It's Never Too Late To Benefit from Stopping Smoking

Just a brief research note. According to a report inReuters for November 20, 2013, even seniors 65 years of age and older, who quit smoking cigarettes will experience a reduction in risks of death from heart related maladies, much faster than previously thought.

Previous research had shown that older former smokers who were heavy smokers could reduce their risk of dying from heart disease to the level of lifelong nonsmokers after 15 years.

The current research study found that a significant percentage of the older former smokers had a reduction in heart related problems within eight years after smoking cessation.

So, it's never too late to benefit from stopping smoking.

As always, comments are invited. Jan Edward Williams, www.alcoholdrugsos.com, 11/22/2013.

Recovery Guidelines for the Person with Alcohol or Other Drug (AOD) Addiction

Here are some basic guidelines that I have developed to help the individual seeking to recover from alcohol or other drug (AOD) addiction through complete abstinence and use of support from attendance of 12 Step meetings:

Avoid Access to AOD

1. Avoid AOD and AOD users completely.
2. Do not stay in the same room or at a party, while someone is preparing to use or is using AOD.
3. Do not help friends find AOD or go along to watch.
4. Do not touch or handle AOD at any time.
5. Do not accept or fill any prescription without verifying the substance to be free of abuse potential. Do not rely upon the physician for this information; ask an addictions expert.
6. Read labels of over-the-counter medications; avoid liquids, such as cough and cold preparations, with alcohol in them, and choose "non-drowsiness" formulations.
7. Do not go to a place you know will result in access or put you in an environment normally frequented by users.

Avoid Unstructured Time

1. Avoid boredom, long periods of time with nothing to do, and isolation from persons who support your recovery. Get a job; go to AA/NA meetings; make friends with recovering people; develop new, or brush off old, hobbies, which you do not associate with use.

2. Especially avoid empty, unplanned periods at those times when you used to do AOD. Plan positive activities for dangerous times, preferably with persons who support your recovery.

Avoid holding large sums of money. For example, on payday, arrange for direct deposit and go to an AA/NA meeting right after work.

Identify and Prepare for Craving Triggers

1. Identify your personal cues for AOD craving/hunger, relative to sights, smells, sounds, events, people, and avoid if possible. Some common examples are music, sex, after work, payday, weekends, when significant other is away for a period of time, etc. Develop a survival plan for those (unavoidable) situations in which triggers are present, or craving/hunger occurs.

2.Brand into your brain that obsessions(recurring thoughts) or compulsions (craving or drug hunger which seems physically based) are normal and need not be acted on! In other words, just because you want to get high does not mean that you have to or should!

Learn To Handle Emotions

1. Mood swings, anxiety, insomnia, depression, anhedonia (pleasurelessness; present especially in cocaine addict), loneliness, feelings of worthlessness, fear of impending doom, are all common in early recovery. Remember that feelings need not be acted on destructively, and will pass.

2. Learn new tools to deal with "negative" feelings, such as, calling someone in recovery, going to an AN/NA meeting, using spiritual tools (prayer, meditation).

3. Ask for help from professionals (if not already in treatment) if negative feeling states continue to the point where you feel on the verge of relapse or other destructive behavior.

4. Remember that your basic recovery tool is involvement with recovering, supportive persons. Substitute healthy reliance on people for AOD.

The above guidelines are simple, practical suggestions that can be helpful to the individual recovering from any addiction.

As always, comments are invited. Jan Edward Williams, www.alcoholdrugsos.com, 11/11/2013.

Addicts and Alcoholics Continue To Use Not To Get High but Due To Fear of Withdrawal

A recent research study utilizing rats, summarized in ScienceDaily for November 07, 2013, concluded that the reason rats continue to use cocaine is not because they are chasing the cocaine high but to avoid the consequences of a reduction in their levels of cocaine; that is, they continue to use to avoid withdrawal and its negative physical and emotional consequences.

Addicts and alcoholics and those who strive to help them, would probably respond to this study’s conclusions with a loud: “Duh!” Even though the addict or alcoholic may in part be motivated to continue to use because he/she is trying to get “high”, the truth is that most addicts and alcoholics no longer achieve the “high” but use basically due to their fear of withdrawal.

