Post by Jurriaan Plesman BA (Psych), P on Mar 21, 2013 13:43:31 GMT 10
It is often said that alcohol and marijuana are addictive substances, that anybody using these drugs will automatically become addicted to either alcohol or marijuana. This is patently not true because there are many people, in fact perhaps the majority that use alcohol or marijuana who never become "addicted" to them. Similarly painkillers are not necessarily addictive if used to treat pain, but become addictive if used for non-pain (emotional) purposes. For addiction to occur we need an "addictive personality" to create an addicted person.
The difference between an addictive personality and a non-addicive personality is that the addictive personality suffers from an illness, that causes the over-production of stress hormones - such as adrenaline and and cortisol - that give rise to feeling of irrational fears and anxieties or depression, that cannot be explained by environmental circumstances of a person. He may not have been aware of his illness, since it could date back to his childhood, when these negative feelings may have been accepted as "normal". When an addictive person uses drugs he may experience for the first time in his life a "high" or relaxation, that is completely foreign to him. It is called an "high", and gives him a "liberating feelings", to which he will return very soon to feel "high" again.
A non-addicive person may experience an unpleasant reaction to whatever drugs he/she is taking for the first time. He needs to adapt to the drugs (or alcohol) to tolerate it. But he certainly does not feel the urge to repeat the experience.
The over-production of stress hormones gives an indication as to what illness may be causing this.
Stress hormones (adrenaline and cortisol) function in the body to deal with crises. These may be environmental - such as in an emergency, accidents, bereavement, rejection in love, and so on, when we need extra biological energy to deal with such crises.
Or they may result from inner biochemical crises, such as energy starvation in the brain. For the brain to operate normally it requires a constant supply of biological energy called ATP, to help in the manufacture of various hormones and neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine.
An active cell requires more than two million molecules of ATP per second to drive its biochemical machinery.
The source of this energy is mainly carbohydrates, and when the body suffers from a flaw in the conversion of carbohydrates into energy (source glucose), then the brain is deprived from a steady supply of glucose, it could die within minutes. The brain will send a hormonal message to the adrenal glands to pour adrenaline into the blood stream. Adrenaline functions to convert sugar stores (in the form of glycogen) into glucose so as to feed the brain again with energy. However, the uncalled for stress hormones causes the person to feel anxious and distressed for no apparent reason whatsoever. Most people with mood disorders cannot explain why they feel they way they do.
The major flaw in the conversion of carbohydrates ----> Glucose ---> ATP is hypoglycemia. The brain is deprived of a regular supply of energy. This is a common "silent" disease that causes the body to over-produce stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol that are responsible mood disorders. This can be treated by going on a Hypoglycemic Diet.
It should be noted that there are many other "Silent Diseases" that can cause mood disorders, but hypoglycemia is a major one.
These diseases are "silent" in the literal sense of the word, because most people are not aware that they have hypoglycemia, and will deny even in the absence of actual tests, that they have hypoglycemia. "I know I am on a healthy diet" is the usual response and are then surprised to find out from their doctor one day that they are in fact diabetic -- the result of ignoring their hypoglycemia for many years. This problem is aggravated by the fact that most doctors do not know how to test for hypoglycemia as distinct from diabetes type II. This test is explained at:Testing for Hypoglycemia.
People with no grounding in nutritional biochemistry have difficulty understanding the cause of anxiety attacks and mood disorders, hence of drug addiction and depression. The connection between diet and mood is absolutely foreign to them. They will try to explain these feelings in terms of old-fashioned twentieth century and out-dated dogmas under the heading of Freudian "PSYCHOLOGY". These are mere unsubstantiated theories that played a phantom role in the last century. This derives from he false assumption that "mental illness" is ALWAYS an illness of the mind and not an illness of the body! This is a major axiom in the "counseling industry". Most counselors are not trained in nutritional psychotherapy.
Psychiatrist, equally at a loss of understanding the true nature of mood disorders, will try to treat the symptoms with psychotropic drugs for which there is a brand-name under every letter of the alphabet. Most of these drugs leaves their patients with "treatment resistant" mental illness. Drugs usually mask symptoms but do not cure the cause.
