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ALCOHOLISM TREATMENT TECHNIQUES AND APPROACHES: A WORD OF CAUTION

admin — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 14:41:00 +0000

One word of caution to the newcomers to the field: alcoholics are sometimes described as notorious “con artists.” They’ve had to be. Anyone who has managed to continue drinking alcoholically in spite of the consequences has learned many sneaky little tricks. These do not disappear with the first prod, push, or pull toward treatment. Habits die hard. The habit of protecting the right to drink (even to death) is a longstanding one for most alcoholics. When he finds that you are probably not going to hand out a simple “three-step way to drink socially,” all the considerable cunning at his command will rise up in defense.

“Gee, you’ve really helped me to see exactly what I have to do. I’ll_______, _______, and ______, and everything will be just fine. Thanks so much. You’ve made my life for me.

“Well, you know, both my parents were alcoholics. I even had a grandfather who was. But you know, I really don’t drink like that at all! It really only started when Johnny had that awful operation, and I spent hours at the hospital, and then my husband was called away to South America, and I needed something to just boost me over those awful times. But my husband’s due home next week, and I’m just sure now that I know all the facts you’ve given me, that I’ll just stop by myself, and everything will be just fine! Thank you so much. You’ve changed my life.

“I can’t imagine why my wife says what she does about my drinking. She must really be down on me, or jealous, or something… After all, I only have a couple of beers with the guys after work…

“Speaking of _______, did you hear about that new research they’ve been doing? You know, the stuff that talks about having a dog helps. I bet if I just get a dog and take something for my nerves (after all, my nerves are the real problem), I’ll be just fine! Etc., etc., etc.

Most alcoholics are far more inventive than these examples show. Add tears, or a charming smile, or bruises from a beating, and you’ve been exposed to quite a smoke screen. If they’re not at the moment falling down, slobbering, throwing up, or slurring their words, it is hard not to believe them. There they sit—full of confidence, hopeful, and very friendly. Experience has shown that at some point, you will either see, hear from, or hear about these people, and their situations will have gone downhill. They don’t know how familiar their stories are—to them, they are unique. They are not lying. They are simply trying to hang on to the only help they feel they have— the bottle. Also, always keep in mind that the purpose of the “con” is not to deceive you. The alcoholic is trying above all to maintain his or her own self-deception. You may be able to help them loosen their grip by not allowing these pat replies to go unchallenged, by giving them something else to grasp.

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FIRST STAGE OF STRESS BREAKDOWN

admin — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 12:47:00 +0000

The first sign that a person may be beginning to break down as the result, of excessive stress is the development of symptoms of nervous tension or anxiety. Therefore we say that the first stage of stress breakdown is the stage of tension or anxiety.

It is essential therefore, in order to understand what is happening in the nervous system in stress breakdown, that we have a clear understanding of what anxiety is. Every one of us has experienced anxiety, although we may individually have difficulty in verbalizing that experience.

Anxiety has been described as a very unpleasant feeling of impending doom or disaster, a feeling that there is something wrong somewhere, which is associated with body symptoms of jumpiness and tenseness. Sometimes a person experiencing anxiety will have unpleasant feelings in the stomach, heavy feelings in the chest and palpitations.

The reader may already know that the body symptoms of anxiety are largely due to the effects of adrenaline, released by the sympathetic nervous system and the adrenal glands. Adrenaline prepares the body for fight or flight, and this is why we experience rapid pulse rate, increased muscle tension, and sharpening of our reflexes. So what is this anxiety feeling which is so disagreeable, and which we all experience through life?

Anxiety is no more and no less than the alarm reaction of the nervous system, which is triggered when the nervous system is unable to process efficiently the information being presented to it. That’s all it is.

With the increasing complexity of gadgets and systems we use every day, we are becoming familiar with many different types of alarm systems in use to warn us when electrical systems are being overloaded. Some protective devices, such as circuit breakers and fuses in our domestic electricity supply, simply switch off to protect the system from overload, but this unexpected shut-down is inefficient, and the more efficient systems give us some warning before the system has to shut down to protect itself.

