The Nature of Addiction … and the power of intervention September 1st, 2005

1. The Nature of Addiction … and the power of intervention September 1st, 2005 Barry M. Rosen, M.D. The Sequoia Center

3. Nature of Addiction • Loss of control • Harmful Consequences • Continued Use Despite Consequences • Denial

4. Use – Abuse - Addiction • Spectrum of disorders • Predictable with genetic predisposition • Otherwise emerges like the rest of life . . . in the rear view mirror • Petroleum dependence is good analogy for developmental process of addiction

5. Understanding the disease • BPSS: Bio-Psycho-Social-Spiritual Model

6. Bio-Psycho-Social-Spiritual Model • Four Unique Dimensions of Life • Each with defining hunger • Each restructured by addiction • Each with a scientific application • Each with a mystery beyond knowledge • Each with info about loss of control

7. The Main Inquiry… • Why do people continue to drink and use despite profound consequences? • Why the loss of control?

8. Biological Lens … hunger for food & sex • Genetic predisposition • Animal Breeding Studies • Adoption and Twin Studies • Family Tree Studies

9. Biologic Lens continued • Neurotransmitters shifts • Dopamine & Reward Pathways • Serotonin & Appetitive Behaviors • Opiates & Mood Regulation • GABA, Glutamate (NMDA), other neuropeptides & kinases • CRF

10. Homeostasis & Allostasis

11. Case Presentation • 64 y.o. eastern European woman with no family hx of etoh, using alcohol to manage benign essential tremors, sent for consultation she went into DT’s post-op. Family brought her in for treatment.

12. Biological Lens • Take home points- • Pre-addicts are different biologically • Addicts are “normal” under the influence • Using gets hooked to primal needs

14. Psychological Lens… hunger for love • Complex Denial system • Shame, Guilt, Self-Hatred, Acting-Out • Personality Changes • The Question of “Underlying Disorders”

15. Subtle Denial Stunts “I’m a functioning alcoholic …” Q: “Is your dad an addict?” A: “He’s a functioning addict.”

16. Co-morbidity • Psychiatric Disturbances(esp. Axis II character disorders) • Concurrent Pain Disorders/HIV • Co-Morbid Environment

18. Psychological Lens • Denial • An essential coping strategy • Protects one from the painful core of shame • Protects one from the work of recovery

20. Case • 46 y.o. man with 10 yrs off alcohol, drinks glass of champagne with new girlfriend @ brother’s 50th birthday party. Over 2 months drinking increases as he tells himself he’ll stop as soon as he has any problems. Drinking 1 qt daily for 12 months and presents with hemorrhagic pancreatitis.

21. Take home points • Addicts are structurally different psychologically BPSS model

22. Social Lens… hunger for family, clan, culture • Cultural Pressure to use • Family systems dynamics • Co-Addiction • Systemic Denial

25. Case Presentation • 31 y.o. man with abdominal pain, elev. LFT’s, triglycerides of 27,000, diagnosed with hyperlipidemic induced pancreatitis who came to tx after continuing his 1 qt. Daily intake of vodka.

26. Take home points • Using behavior is socially normative • Family and friend system unconsciously accommodates to the dysfunction • There are social levels of resistance to change (which has been labeled co-addiction or co-dependency)

28. Spiritual Lens … hunger formeaning and purpose • Spirituality • Hunger for meaning, purpose and possibility • Distinct from religion • The organizing principle of life

29. Spirituality’s impact on treatment • The treatment process offers: • New hope and possibility • Experiencing of caring and love • Life beyond the senses

30. Oriah Mountain Dreamer,an Indian Elder It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing. It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.

31. It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain. I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it.

32. I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.

33. It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul, if you can be faithfull and therefore be trustworthy.

34. I want to know if you can see beauty, even when it's not pretty, every day, and if you can source your own life from its presence. I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of a lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, "Yes!"

35. It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

36. It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.  It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away.

37. I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

39. Questions about Bio-Psycho-Social-Spiritual Model?

40. Brief Intervention • What does it entail? • Does it work?

41. Brief Intervention • Brief intervention strategies have been studied • They work • They are more effective than doing nothing • They are at times as effective as more extensive treatment

42. Really Brief TherapyIn the Age of Managed Care

43. Kristenson et. Al. 1983, Sweden. N of 585 • Intervention group was counseled by an MD to moderate their drinking, saw a nurse monthly and MD quarterly. • The controls received a letter about LFT elevation and followed every other year. • The Brief Intervention group had greater GGT reductions, fewer sick days & hospitalizations and had 50% of the mortality over 6 year follow.

44. Brief Intervention • WHO Study – Babor & Grant, 1992 • Screened over 32,000 pts in healthcare settings in 10 nations • (Australia, Bulgaria, Costa Rica, Kenya, Mexico, Norway, USSR, USA, Wales & Zimbabwe) • At 9 months, all interventions showed a 1/3rd reduction in alcohol consumption

46. Brief Intervention • FRAMES • F- Feedback to the patient • R- Responsibility of the patient to change • A- Advice to reduce or stop drinking • M- Menu of choices for action • E- Empathy is central to the intervention • S- Self-efficacy of the patient to change

47. Brief Intervention • On going follow up is helpful • Helping facilitate the referrals for the pt • Follow up phone calls • More severe (gamma) alcoholics may be less responsive to this than the less dependent (alpha) alcoholics

48. Conclusions • Brief intervention is better than no treatment • Brief intervention is often comparable to more extensive treatment • Problem drinkers most frequently see care givers who are not addiction experts but who can be very impactful and helpful

49. Questions about Brief Intervention?

50. Why is this important?