Posted by Alara2 on May 8, 2004, at 13:34:44
This is just a vent but....
I really
> believe
> that the orthodox treatment for alcoholism (12-step
> approach) fails to acknowledge the deeper disease
> process that causes a lot of us to drink. Sure,
> there
> is a certain group of people for who just possess a
> group of personality traits that predispose them to
> addictions. But for a lot of us, I think the
> psychological and biomedical realities of depression
> and PTSD run far deeper than that.
>
> AA saves a lot of lives and provides exactly the
> kind
> of help that many drinkers need. But I can't help
> but
> feel that there is someting missing in the 12S
> approach: There is an attitude that all of our
> problems - our depression, anxiety, you name it - is
> CAUSED by alcoholism, if not by the fact that we are
> alcoholics then by the fact that we have somehow
> been
> born with `alcoholic personalities'.
>
> What really came first? The chicken or the egg?
>
> When a person afflicted by depression and PTSD tries
> to tell an AA advocate that these problems are
> fuelling her drinking, she is told: " An alkie will
> find any excuse to have a drink." That may be true,
> but it does nothing to address the fact that there
> is
> often a real, valid `excuse' that might be driving a
> person to drink. Ultimitely the drinker feels
> ashamed
> of herself for being inherently weak, for having
> having `defects of character'.
>
> GPs and even psychiatrists seem to buy into the
> "mental illness is always secondary to alcoholism"
> model. Exceptions surely exist but I've never met
> this
> kind of practitioner. The problem with this as that
> most people with depression/anxiety/PTSD who present
> with addiction problems are usually fed the "detox
> and
> then go to AA line". Simple. Take an antidepressant
> and go to meetings. After all, the DRINKING must be
> the underlying culprit. Once the person abstains for
> a
> while, she'll be psychologically well.
>
> In Australia, work-place absenteeism resulting from
> alcohol abuse costs the tax payer a lot of money.
> Alcoholism is also one of the leading causes of
> chronic illness and death. That's why I'm at a loss
> to
> understand why our government fails to put money
> into
> researching the real etiology. Surely we're past
> these
> days of `one size fits all.'
>
> I can only assume that it all comes back to the
> myths
> perpetuated by our culture: If you are alcoholic it
> MUST be your own fault. Why waste valuable funds
> help
> self-destructive people get better when there are
> people dying needlessly of cancer? Why waste money
> training GPs to look more holistically at addictions
> when these alcoholics and drug addicts have only
> themselves to blame?
>
> One day the person struggling with chronic anxiety
> or
> depression will be able to walk into a doctor's
> office and say: "I've been struggling in life and am
> worried about my drinking". Instead of fearing
> judgement, that patient will know that the
> practitioner views her illness like any other and
> that
> he/she will be equipped to investigate the REAL
> causes
> of her disease.
>
> But meanwhile? What can we do?
>
Just curious about others' opinions...Thanks,
Alara
poster:Alara2
thread:344818
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/subs/20040409/msgs/344818.html