Addiction

Most addictions start innocently enough. We turn to an occasional cigarette, glass of wine,sleeping pill or shopping spree to relieve tension. No one would confuse these leisurely activities for a compulsive behavior or addiction—at least not until the psychological or physical need for them starts to interfere and takes control of our lives. Then, Houston (as in Whitney), we have a problem. If you read OK! magazine you’d think the whole world was in rehab; in truth, about 23.5 million Americans 12 years and older needed treatment for drug or alcohol abuse in 2009, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) National Survey on Drug Use and Health, and only 2.6 million, or 11.2%, entered a drug or alcohol treatment program. NIH statistics from 2011 state that addiction to tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs costs more than $600 billion a year in health care, lost work productivity and crime. (Note: They include marijuana.) About $137 billion of that number is health costs

SYMPTOMS
Addiction can seem like a pretty strong word; many of us prefer the term “dependency.” But the two aren’t the same, says Scott Sandland, C.Ht., a Southern California– based medical hypnotherapist. Dependencies are purely physical; addictions, he says, also have an emotional or psychological component. If you have acute, debilitating pain, you depend on pharmaceuticals to dull it. This dependency makes your stress and pain manageable. When your pain goes away, you no longer need the drug. But dependencies can turn into full-blown addictions if you continue taking drugs, drinking to excess, gambling or having risky sex despite the destruction this causes— bodily, monetary and long-lasting psychological damage. (Families of addicts regrettably know what we’re talking about; the rest of you could watch Breaking Bad, or the film Shame, or Google “meth mug shots,” and be grateful you don’t.) Addiction specialists Todd Ritchey and John Montgomery, Ph.D., observe that “Whenever we compulsively behave in ways that are destructive to ourselves and to others, we do so out of addiction.”


REMEDIES



The natural remedies and lifestyle changes listed here focus on a certain type of dependency, and may help get your life back on track whether you’re just wanting to cut back or have already gone too far. Of course, if you feel your situation is spiraling far out of control, please seek

professional assistance; many of the options described here are primarily intended to enhance conventional treatments, such as 12-step programs (12step.org) or psychotherapy, not replace them

Alcohol

Chronic alcohol use appears to prevent the body from properly absorbing nutrients, says Thom Lobe, M.D., director of the Beneveda Medical Center, an energy medicine practice in Beverly Hills, Calif. Being deɹcient in vitamin B and magnesium can cause “DTs” (delirium tremens)—also known as the shakes, or the horrors—and cardiac arrhythmias (serious heart palpitations), which make detoxification from alcohol more difficult.
TRY: Twin Lab’s Super B-Complex (8 ounces for $24, vitaminshoppe.com); Natural Vitality’s Natural Calm magnesium supplement (8 ounces for $22; vitaminshoppe.com).

Smoking

Ask most smokers why they light up and they’re apt to reply, “Smoking calms me down,” says Allison Kitchen, L.Ac., a certiɹed addiction specialist with DCMindBody, in Washington, D.C. This is curious, because nicotine is actually a stimulant. But think about the ritual of lighting one up: You remove yourself from whatever you’re doing many times a day—and for several minutes you take long, slow, deep breaths. The problem? You’re having your mini-meditation break with “a lethal stick in your mouth,” Kitchen says. There are about 8.6 million people who are suffering from some serious illnesses caused by smoking in the United States, according to 2013 data.

CHOOS E FOODS CAREFULLY

According to a 2013 review of the best ways to quit smoking, a Duke University study found that certain foods and beverages—milk, fruit, vegetables, water and juice make cigarettes taste worse, while alcohol and, to a lesser extent, meat and cafeinated drinks, enhance their flavor. Reach or some carrot or celery sticks and a glass of water when you feel the urge to smoke; you’ll ruin the taste of the cigarette and keep your hands too busy to reach for one more.

TRY HOMEOPATHY

There’s a veritable bevy of homeopathic remedies available to help you quit smoking. The following are recommended by Boulder, Colo., certiɹed homeopath
Kathy Thorpe:

• Tabacum helps rid the body of tobacco residue and detoxify the eʃects of tobacco and nicotine. Take 30c twice a day for the first five days of your smoking detox. Lobelia inɻata creates a strong aversion to tobacco. Take three pellets of 6c lobelia at each craving until the urges subside.

• Nux vomica can help relieve the irritability, headache, “toxicity” and constipation that sometimes accompany eforts to quit smoking. Take 30c once or twice a day for five days.

• Antimonium tartaricum oʃers relief from the coughing and excess mucus that can accompany withdrawal. Take 6c three times a day for several weeks until your cough eases.

TRY: Boiron Quit Smoking Care Kit contains nux vomica a n d lobelia inɻata ($14; amazon.com); Hyland’s Homeopathic Tabacum ($8 at retail stores); Boericke & Tafel’s antimonium tartaricum 30X ($5 at retail stores).

.  

Share on: Facebook Twitter Google+ Linkedin Technorati Digg LintasMe

Related Articles :