Hi. Glad you asked for our opinion. Our quote is directly from the source, which in our case is the widely acknowledged Medical Reference Text, Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, Thirteenth Edition.
"ALCOHOL ABUSE
The most recent revised version of the Third Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association divides alcoholism into alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence...
A modified approach to a definition of alcoholism is easier to apply in clinical settings. The diagnosis of alcoholism is made when an individual ignores the early warning signs that alcohol is causing problems in marriage and goes on to an alcohol-related marital separation or divorce; or when alcohol-related problems on the job actually result in the patient being fired or laid off; or when there are two or more arrests related to alcohol; or when there is physical evidence that alcohol has harmed health (e.g., cardiomyopathy, cirrhosis, alcoholic hepatitis), including signs of alcoholic withdrawal...
In addition to acute behavioral effects, chronic intake of high doses of ethanol can cause peripheral neuropathy... Wernicke's and Korsakoff's syndromes... cerebellar degeneration... severe cognitive problems and impairment in recent and remote memory... permanent CNS impairment (alcoholic dementia)... almost every psychiatric syndrome... Psychoses... auditory hallucinations and/or paranoid delusions... Alcoholics commonly develop acute or chronic pancreatitis... fatty accumulation, alcohol-induced hepatitis, and cirrhosis...
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in alcoholics (after cardiovascular disease), who have a rate of carcinoma 10 times higher than that expected in the general population. The sites with the greatest increase over expected rates include the head and neck, esophagus, cardia of the stomach, liver, pancreas, and, according to recent data, breast...
DRUG ABUSE
Some opiate addicts satisfy criteria for the antisocial personality disorder as evidenced by serious antisocial problems in most life areas beginning prior to age 15 and before the first major life problem from drugs (see Chap. 389). However, the majority of opiate addicts have a relatively high level of premorbid functioning. The usual street abuser begins using opiates occasionally, often after experimenting with tobacco, then alcohol, then marijuana, and then brain depressants or stimulants...
Once persistent opiate use is established, the outcome is often extremely serious. At least 25 percent of such opiate abusers are likely to die within 10 to 20 years of active abuse, with death from suicide, homicide, accidents, and infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, serum hepatitis, or AIDS...
POLYDRUG ABUSE
Although drug abusers often report a preference for a particular drug, such as alcohol or opiates, the concurrent use of other drugs is common. Multiple drug use often involves substances which may have different pharmacologic effects from the preferred drug. Concurrent use of such dissimilar compounds as stimulants and opiates or stimulants and alcohol is not unusual... However, it is known that the combined use of cocaine, heroin, and alcohol increases the risk for toxic effects and adverse medical consequences over risks associated with use of a single drug...
REHABILITATION OF OPIATE ADDICTS AND ALCOHOLICS
Despite some differences in demographics, the same general rules for rehabilitation apply to the opiate abuser and to the alcoholic. The basic strategy includes beginning detoxification and general family support...
As is true for treatments of all substance use disorders, it is likely that counseling, behavioral treatments, and relatively simple approaches at psychotherapy add significantly to a positive outcome. Most approaches focus on better handling of stress and enhanced understanding of personality attributes, improving cognitive styles, and addressing problems with interpersonal skills that might have contributed to either the initiation or progression of the substance-abuse problem."
Yeah, yeah, yeah... I know all this, you may say, but if you only knew THE PAIN, THE DEEP PAIN down in me, you would understand why I need this "high" to keep me going. If you knew the feeling of being "HIGH", you would understand what it means to me.
Who can explain to me why I felt so "HAPPY" when I first used IT, and why I can never be O.K. now? Who can tell me how to get rid of THE PAIN and who can help me feel "GOOD" without "using"anymore? Who can REALLY HELP ME?
T-ANALYSIS CAN. T-Analysis is the method of choice for a long term solution. Schedule a session today and you'll never be the same.
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