that the effort was ill-fated from the start. In the same way, the drug addict's plan for quitting cocaine by using marijuana instead, and the alcoholic's plan to give up whiskey by drinking "just beer," are doomed from the beginning.

Research has revealed the cause of food addiction resides not within one's personality, but within the brain. For some people, refined carbohydrates such as sugar and flour cause an abnormal rise in certain "feel good" brain chemicals, and dopamine appears to be a primary culprit in this process While everyone experiences the benefits of dopamine in various ways, certain people produce an abnormal amount of this chemical after eating certain foods.

This explains why some people can comfortable eat just one piece of pie, while others experience the phenomenon of chemically-driven cravings. The cravings them compel them to eat even more of those mood-altering foods. However, When that rise in dopamine comes back down, the person is left with feelings of fatigue, anxiety, depression, restlessness and, yes, cravings. The natural response, then, is to eat more of those addictive foods to relieve those uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms. And so the vicious cycle continues.

In the next installment, I will discuss the diagnosis and treatment of food addiction.

What Does Recovery Mean?

In the addiction counseling world, "recovery" is the word most often associated with successful treatment. But we also hear that someone has "recovered" from alcoholism or that someone has just entered a "recovery program" for drug addiction. Those "in recovery" often refer to themselves as "recovering" from their addiction. So what do these variations on the word "recovery" really mean?

In Alcoholics Anonymous (published in 1939 and known as "The Big Book"), the word "recovered" refers to an AA promise: If a person applies the principles of the program, the desire to drink will be removed -- and will remain removed -- if the person continues to participate in the recommended program of recovery.

So in Alcoholics Anonymous, the term "recovered" has significance beyond simple abstinence. Its extended meaning relates to the essential psycho/social/spiritual changes that must occur in the life of the recovering person. AA stresses that abstinence alone is "but a beginning." The alcoholic must be willing to fortify his recovery by taking responsibility for past mistakes, repairing relationships, developing a commitment to spiritual principles and helping others.

While the continued maintenance of sobriety is best served through attendance and commitment to AA or NA (Narcotics Anonymous) meetings, treatment programs play a vital role in the early stages of recovery.

These programs should offer access to detoxification services for those needing assistance with the symptoms of withdrawal. Because many drug addictions pose health hazards during withdrawal, the professional addiction counselor must first assess these risks. Physical withdrawal from cocaine, for example, is terribly uncomfortable because of cravings, but it is generally not dangerous. However, withdrawal from alcohol or benzodiazepines (Valium, Xanax and Ativan) can be life-threatening and must be closely monitored. Opiate (heroin and Oxycontin) withdrawal is physically less dangerous, but painful symptoms make it nearly impossible to successfully withdraw without medical intervention.

But detoxification alone only readies the individual for the next step in the healing process: treatment. While many addicted people and their families believe that a few days in a detox center will cure them, without continued treatment the vast majority will quickly relapse.

So, following detox, a counselor must determine the level of treatment needed. Choices include intensive outpatient (three to five days a week), short-term residential treatment (30 to 60 days), or long-term residential treatment (more than 60 days). The decision is based on the individual's duration of addiction, drug type, physical status, home environment, family support system, and access to other necessary resources, such as AA or NA meetings. Once the level of care has been determined, an individualized treatment plan is instituted, which outlines the course of treatment and expectations of both the treating facility and the client.

A final segment of treatment provides an aftercare program that allows the client to continue receiving services as long as necessary to ensure continued sobriety. Addiction is a devastating disease, and while the physical body may heal quickly, the healing of relationships takes much longer. On-going counseling and attendance at AA or NA meetings offer the newly recovering person the best opportunity for continued success.

The aftercare plan also should outline what actions will be taken in case of relapse. Relapse is a reality with any addiction, and relapse prevention services are particularly beneficial to recovering addicts as they work toward reintegration into their families, jobs and community. Family members and other concerned persons also should develop a relapse plan. Handled appropriately, relapse actually can propel an addicted individual into stronger commitment toward recovery.

The recovery model developed by Alcoholics Anonymous is alive and active today. Effective professional treatment programs strongly recommend active participation in Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, and related family groups of Al-Anon and Alateen.

The concept of recovery as expressed in the program of Alcoholics Anonymous offers the hope -- and promise -- that if a person follows the directions outlined in the program, his problem with alcoholism (or any drug addiction) will be "removed." To be sober and free of the desire to use alcohol or drugs is the great promise of recovery.

Addictions are diseases

Although addiction has been recognized as a disease for several decades now, much of the general public still views it as a problem of moral weakness. Even those who are more "enlightened" continue to struggle with identifying addiction as a primary, progressive disease that significantly impairs a person's ability to quit using alcohol or drugs and remain abstinent.

If we were to accept that addiction is a disease:

• We would provide treatment for the lifetime of the addict because addiction is a chronic disease and has no cure. A diabetic, for example, does not suddenly cease needing to see his doctor or receive medication.
• Health insurance coverage for addiction would be the same as for other diseases. Yet today most insurers provide no addiction treatment coverage. How would we react if our insurance company balked at paying for insulin or chemotherapy?
• We would know that relapse is often a part of the disease and recovery process. We don't deny patients continued treatment if their cancer recurs, nor do we put a time limit on the treatment of diabetes.
• We would not make alcoholics or addicts the butt of jokes. Heard any good jokes about cancer patients lately?
• There would be no shame associated with addiction. Families would not view addiction as an embarrassing secret.
• Recovering alcoholics and addicts would not be fearful of disclosing their disease. Currently, recovering people experience discrimination in employment, housing, adoption, medical insurance eligibility and many other areas.
• We would not send addicts to jail or prison solely because of their disease. Many are incarcerated not because they have committed a new crime, but because they have been unable to stay clean and sober, of which the vast majority have received little or no treatment.

Recognizing and treating addiction as a disease allows sufferers to obtain help much earlier in the diseases progression. Imagine what could be accomplished if we could totally rid addiction of its remaining stigmas. But that would be a perfect world.