Addiction Integrated Recovery
The Body
The mind and body appear distinct but in reality they are indivisible. They always move together. To mistake the appearance of distinctness for the truth of their inseparability is to defy common sense, logic, and personal experience. ”Butterflies” in the stomach, muscle tension on a difficult day, an anxiety headache, a “nervous” stomach, and the physical response to sexual imagery are among the many examples of common experiences that validate the indivisibility of mind and body.
The common sense and experience is well supported by psychological research that documents the relationship of physical and mental states, the understanding of the physiological components of the stress response, development of the fields of biofeedback, psychoneuroimmunology and neuro and cognitive sciences, and the more recent correlation of meditative practice and physiologic and structural change. It would be difficult to find an aspect of the body – from organ system to the cellular level – that is not influenced by the state of our mind. There is no longer any acceptable rationale that supports the separation of mind and body.
Yet these fields of inquiry and research have primarily been concerned with gross mind/body interactions. Why? Because our understanding of the mind has been limited to its most overt activities – for example, the stress response, symptomatic anxiety or disabling mood disturbances. We have not as yet explored the more subtle aspects of the mind and thus our mind/body understanding and strategies are of a superficial nature.
As we delve deeper into consciousness we begin to unveil a subtle mind/body understanding and medicine. If we look below overt mental disturbances to the subtle restlessness, agitation, unsettledness, and dis-ease that drives the “ordinary” life we touch the more subtle aspects of the mind and open an entirely new aspect of mind/body understanding. We know that overt mental distress elevates blood pressure and pulse, activates stress related hormones, dis-regulates the immune system, and effects most physiological functions. But we assume that when overt mental distress is absent that our physiology returns to normal.
We are so accustomed to a subtle restlessness, agitation, dis-ease and its reflection in obsessive striving, ambition, and ceaseless mental chatter that we are unaware of its constant influence on our subtle physiology. Only when we begin to calm our mental chatter with meditative approaches do we become aware of this underlying mental unrest and its subtle mpact on our body. When we first feel a stable stillness of mind we become aware of the correlate of a truly still body. The exploration of the subtle mind and its relationship to our subtle physiology will allow for a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the mind/body interface, an increased appreciation of the long-term effects of childhood wounds, and appropriate strategies to restore basic well-being to mind and body.
The common sense and experience is well supported by psychological research that documents the relationship of physical and mental states, the understanding of the physiological components of the stress response, development of the fields of biofeedback, psychoneuroimmunology and neuro and cognitive sciences, and the more recent correlation of meditative practice and physiologic and structural change. It would be difficult to find an aspect of the body – from organ system to the cellular level – that is not influenced by the state of our mind. There is no longer any acceptable rationale that supports the separation of mind and body.
Yet these fields of inquiry and research have primarily been concerned with gross mind/body interactions. Why? Because our understanding of the mind has been limited to its most overt activities – for example, the stress response, symptomatic anxiety or disabling mood disturbances. We have not as yet explored the more subtle aspects of the mind and thus our mind/body understanding and strategies are of a superficial nature.
As we delve deeper into consciousness we begin to unveil a subtle mind/body understanding and medicine. If we look below overt mental disturbances to the subtle restlessness, agitation, unsettledness, and dis-ease that drives the “ordinary” life we touch the more subtle aspects of the mind and open an entirely new aspect of mind/body understanding. We know that overt mental distress elevates blood pressure and pulse, activates stress related hormones, dis-regulates the immune system, and effects most physiological functions. But we assume that when overt mental distress is absent that our physiology returns to normal.
We are so accustomed to a subtle restlessness, agitation, dis-ease and its reflection in obsessive striving, ambition, and ceaseless mental chatter that we are unaware of its constant influence on our subtle physiology. Only when we begin to calm our mental chatter with meditative approaches do we become aware of this underlying mental unrest and its subtle mpact on our body. When we first feel a stable stillness of mind we become aware of the correlate of a truly still body. The exploration of the subtle mind and its relationship to our subtle physiology will allow for a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the mind/body interface, an increased appreciation of the long-term effects of childhood wounds, and appropriate strategies to restore basic well-being to mind and body.
Hypoglycemia and Alcoholism
Alcoholics Anonymous cofounder Bill Wilson was very interested in the link between alcoholism and hypoglycemia. He collected research papers demonstrating the extent of abnormal glucose fluctuations among alcoholics and sent three different reports on the subject to AA physicians. Wilson's interest was personal as well as professional. For many years, he suffered from depression and other hypoglycemic symptoms. He also consumed huge amounts of sugar and caffeine. Finally, by eliminating sugar and caffeine and making other dietary changes, he stabilized his blood sugar and achieved a sense of well-being.
Study after study has demonstrated that the vast majority of alcoholics are hypoglycemic. In one conducted by J. Poulos, D. Stafford, and K. Carron, fifty outpatient alcoholics and fifty halfway-house alcoholics were compared with a control group of one hundred nurses and teenagers. Of the one hundred alcoholics, ninety-six proved to be hypoglycemic; only fourteen of the nonalcoholic controls were hypoglycemic. A three-year study by Robert Meiers, M.D., in Santa Cruz, California, found that more than 95 percent of alcoholics studied suffered from low blood sugar.
More evidence comes from Kenneth Williams, M.D., an internist at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and a member of the national board of trustees of AA. Williams has found that a vast majority of his sober alcoholic patients are hypoglycemic; many have told him that their hypoglycemia had been diagnosed even before they started drinking.
