What works? For who? What doesn’t? Why? A complicated disease makes for complexities in treatment.
It may be that psychotherapy itself needs greater definition. The National Institutes for Mental Health define it online as “a term for a variety of treatment techniques that aim to help a person identify and change troubling emotions, thoughts, and behavior.”
Once the patient gained insight, the theory went, the drive to abuse drugs or alcohol gradually disappears.
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Risk goes up with advancing age and declining health, and this patient, a former star athlete still in his early 30’s, is a better candidate for surgery than many.
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You want to see what PTSD is really about? Do room checks on these wards at night. Nobody here ever gets a decent night’s sleep. It’s a succession of nightmares.
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How could any treatment program anywhere assure its customers that drugs and alcohol were behind them once for all?
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One valid issue in the admission process for all three tiers is who makes the decision. If it’s the consumer, then are they under the influence? In the grip of withdrawal? In crisis, emotionally disturbed?
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So why hasn’t cannabis already prevented them from developing a severe opioid problem?
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They enter the hospital late in the day, usually through the ER, spend a day or two (or less) in acute distress, then sign out AMA as soon as they can walk again.
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By secondary gain, I’m referring to a psychological or emotional advantage or benefit that occurs from an illness or behavioral disorder.
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After the third incident, the doc gave him an ultimatum – either get help or face a taper off the program.
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Of the patients I met, all decided on aversion therapy for essentially the same reason: they’d tried other things, experienced relapse, and lost patience.
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Of more than 9000 Veterans Administration patients, only one-quarter rated their pain control with opioids as excellent or very good.
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For many people, however, including helping professionals, it’s tempting to just give up
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