Curing Addictions Without The Craving
One of the most startling stories I heard about recovery from drug addiction was about a teenager
. He came from a good, caring, middle-class family and when he was about 13 years old started taking drugs. His parents were naturally concerned about this and his mother took an unusual approach. Instead of lecturing him or banning him from hanging out with his friends, she started telling him she loved him. He responded by saying he didn"t care. This continued for a couple of months. One day she told him she loved him and he broke down crying. With a lot of support from his family the teenager was able to make a full recovery and although this happened many years ago has never relapsed.
The story demonstrates an interesting point the pseudo-religious zeal of anti-drugs groups in many ways acts as an impediment to recovery. Many people who are addicted don"t want to be on the drug themselves but are compelled to take them by cravings and desire. They don"t need to be told that it is harmful "" what they need is something else. This is where groups like Alcoholics Anonymous are useful. They provide support in a non-judgemental environment, which can help people recover from their addictions. Unfortunately, the success of the AA programme is limited for although it provides people with support "" it does not provide people with the tools to be able to recover from the addiction. This is particularly the case because a large part of addiction is environmental.
When people undergo surgery in hospital they often receive large quantities of painkillers, which would normally be sufficient for people to become addicted. When the patients leave hospital they go cold turkey on the drug and don"t even notice it"s absence apart from an increase in pain. Many US servicemen returning from Vietnam were addicted to heroin. On reaching the USA 90-95% stopped taking heroin entirely. The ones who did were still living in the jungles of Vietnam suffering from trauma. When we change the environment, we can usually overcome addiction easily "" without even noticing that"s what we are doing.
With this understand Dr. Richard Grey established a new type of drug addiction programme, called the Brooklyn Program, in New York (USA). The purpose of this programme is to teach people tools and show people opportunities so that the need or desire to take drugs is removed. One of the first things which Dr. Grey teaches is a process called anchoring. Anchoring is basically physiological association and was discovered by Dr. Pavlov who was working with dogs. Dr. Pavlov discovered that if he rang a bell when feeding dogs "" soon they began to slobber even if he only rang the bell. This can be applied to drugs, when someone experiences a high they can anchor the experience and then later re-access the experience without the need to consume more of the drug. This is a useful skill.
The next step in this process is to develop other interests in the patient. If someone becomes passionate about something the need to take a drug diminishes dramatically and this is clearly demonstrated by the research. One of the best ways of overcoming addiction is to fall in love or to find work which is fulfilling. The brain releases oxytocin into the system which basically works as a system reset.
Another important step in the Brooklyn Program is helping patients develop goals and develop some purpose in their lives. When people take drugs part of the brain closes down. This part of the brain is the orientation association area, when it shuts down people experience a blissful state. This state can be achieved several ways. Taking drugs is a very simple way of achieving it but it can also be achieved through meditation and interestingly enough through being happy. So teaching people to be happy is one of the keys to help them overcome addictions.
A lot of research has now been carried out into happiness and we know that the part of the brain responsible for happiness is also responsible for goal setting. The best way people can achieve happiness is to have purpose in their lives and be on the path to achieving those goals.
The final phase in the Brooklyn Program is a series of mental techniques, which are used to help change the mental associations and the psychological causes behind addiction.
The Brooklyn Program is the most effective drug rehabilitation programme in the United States. The system developed and implemented by Dr. Richard Grey makes use of recent research into the cognitive aspects of addiction and so the programme works not only for various drug addictions but for other forms of addiction including compulsive eating disorders, addictions to particular food and beverages, and to other social problems such as sex addictions.
Peter Campbell, Mind Design Ltd. www.mind-design.co.nz, 2010
Peter Campbell is an NLP Master Practitioner specialising in trauma, relationship counselling and communication skills.
He can be contacted on:
Email: peter.campbell@mind-design.co.nz
Website: www.mind-design.co.nz
by: Peter Campbell
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