Also read:
Drug Addiction is a Nutritional Disorder
Why Alcoholics Drink?
Why Addiction to Marijuana?
Treatment of Drug Addiction
Also look at how glycerine can help you beat cravings, insomnia and facing anxious situations (as in job interviews)
The difference between an addictive personality and a non-addicive personality is that the addictive personality suffers from an illness, that causes the over-production of stress hormones - such as adrenaline and and cortisol - that give rise to feeling of irrational fears and anxieties or depression, that cannot be explained by environmental circumstances of a person. He may not have been aware of his illness, since it could date back to his childhood, when these negative feelings may have been accepted as "normal". When an addictive person uses drugs he may experience for the first time in his life a "high" or relaxation, that is completely foreign to him. It is called an "high", and gives him a "liberating feelings", to which he will return very soon to feel "high" again.
A non-addicive person may experience an unpleasant reaction to whatever drugs he/she is taking for the first time. He needs to adapt to the drugs (or alcohol) to tolerate it. But he certainly does not feel the urge to repeat the experience.
The over-production of stress hormones gives an indication as to what illness may be causing this.
Stress hormones (adrenaline and cortisol) function in the body to deal with crises. These may be environmental - such as in an emergency, accidents, bereavement, rejection in love, and so on, when we need extra biological energy to deal with such crises.
Or they may result from inner biochemical crises, such as energy starvation in the brain. For the brain to operate normally it requires a constant supply of biological energy called ATP, to help in the manufacture of various hormones and neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine.
An active cell requires more than two million molecules of ATP per second to drive its biochemical machinery.
The source of this energy is mainly carbohydrates, and when the body suffers from a flaw in the conversion of carbohydrates into energy (source glucose), then the brain is deprived from a steady supply of glucose, it could die within minutes. The brain will send a hormonal message to the adrenal glands to pour adrenaline into the blood stream. Adrenaline functions to convert sugar stores (in the form of glycogen) into glucose so as to feed the brain again with energy. However, the uncalled for stress hormones causes the person to feel anxious and distressed for no apparent reason whatsoever. Most people with mood disorders cannot explain why they feel they way they do.
The major flaw in the conversion of carbohydrates ----> Glucose ---> ATP is hypoglycemia. The brain is deprived of a regular supply of energy. This is a common "silent" disease that causes the body to over-produce stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol that are responsible mood disorders. This can be treated by going on a Hypoglycemic Diet.
It should be noted that there are many other "Silent Diseases" that can cause mood disorders, but hypoglycemia is a major one.
These diseases are "silent" in the literal sense of the word, because most people are not aware that they have hypoglycemia, and will deny even in the absence of actual tests, that they have hypoglycemia. "I know I am on a healthy diet" is the usual response and are then surprised to find out from their doctor one day that they are in fact diabetic -- the result of ignoring their hypoglycemia for many years. This problem is aggravated by the fact that most doctors do not know how to test for hypoglycemia as distinct from diabetes type II. This test is explained at:Testing for Hypoglycemia.
People with no grounding in nutritional biochemistry have difficulty understanding the cause of anxiety attacks and mood disorders, hence of drug addiction and depression. The connection between diet and mood is absolutely foreign to them. They will try to explain these feelings in terms of old-fashioned twentieth century and out-dated dogmas under the heading of Freudian "PSYCHOLOGY". These are mere unsubstantiated theories that played a phantom role in the last century. This derives from he false assumption that "mental illness" is ALWAYS an illness of the mind and not an illness of the body! This is a major axiom in the "counseling industry". Most counselors are not trained in nutritional psychotherapy.
Psychiatrist, equally at a loss of understanding the true nature of mood disorders, will try to treat the symptoms with psychotropic drugs for which there is a brand-name under every letter of the alphabet. Most of these drugs leaves their patients with "treatment resistant" mental illness. Drugs usually mask symptoms but do not cure the cause.
Also read:
Drug Addiction is a Nutritional Disorder
Why Alcoholics Drink?
Why Addiction to Marijuana?
Treatment of Drug Addiction
Also look at how glycerine can help you beat cravings, insomnia and facing anxious situations (as in job interviews)