(Page 2 of 6)

The primary reason my patients have been able to achieve such dramatic results using the Power Recovery Program is that I've developed a plan that avoids what I call "the four myths about compulsive substance use." Let me dispel these myths right now.

Myth 1: Compulsive substance use is a sign of lack of will power, or of an underlying moral or spiritual problem.

Myth 2: Drugs and alcohol are the causes of substance abuse.

Myth 3: Chronic substance users are "victims" of a disease that can be treated as we treat other diseases: with prescription drugs.

Myth 4: Once you've successfully stopped using drugs or alcohol, you have to engage in a constant struggle not to relapse.

None of these myths is true, but most physicians and counselors specializing in alcohol and drug rehabilitation will tell you that they are. They've become the cornerstone beliefs of almost all traditional approaches. In fact they're rationalizations that are often used as excuses for the ineffectiveness of the addictions treatment strategies of the past fifty years or so. Let me put it another way: If you were a doctor and able to cure only about 25 percent of the patients you treated, of course you'd think that the condition you were treating was a very difficult one. And if you started with the idea that the condition you were treating resulted from a moral weakness in your patients, your approach to the condition would reflect that idea. It's called a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you subscribed wholeheartedly, as most doctors do, to the idea that all diseases were caused by outside agents such as germs, and that by taking medications to control these agents you could control disease, it would be a small jump to call substance problems "diseases" caused by nicotine, alcohol, and other drugs, and to attempt to treat A Revolution in the Treatment of Substance Use Problems them with prescription drugs, as you treated other diseases.

Clearly, traditional approaches are producing unacceptable recovery rates in large part because they're based on incorrect assumptions about the nature of substance problems. I've been able to avoid these pitfalls with the Power Recovery Program because I've translated recent biochemical research into a revolutionary approach that treats substance problems where they really happen: at the cellular and molecular levels.

Let me give you some background. Every one of the tens of trillions of cells in our bodies functions according to an ancient and complex set of biochemical laws that have been evolving for billions of years. Most of these cells have become highly specialized, performing one or a small number of very specific tasks. Within each individual cell in our bodies, millions of chemical reactions occur every second. Each of these reactions requires a specific combination of nutrients, in precisely the right amount, in order to take place. If we're not getting the nutrients we need, we may not be supplying our cells with the raw materials they need to carry out their complex chemistry. This can result in a condition of biochemical imbalance, and it can cause our physical and mental health to deteriorate if left uncorrected.

Imbalances are particularly important in the biochemistry of brain cells, or neurons. Neurons produce chemical substances called neurotransmitters. These substances are the brain's messengers, and by exchanging neurotransmitters among themselves, neurons control virtually every aspect of our lives. Several key neurotransmitters, which I'll discuss in more detail in this and following chapters, affect our moods and behavior dramatically. When the brain is unable to produce them in adequate supply, or when toxins (including nicotine, alcohol, and other drugs) compromise their normal activity, or when illness or stress depletes them, we may feel restless, depressed, angry, or agitated, or be unable to focus or concentrate. So common are these feelings among people who abuse drugs and alcohol that, if you have a substance problem, you probably recognize them in yourself. Perhaps you use drugs or alcohol to help overcome them.

About the Author

CHARLES GANT, M.D., Ph.D., a member of the American Academy of Psychiatrists in Addiction and Alcoholism, served as medical director for the Tully Hill Hospital, a drug rehabilitation facility in Syracuse, NY. He is now in private practice and lectures widely on biomolecular medicine and his substance abuse therapies.