Automobiles have warning lights which switch on when the alternator circuit develops a fault, when the oil pressure drops below normal, sometimes when the seat belt is not fastened. Some cars today even have alarm devices delivering a message in synthesized speech, warning the driver that something is wrong. Buildings often have sirens which sound when smoke detectors are triggered. The human nervous system when it is beginning to fail to process information adequately, triggers the alarm reaction which is anxiety.

This is simply what anxiety is: a human alarm system, warning of difficulties in nervous system processing. Such an alarm system is not specifically human. Other animals have built-in alarm mechanisms warning the organism of danger. Unfortunately we have no way of knowing whether other creatures feel as bad as we do, when our anxiety alarm mechanism is triggered. We don’t know whether in fact oysters and worms actually do feel anxiety, only because we have no way of sharing their experience of life.

While all animals have alarm systems, however, the human alarm system is probably very much more sensitive. Human beings are creatures who rely for survival on their ability to foresee danger and take action to avoid it in advance. We don’t have camouflage, or armour plating, or big claws and teeth to frighten off predatory animals.

We are given instead, an extreme degree of sensitivity to the environment, and our nervous systems are always ready to trigger alarm reactions when the information coming in to the nervous system is not easily processed. A simple, strange stimulus that we have not previously encountered for example, will trigger an alarm reaction in human beings.

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FIRST STAGE OF STRESS BREAKDOWN
The first sign that a person may be beginning to break down as the result, of excessive stress is the development of symptoms of nervous tension or anxiety. Therefore we say that the first stage of stress breakdown is the stage of tension or anxiety.It is essential therefore, in order to understand what is happening in the nervous system in stress breakdown, that we have a clear understanding of what anxiety is. Every one of us has experienced anxiety, although we may individually have difficulty in verbalizing that experience.Anxiety has been described as a very unpleasant feeling of impending doom or disaster, a feeling that there is something wrong somewhere, which is associated with body symptoms of jumpiness and tenseness. Sometimes a person experiencing anxiety will have unpleasant feelings in the stomach, heavy feelings in the chest and palpitations.The reader may already know that the body symptoms of anxiety are largely due to the effects of adrenaline, released by the sympathetic nervous system and the adrenal glands. Adrenaline prepares the body for fight or flight, and this is why we experience rapid pulse rate, increased muscle tension, and sharpening of our reflexes. So what is this anxiety feeling which is so disagreeable, and which we all experience through life?Anxiety is no more and no less than the alarm reaction of the nervous system, which is triggered when the nervous system is unable to process efficiently the information being presented to it. That’s all it is.With the increasing complexity of gadgets and systems we use every day, we are becoming familiar with many different types of alarm systems in use to warn us when electrical systems are being overloaded. Some protective devices, such as circuit breakers and fuses in our domestic electricity supply, simply switch off to protect the system from overload, but this unexpected shut-down is inefficient, and the more efficient systems give us some warning before the system has to shut down to protect itself.Automobiles have warning lights which switch on when the alternator circuit develops a fault, when the oil pressure drops below normal, sometimes when the seat belt is not fastened. Some cars today even have alarm devices delivering a message in synthesized speech, warning the driver that something is wrong. Buildings often have sirens which sound when smoke detectors are triggered. The human nervous system when it is beginning to fail to process information adequately, triggers the alarm reaction which is anxiety.This is simply what anxiety is: a human alarm system, warning of difficulties in nervous system processing. Such an alarm system is not specifically human. Other animals have built-in alarm mechanisms warning the organism of danger. Unfortunately we have no way of knowing whether other creatures feel as bad as we do, when our anxiety alarm mechanism is triggered. We don’t know whether in fact oysters and worms actually do feel anxiety, only because we have no way of sharing their experience of life.While all animals have alarm systems, however, the human alarm system is probably very much more sensitive. Human beings are creatures who rely for survival on their ability to foresee danger and take action to avoid it in advance. We don’t have camouflage, or armour plating, or big claws and teeth to frighten off predatory animals.We are given instead, an extreme degree of sensitivity to the environment, and our nervous systems are always ready to trigger alarm reactions when the information coming in to the nervous system is not easily processed. A simple, strange stimulus that we have not previously encountered for example, will trigger an alarm reaction in human beings.
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KNOW THE NATURAL IN-BUILT MECHANISM FOR SLEEP

