Today most people take for granted that addiction is a condition that requires medical attention. However, it is only relatively recently that addiction has been treated by the medical profession at all. A hundred years ago addiction was not a term that many people would have recognized and, even if they had recognized it, they would not they would not have considered it to require medical attention. Indeed, it wasn't until the 1950s that the major medical bodies in the USA decided to make addiction treatment widely available and even later, in the 1960s, before psychiatrists started to address it. Prior to this time, addiction was considered to be criminal justice or moral problem, the answer being punishment or sermons. Recovery from addiction problems in those times tended to something people achieved by themselves or with the aid of friends and relations, doctors were rarely if ever consulted. Currently, while recognition of addiction as a medical problem has brought benefits, for example, treatment rather than punishment, many believe the pendulum has swung too far with any risky behavior now regarded as an addiction and requiring medical attention. Indeed many ask if we are medicalising issues that should be more appropriately dealt with in other ways? Certainly many including well-respected researchers think that this is exactly the case.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Sunday, November 25, 2012
A Drug Free Approach - Panic Attacks Treatment
A tightness in the chest, rapid breathing, headaches and irrational feelings of doom can be some early signs of an anxiety or panic attack. As these could also be symptoms of a physical condition it would be wise to have your doctor give you a routine check-up prior to seeking panic attacks treatment.
Anxiety disorder is a horrid condition that, unchecked, can be a handicap that gets in the way of an otherwise happy and productive life. To allow it to take control is to limit yourself and leave you open to the possibility of an even more debilitating illness such as depression. Activities affected may include workplace or academic performance, study habits, athletic ability, sexual desire or dysfunction, relationships with family, friends, and colleagues.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Addiction to Sugar - What It Is and Why Your Should Break Your Addiction to Sugar
An addiction to sugar means it is challenging to control your consumption of sugar in your diet. The consumption of sweets may in fact become like an addiction. Addictions to many substances or behaviors have been documented, but we typically think of addiction to alcohol or drugs. Refined sugar actually looks like cocaine, and it behaves like heroin upon hitting the brain.
Interestingly, sugar activates the beta endorphin receptors of the brain which are the same sites stimulated by morphine and heroin. This was documented in a study that was published in the Journal of Nutrition by Nicole Avena and colleagues in 2009. Earlier Kathleen DesMaisons noted that sugar dependency followed the same development pattern as other drugs that are commonly abused.
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Addicted Youth
Growing up as a kid my sister was going though some heavy drug use. She was about twelve and I was just three years behind her. I was scared with what was going on with my family. I learned how to stay isolated though video games. This is where I believe my addiction started to manifest its self. I had a disease inside me starting to grow and the world as I knew it was starting to die.
My family problems continued to grow. I continued to stay disconnected though online video games. I was very curious about drugs and what they were doing to my sister. Most kids in middle school would check out fiction books and get lost in an adventure. I was checking out books on drugs. I was already obsessed. I still remember looking up words such as euphoria and skipping over all the negative side effects. I told myself I would never do drugs after seeing the devastating effects they had on my family. That didn't last long.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Addiction Advice For Those Planning to Go to a Treatment Centre
The search for sound addictions advice by the family or friends of an addicted person can often result in an orchestrated crisis, or intervention, that can result not only in the beginning of an awakening to their problem, but also to an acceptance by all that addiction is an illness that requires proper treatment.
Addiction is a progressive illness that takes over the entire life of both the sufferer and also has the capacity to delude their closest loved ones. It can seem overwhelming to deal with and getting the right addiction advice can make the ensuing difficult steps much easier.
Often, once we're contacted for advice on addiction and the recovery process, we can educate people and their families alleviating much of the anxiety associated with this difficult time. Making it easier to handle and far less daunting is out task. Using an addictions counsellor for addiction advice lets us do what we do best and allows the family and friends close to the addicted person, and more importantly the patient, to focus their attention and energy on their recovery.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Addiction, the Brain, and Hypnosis
Addictions are serious chronic brain diseases, which have biological, psychological, and social implications. They are powerful because they employ neurological processes required for learning and survival. However, they use these vital systems in a way that threatens the addict's health, relationships, and may often end in criminal prosecution and jail time. So, to understand and treat this problem both the patient and the counselor must know how abuse is encoded, triggered, and reinforced.
Our brain participates in a two-level learning system. Generally, learning can be divided into short-term and long-term with each using very different and distinct parts of the brain - and one critical part that both share. The ability to have short-term memory involves perception being predominantly stored in the area called the hippocampus, which specializes in briefly recording what is detected by one's senses. This then tends to trigger a reaction in the nearby amygdala, which is the brain's emotional center. The resulting reaction varies depending on whether the perception is deemed to cause pleasure or fear. Of course, I would assume that addictive behavior is more related to a pleasurable response. This acts as a reward system, which is critical to our ability to encode and reinforce the proper reaction to a perception of safety or threat.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Addiction to Blame
Allen consulted with me because his wife of 18 years had threatened to leave him if he didn't stop blaming her all the time. He admitted to frequently blaming her in a variety of situations. He blamed her if he thought she made a mistake, if he thought she was wrong about something, if he was feeling alone, or even if he had a bad day at work. He blamed her for asking him questions when he didn't know the answer. He would sometimes even blame her if his golf game was off. He always blamed her when he felt judged by her, or when he didn't get her approval. While he freely admitted that he blamed her, he couldn't seem to stop, and he had no idea why he blamed her.
Friday, November 2, 2012
A Good Muscle Building Diet For Skinny Guys
If you are a very skinny guy and are if you feel disgusted by looking at yourself in the mirror then you need to bulk up your body naturally. A good muscle building diet can provide you the healthy weight gain as well as bulk up your muscles naturally in few weeks. Most skinny guys are undernourished due to lack of proper calories and proteins in their diet. So as a skinny guy, you need to know what to eat and how to perform right exercises in order to gain muscle mass organically. Read further to discover the best muscle building diet to grow your weight and gain muscle mass in few weeks.
The ideal muscle building diet for skinny guys