Researcher and author Emanuel Cheraskin, M.D., found on the basis of six-hour glucose tolerance tests that between 75 and 90 percent of alcoholics studied were hypoglycemic. "Too much therapeutic emphasis has been placed on psychological factors," says Cheraskin" while more basic biochemical deficiencies and defects in body chemistry have received relatively little attention."
These studies confirm the findings and views of endocrinologist John Tintera, M.D. After years of research, Tintera concluded that even recovered alcoholics who have been sober for many years continue to suffer the effects of hypoglycemia. He strongly believes that the treatment of alcoholism "centers essentially about control of hypoglycemia... by far the most important part of the physiological treatment of alcoholics is the complete restriction of easily absorbed carbohydrates."
Until their severe fluctuations in blood sugar are stabilized, Tintera warns that alcoholics will be predisposed to depression and what only appear to be "deep-rooted emotional or psychiatric disorders."
Bill Wilson and Niacin Therapy
Bill was very curious about it and began to take niacin, 3 g daily. Within a few weeks fatigue and depression which had plagued him for years were gone. He gave it to 30 of his close friends in AA and persuaded them to try it. Within 6 months he was convinced that it would be very helpful to alcoholics...
Study after study has demonstrated that the vast majority of alcoholics are hypoglycemic. In one conducted by J. Poulos, D. Stafford, and K. Carron, fifty outpatient alcoholics and fifty halfway-house alcoholics were compared with a control group of one hundred nurses and teenagers. Of the one hundred alcoholics, ninety-six proved to be hypoglycemic; only fourteen of the nonalcoholic controls were hypoglycemic. A three-year study by Robert Meiers, M.D., in Santa Cruz, California, found that more than 95 percent of alcoholics studied suffered from low blood sugar.
More evidence comes from Kenneth Williams, M.D., an internist at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and a member of the national board of trustees of AA. Williams has found that a vast majority of his sober alcoholic patients are hypoglycemic; many have told him that their hypoglycemia had been diagnosed even before they started drinking.
Researcher and author Emanuel Cheraskin, M.D., found on the basis of six-hour glucose tolerance tests that between 75 and 90 percent of alcoholics studied were hypoglycemic. "Too much therapeutic emphasis has been placed on psychological factors," says Cheraskin" while more basic biochemical deficiencies and defects in body chemistry have received relatively little attention."
These studies confirm the findings and views of endocrinologist John Tintera, M.D. After years of research, Tintera concluded that even recovered alcoholics who have been sober for many years continue to suffer the effects of hypoglycemia. He strongly believes that the treatment of alcoholism "centers essentially about control of hypoglycemia... by far the most important part of the physiological treatment of alcoholics is the complete restriction of easily absorbed carbohydrates."
Until their severe fluctuations in blood sugar are stabilized, Tintera warns that alcoholics will be predisposed to depression and what only appear to be "deep-rooted emotional or psychiatric disorders."
Bill Wilson and Niacin Therapy
Bill was very curious about it and began to take niacin, 3 g daily. Within a few weeks fatigue and depression which had plagued him for years were gone. He gave it to 30 of his close friends in AA and persuaded them to try it. Within 6 months he was convinced that it would be very helpful to alcoholics...
| Bill W. and Niacin Therapy.pdf |
| Etiology and Biological Treatment of Alcohol Addiction.pdf |
The Physiology of Willpower: Linking Blood Glucose to Self-Control
Matthew T. Gailliot Florida State University
Roy F. Baumeister Florida State University
Past research indicates that self-control relies on some sort of limited energy source. This review suggests that blood glucoseis one important part of the energy source of self-control.Acts of self-control deplete relatively large amounts of glucose.Self-control failures are more likely when glucose is low orcannot be mobilized effectively to the brain (i.e., when insulinis low or insensitive). Restoring glucose to a sufficient leveltypically improves self-control. Numerous self-control behaviorsfit this pattern, including controlling attention, regulatingemotions, quitting smoking, coping with stress, resisting impulsivity,and refraining from criminal and aggressive behavior. Alcohol reduces glucose throughout the brain and body and likewise impairsmany forms of self-control. Furthermore, self-control failureis most likely during times of the day when glucose is usedleast effectively. Self-control thus appears highly susceptibleto glucose. Self-control benefits numerous social and interpersonalprocesses. Glucose might therefore be related to a broad rangeof social behavior.
| Physiology of Willpower.pdf |
ABSTRACT: Alcohol Dependence: Serotonin Receptors and Potential Agents
George A. Kenna, PH.D., B.S.Pharm., is Fellow in Community Health, Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies (CAAS), Brown University, Providence, RI, and Clinical Pharmacist, Kent County Memorial Hospital, Warwick, RI. John E. Mcgeary, PH.D., is Postdoctoral Fellow in Community Health, CAAS. Robert M. Swift, M.D., PH.D., is Associate Chief of Staff for Research and Education, Providence VA Medical Center, Providence; Associate Director, CAAS; and Professor of Psychiatry, Brown Medical School, Providence.
Alcoholics and experimental animals that consume large amounts of alcohol have comparatively lower levels of serotonin than nonalcoholics. Considerable experimental evidence suggests that serotonin plays a crucial role in the impulsivity and craving often seen in alcoholics and is at least partly responsible for alcohol dependence.
| Serotonin and Alcohol.pdf |
Alcoholism Treatment with Biochemical Restoration as a Major Component
Joan Mathews-Larson, Ph.D. and Robert A. Parker, M-Sc
Health Recovery Center, Inc., Minneapolis, MN
This study reports on the rate of sobriety of alcoholic patients exposed to an experimental six-week out-patient treatment program concentrating on biochemical restoration combined with rational-emotive therapy,
| Alcoholism Treatment With Biochemical Restoration.pdf |
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