This is an excerpt from an article by David Gersten MD, on healing the brain and body through supplements... food for thought.
Note: This is just an excerpt. His basic message is to address alcoholism naturally. He is not an advocate for medicinal approaches.
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"In order to move toward an understanding of how to cure alcoholism, let's start by addressing two important issues that are frequently misunderstood:
First, let's talk about the alcoholic personality, the type of makeup that predisposes one to become alcoholic. Understanding this makeup will make it easier for you to know which kind of psychotherapy or support system will best suit you.
Here is the answer. In 1984 a study of 650 young men showed that there was no evidence whatsoever that there is an “alcoholic personality.” So, folks you can throw out the notion that your mother, father, your abuse, neglect, or stress caused your problem with drinking. Alcoholism is not a psychiatric disorder and does not belong in the DSM-IV, the psychiatric bible of diagnosis.
Secondly, you need to understand that support systems, including Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), according to a great deal of research, do not have better than a 5 percent cure rate. Mind you, I refer my alcoholic patients to AA. AA was never intended as a treatment modality. It is support and is profoundly helpful.
But alcoholism is a physical disease. You cannot cure diabetes or cancer through support groups or psychotherapy, nor can you cure alcoholism through such support. I also don't buy into the nearly universal belief that alcoholism is an incurable disease.
The point of this tongue-in-cheek discussion of the “Alcoholic Personality” is to help you finally set aside such a notion. There is not a “Diabetic Personality” or an “Arthritic Personality.” Similarly, alcoholism is a disorder of severely disturbed biochemistry. There is metabolic chaos from head to toe."
Note: This is just an excerpt. His basic message is to address alcoholism naturally. He is not an advocate for medicinal approaches.
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"In order to move toward an understanding of how to cure alcoholism, let's start by addressing two important issues that are frequently misunderstood:
First, let's talk about the alcoholic personality, the type of makeup that predisposes one to become alcoholic. Understanding this makeup will make it easier for you to know which kind of psychotherapy or support system will best suit you.
Here is the answer. In 1984 a study of 650 young men showed that there was no evidence whatsoever that there is an “alcoholic personality.” So, folks you can throw out the notion that your mother, father, your abuse, neglect, or stress caused your problem with drinking. Alcoholism is not a psychiatric disorder and does not belong in the DSM-IV, the psychiatric bible of diagnosis.
Secondly, you need to understand that support systems, including Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), according to a great deal of research, do not have better than a 5 percent cure rate. Mind you, I refer my alcoholic patients to AA. AA was never intended as a treatment modality. It is support and is profoundly helpful.
But alcoholism is a physical disease. You cannot cure diabetes or cancer through support groups or psychotherapy, nor can you cure alcoholism through such support. I also don't buy into the nearly universal belief that alcoholism is an incurable disease.
The point of this tongue-in-cheek discussion of the “Alcoholic Personality” is to help you finally set aside such a notion. There is not a “Diabetic Personality” or an “Arthritic Personality.” Similarly, alcoholism is a disorder of severely disturbed biochemistry. There is metabolic chaos from head to toe."
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