Withdrawal in this context is defined to include the physical signs and symptoms of withdrawal usually associated with abrupt cessation of use of a substance such as cocaine (see below), after chronic use to the point of development of tolerance and tissue dependence, as well as the signs and symptoms of a more subjective nature associated with psychological dependence upon a substance.

Also included within the withdrawal definition is the apprehension felt by the addict or alcoholic facing abstinence and recovery that he/she will now have to face all of the pain and vicissitudes of life without the drug used as a primary coping mechanism for years. The individual will be aware of the fact that recovery will require facing the pain and consequences of active addiction (e.g., harm caused to loved ones), again without his/her drug. Fear of withdrawal as defined is an imposing obstacle to the willingness of an addict or alcoholic to choose abstinence and recovery, and is a powerful motivator to continue to use in the face of overwhelming consequences from such use.

Here is a summary of the phases of cocaine withdrawal, as an example:

Stage One

The “crash” is a part of early withdrawal/recovery. Lasts a week to up to 12 days. Symptoms are opposite of the drug’s stimulant effects: depression, lack of hope; extreme fatigue and lack of energy (anergia); tendency to sleep a lot; be very hungry. Cravings for cocaine occur which are usually not pursued due to the extreme fatigue and anergia.

Stage Two

Lasts 2 weeks to 3 months. Depression continues, with peaks of intense cravings for cocaine which are untriggered. Without support and strong motivation (internal or external), the cravings to use will win out.

Stage Three

Can last 3 months to two years, characterized by anhedonia, a profound pleasurelessness, lack of feelings, boredom, difficulty feeling excitement or pleasure. The anhedonia is caused by a combination of the psychological stress from loss of the use of cocaine (sometimes referred to as a grief reaction as strong as that from the death of a loved one) and the neurochemical dysfunction of the mechanisms in the brain relating to production of feel good chemicals such as dopamine.

Because most alcoholics and addicts will have experienced the extremely unpleasant signs and symptoms of withdrawal from their drug (most do not have 24/7 access to their drugs), the reason for ongoing use is primarily to avoid withdrawal as broadly defined here; it is a good thing to have science confirm this well known truth.

As always, comments are invited. Jan Edward Williams, www.alcoholdrugsos.com, 11/07/2013.

Does Satisfying A Child's Sweet Tooth Pose A Risk for Development of Addiction?

Does Satisfying A Child's Sweet Tooth Pose A Risk for Development of Addiction?

A recent research study, summarized in ScienceDaily for October 31, 2013, suggests that early repetitive satisfaction of urges for rewards, such as sweets or video games, may set the stage for development of addiction. The researchers looked at the portion of the brain that responds to learning based on stimulus-response; that portion of the brain is called the striatum. The striatum seems to grow in size based upon the frequency of behaviors stimulating it, such as rewarding behavior. Thus, the suggested theory is that children who develop a routine or strategy of getting their desires satisfied (called “stimulus response strategies”) for sweets, or to play video games, or watch “Dora the Explorer” may be more at risk for development of addiction. The researcher found that individuals that had developed a reliance upon this type of strategy smoked more, drank twice as much alcohol, and were more likely to use marijuana.
In the words of the researcher: "The literature indicates that children engage in stimulus-response strategies from a very young age *** Reward-seeking behavior in childhood, especially for immediate rewards like candy or playing action video games, stimulates the striatum and encourages stimulus-response strategies *** This would predispose the child to drug seeking behaviour."
This study’s conclusions provide another glimpse into how changes in the brain may explain addiction and its development. Prior research, for example, has suggested that addiction may in part be driven by the changes in the brain resulting from chronic (ongoing) exposure to feel good chemicals such as dopamine that are produced by consumption of addictive drugs (cocaine, opiates, alcohol, etc.).
Regardless of all this science that seeks to explain addiction, the individual who seeks to recover from addiction cannot afford to excuse his/her addictive behaviors and harmful consequences as due to brain changes. Research and science may explain addiction; they do not excuse the individual behaviors of the addicted individual. He or she must own his/her behaviors while using, and experience the resulting pain to themselves and those close to them; doing so can help motivate the individual to abstinence and recovery. There are no valid excuses for an alcoholic or addict to continue to use.
As always, comments are invited. Jan Edward Williams, www.alcoholdrugsos.com, 11/04/2013.