Posted by DynaUnity333 on October 12, 2004, at 15:44:29 [reposted on October 12, 2004, at 20:22:58 | original URL]
In reply to Re: Ahem.--partlycloudy » mcp, posted by partlycloudy on October 12, 2004, at 15:12:41
I think the person who is being rather matter of factly regarding the looking for drugs is a cop out type thing is being very harsh.
Alcohol withdrawal is a very serious thing and can kill which is why Benzos are prescribed to help with the initial problems.
However protracted alcohol withdrawal while not necasarily immediately dangerous to ones physical health, is still also a vrey serious problem.Depression, anxiety, irritability and malaise that can stretch to over a two year period and sometimes even beyond that time frame, if untreated, has been the cause of many successful and unsuccessful suicide attempts.
In this regard AA has proven not to work. AA has this up themselves pompous ideal regarding using medications for the depression and long lasting anxiety that can continue long after alcohol cessation, demanding that people in the programme look to their AA partner for help at stressful times or even God for inner strength. While this can be of great benefit its unrealistic to expect this help to be the be all and end all of treatment.
People should also remember that alcoholics drink for different reasons. Some because they are lonely and having the companionship of someone who has often felt the same would do them the world of good, but someone who had an axiety condition in the first place who self medictaed with alcohol and now has an even worse anxiety condition having quit, and then being chastised by the group who are promoting their ability to help recovering alcoholics for looking relief, is in my opinion criminal.
There is also an underlying cause of alcohol cravings. There is an underlying physical cause of any addiction. regardless of what chemical, or food, or sex etc that someone is addicted to there is a chemical cause for it, and if found treatment can alleviate the withdrawal and any associated cravings.
For example there are recent findings that indicate the reason for protracted alcohol cravings and the associated problems may be linked with dopamine that has leaked out of the parts of the brain where it should be and has no where to go so ends upjust sitting and degrading in foreign territory. The craving for the alcohol that a patient feels isn't a craving for the drink per se' but a craving to stop feeling as ill as they do with theseodd things going on in their brain, knowing that if they can dumb themselves down enough they won't be able to feel it.There have been trials that suggest TOPOMAX seeks out this wandering misplaced dopamine and cleans it up thus relieving the cravings for the alcohol. In the alcoholic who truly wants to give up and wants to function again in life but can't seem to end their problems, if this or any other medication can help them, how dare people chastise them.
If, however, the alcoholic wants to appear to have overcome his problem, but secretly wants a replacement for alcohol then its fair to get a bit high and mighty, but to deny someone who really wants to change his life round, the help that might enable that, well i just cant fathom it.
poster:DynaUnity333
thread:402382
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/subs/20040722/msgs/402395.html