Why would anyone choose a 12 step program for treating alcoholims?

A friend of mine is a reformed alcoholic. Bill has been sober for 10 years now. He would tell you that he’s not reformed but rather a recovering alcoholic. In his view, no one’s ever cured. This is more than a quibble. Whether alcoholism is a chronic disease with no cure or a condition which can be permanently alleviated is a question answered differently by different programs. And it is a question you need to have answered for you before choosing a program to treat alcoholism for you or a loved one.

As any reformed addict will tell you, quitting is far easier than staying sober. Bill quit drinking a number of times, but relapsed in each case until he did a 12 step program.

Naturally, my friend is a big advocate of the 12 step approach. When I asked him about the relapse rate among graduates of his program, I expected the number to be relatively small. After all, Bill is a regular guy blessed I assumed with no more self discipline and resolve than the next guy.
.
But I must have been wrong. You see, Bill told me that few permanently quit drinking after going through a 12 step program. Just 5% make it to long term sobriety. Most relapse and once again become alcoholics.

With a relapse rate of 95%, why would anyone pick a 12 step program to treat their drinking problem? Two explanations come to mind:

First, most people have no idea of the high relapse rate of such programs and even if they do, they don’t have an effective alternative; and
Second, most people have come to believe that alcoholism is a chronic disease. As such, they have low expectations.

Having helped many alcoholics find effect treatment for their condition, I can attest that alcoholism is not a chronic disease. One can recover permanently. One program we regularly refer our Clients to boasts a long term sobriety rate of 70%. Twelve fold the rate of success of my friend’s 12 step program.

I know of no case where ignorance is bliss, even less so when it comes to treating alcoholism or finding effective drug rehab in Georgia.

Fritz Alders

You Won't Find the Answer to Cocaine Addiction by Studying a Rat

Cocaine addiction is a national problem. Billions of dollars have been spent on research to treat addiction to this terrible drug. So what’s another million. Right? I’m referring to a 1.4 million dollar grant our Government made to a Professor of Psychology at Texas A&M who plans to study the effects of cocaine on the brains of rats. I assume the purpose of the 5 year long study will be to develop better methods of treating cocaine addiction in humans.

Currently, drug rehab in Georgia programs for cocaine addiction yield poor results. Fewer than 1 in 5 addicts treated at a conventional drug rehab facility permanently kick their habits.

At first then, it would appear that further study is warranted. So why do I disagree with the grant? For one, as I mentioned we’ve already spent billions of dollars to study this problem, much of which has gone to the psychiatric community. Why continue to throw good money after bad, if we have little to show for our investment?

If you take your car to a mechanic to be repaired but still continue to have the same problem after he’s worked on it, do you take it back to him? If so, how many times? Unless he fixes your problem, eventually, you’ll say enough is enough. Right?

Why do we continue then to go back to the psychiatric profession for solutions to human suffering?

I’m also annoyed because the grant on its face assumes that no workable therapy exists to handle cocaine addiction. Which is false. Nearly 8 in 10 addicts kick their habits after being treated at a Narconon drug rehab center.

Fritz Alders

what MJ Taught Us about Drug Addiction

If the future be not guaranteed, why not live for the moment? Why not do what makes us feel good? For in the end, tomorrow may never come. True?

Those are the words a drug addict lives by, words which invariably excuse his dangerous behavior.

Michael Jackson had everything to live for... a lovely family, a legion of adoring fans and a legend which now is just a legacy. Yet, he gave it all up for the sake of a moment.

But why? I believe for an addict it can be easier to live for the moment, a reality which can be shaped by drugs than to live for the future, a reality shaped by the entirety of one's life, which had been destroyed by drugs over time. Of course, in the end living for the moment caused him to live in one final moment forever.

Many people knew Micheal had a problem. But none took enough responsibility to help him handle his addiction and get his life back.In the tragic loss of Michael Jackson, the lesson is clear...there's no time like the present to ensure that tomorrow may in fact come. With effective drug rehab in Georgia the future is yours and it's bright.



Fritz Alders

How to Beat Drug Addiction for Good

I read a beautiful story today written by a young addict. She described her addiction as being like at war. Drugs laid sieged to her body and mind and beat her battle after battle until she discovered that she could fight back.

A war within oneself is an appropriate analogy. Like an enemy, addiction attacks the body as it weakens the mind's resolve to fight back. As the battle rages on, self control is the primary casualty. And with the loss of control, a permanent surrender seems the only option.

When an addict first takes drugs, he feels he can control his habit. It's a lie. By giving him pleasure or for the moment taking away his pain, the chemicals convince him that drugs are his ally.

But like an enemy cell, they soon betray from within. Once he realizes his mistake, it's often too late to do anything about it. By then, the drugs have more than a foothold in his body. They’ve built a prison and enslaved his mind and soul.