admin — Fri, 08 May 2009 09:41:02 +0000

To learn how to sleep, it is important to understand how sleep is controlled. Of course the brain has a lot to do with this. There are two levels of control in our sleeping activities, the higher control.

The higher control. The cerebral cortex, the outermost layer of brain tissue, is the higher control centre. It is the thinking part, the part that determines what sort of IQ we have, what colour of emotion we experience—angry, sad, happy, jealous, frightened, etc.—and is the most influential part of our mind. This can prevent us from falling asleep and is die major cause of insomnia.

The lower control. The sleep centre, which is at the base of the brain in the brain stem, is the lower control centre. It is the trigger to sleep. It is initially influenced by the higher control, but once sleep is triggered off the sleep centre had autonomy. The sleep centre is like other stations in the brain stem, which are responsible for the automatic everyday running of the body. One such station is the temperature centre that acts like a thermostat station, automatically regulating body temperature to around 37° C.

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PAIN AND FEAR: FEAR OF LOSS OF CONTROL

admin — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 10:30:31 +0000

We live by a complicated code of social behaviour. One aspect of it is that we should not give way to our feelings. With some people this is very important indeed. For instance, it is important for those in the armed services. The young soldier thinks, “If I am wounded, I hope I can take it like the others.” In another setting we see the same thing with the young woman about to have her first baby. Thoughtless friends and relatives had led her to expect pain—very severe pain. She keeps thinking to herself, “I must not make a fuss; I must not give way; whatever happens I must not call out.” In fact she fears that she will lose control. This fear of course increases her level of anxiety, increases her tension, and increases the pain.

Fear is also associated with pain in another and more significant way. We feel pain; and at the start we cope with it all right. But it goes on. We are not sure whether it is getting better or worse. We begin to think that it is more severe. Now fear begins to take over. What is going to happen to us? If it does not ease soon, something must happen. There is a feeling of loss of control, and impending disaster. Fear runs wild, and the pain is increased a hundredfold.

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UNWANTED BABY AND ABORTION AS CAUSES OF STRESS

admin — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 08:21:15 +0000

An unwanted baby

“I didn’t want him. I can hardly say it. I simply did not want him. I did not want a third child. Now, he is so beautiful. So beautiful, and I love him so. Do anything in the world for him. But the thought recurs. How wicked of me not to have wanted him!”

Perhaps we should be more prepared to accept our human frailties. And forgive ourselves as we would forgive others. If she can forgive herself, she will be less prone to stress, and better able to care for him, and love him so much the more.

Abortion

“I was rushed into it. They should not have done it. When you are young, you are not strong. Not strong enough to resist. They could not do it to me now. I suppose it was right. I could not have coped with a baby. It is all past now. But the past does throw a shadow. And the shadow is deepest when the sun shines bright, spoiling the pleasure of the moment.”

For many women an abortion is an incident in life. Something done, finished, forgotten. That is the end to it. The incident does not come to mind unless some specific enquiry is made. And it in no way contributes to the cause of any stress in the future. Yet with others, the shadow remains, repeated day after day, darkening the mind, and predisposing the development of stress from some other cause.

Let us remember that life is now, and the future tomorrow. If we continually thought of all the wrong things we have done, the shadow would be so deep that we would find ourselves living in blackest midnight, without light to see the pageant that life unfolds before us.

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