To successfully beat addiction, a program must eradicate the physical and psychological sources which cause addiction.

Drug residues accumulate in the tissues and cause cravings. They are the cause of continuing physical addiction. As the addict fails to fight back against his cravings, he loses control.

To beat addiction for good, a program must help the addict conquer his cravings for good. This can be done by removing all drugs residue from the body with a deep cleansing detox. Once physical addiction is handled, the user can fight back and tackle the psychological reasons for his continued drug use.

The next thing to do is equip the addict with effective tools to help him handle his life. With such help, he can regain his ability to face his problems and control his life. It was this loss of control which caused him to lose the fight against drug addiction in the first place.

In her essay, the young addict described her plight as like being at war with herself. With the help of a drug rehab in Georgia program, she no longer has to fight. She’s won. Good for her.



Fritz Alders

How to Get an Addict into Drug Rehab

A friend of mine admitted she's got a drug problem. Her son’s an addict. How can I get him into drug rehab in Georgia? she asked me. He’s thinks that if he gives up his pills, the pain will be too much.”

Crazy I thought. From what I can tell, he’s not doing so well as it is. He can’t think clearly, can’t hold a job, and in general can’t handle his life. How could things get any worse for him once he's sober?

“Why ask him to make the decision I asked?” He's got to want to get better, doesn’t he? It’s his life, after all. Shouldn’t he make the choice?”

No, I told her. He shouldn't because he can't. Drugs make you stupid. We all know that. The more he uses, the more the addict becomes unable to think clearly. And the less clearly he can think, the more dependent he becomes on his family.

So then why leave the decision about rehab up to an addict? He doesn’t have the ability to make a good decision anyway. And since he’s shirked his responsibility and burdened his family with his problems, they should have more say in how to handle him.

So this is where a little tough love goes a long way. An approach using a combination of "it's my way or the highway" with a big dose of love and care for his well being can help an addict make the right choice to get the drug rehab he needs.



Fritz Alders

Drug Use is Not a Victimless Crime

No matter their political affiliation, most Americans are Libertarian at heart. They prefer freedom over fiat; and self determinism over dogmatism.

But I and many others disagree with Libertarians on at least one key argument of theirs: Drug use is not a victimless crime. You see, the user and his family alike are victims. They suffer in many, many ways. They suffer physically. They suffer financially. And they suffer emotionally.

And I don't think it matters, as they would argue, that because the user had a choice and chose to use, he is not therefore a victim. A fundamental principle in product liability law posits that a manufacturer is liable for damages resulting from a product defect, as long as the user was not aware of the defect. If you climb a ladder and it breaks, for example, the manufacturer is liable if he didn’t notify you of weight limitations or if you didn’t waive your rights in some other fashion.

Most drugs, but particularly illicit drugs, are inherently defective. But despite this seemingly widespread knowledge that drugs can harm or even kill, it's not a contradiction to avow that a user is unaware of their dangers and thus remains a victim.

You see, unlike a rickety ladder, the inherent defects of drugs are cleverly hidden by a pleasurable high or temporary relief from pain. But if the tradeoff is addiction, I think it's safe to say that users don't fully know or at least understand the inherent risk that comes with drug use. Who would sell his body and soul to the devil if he knew he'd burn in hell eternally?

Taking drugs victimizes more than the user and his family. Just yesterday, 12 federal agents killed in Mexico by the La Familia drug cartel. With so much money to be made selling drugs, the pushers, whether they be drug cartels or drug companies, are not likely to give up their lucrative business without a fight. And that poses another defect in the argument that drug use is a victimless crime and why Ie continue to oppose the legalization of drugs or the use of them in drug rehab in Georgia programs.


Fritz Alders

How to Beat Rehab Relapse for Good

"Relapse is the enemy," so read a headline in a recent newspaper. The article that followed detailed the lives of two heroin addicts. In their early teens, they smoked cigarettes. In their late teens, marijuana. By the time they became legal adults they were hooked on illegal substances like crystal metha. Now they're heroin junkies, forever damned to a living hell.

They're weary of their addiction. But no matter the number of trips to rehab, neither has been able to beat their addiction. For them relapse is now the enemy, as much as is their heroin addiction.

You see, with each failed attempt at rehab, relapse weakens the addict. It saps his physical strength and his mental fight.

It takes more than resolve to beat addiction and prevent relapse. It takes an effective drug rehab program. One that gets him off drugs; one that cleanses the last vestiges of drugs from his body; and one that helps him confront his problems and handle life for good.

The fight against relapse is won in his body and mind. Strengthen both, and addiction is gone for good. And relapse with it. There is effective drug rehab in Georgia, and with it real hope to prevent relapse and beat addiction for good.

Fritz Alders