Addiction Treatment Field Muddied Up by More Drugs

The mainstream drug addiction treatment field has steadily been moving toward the use of more drugs to treat symptoms of drug use. These symptoms are often pigeonholed into a classification in the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), for which the recommended treatments are usually pharmaceutically-based.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) have been duped into thinking that diagnosing and treating mental disorders in association with drug problems is the way to go. They call it co-occurring disorder treatment. SAMHSA claims that 4.6 million people in the U.S. have co-occurring disorders and continue to pour money into this area of research, despite still having no proof of the chemical imbalance theory.

By calling addiction an incurable brain disease and introducing more mental labels, treatment modalities and individual centers have been allowed to not get results. Instead, they say relapse is a part of recovery and that treatment only reduces drug use by 40 to 60 percent – that is a measurement of overall use, not of how many people are now drug-free, which would be the equivalent of someone snorting cocaine five times a day instead of ten, and still calling it a success.

The co-occurring charade has taken a recent hit, but that too has largely been swept under the table.

A study earlier this year found that more than half of the panel members responsible for overseeing the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistic Manual (DSM-IV) had some type of financial tie to the drug industry. These ties included research grants from drug companies, serving as consultants and speaking for fees at different events. These relationships weren’t publicly revealed and most Americans aren’t aware of the fact that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) won’t approve a new drug for mental illness unless the condition is included in the DSM.

The kicker of it all is that there is still no proof that these disorders actually exist, and millions of Americans are fooled by it. The clues are well-placed in their advertisements so that people will look over it.
One drug company ad writes “the symptoms of bipolar disorder are thought to be caused by an imbalance of key chemicals in the brain…The exact way [the drug] or any other medicine for bipolar disorder works unknown. However, experts believe…”

Another common ad reads “Depression is thought to be caused by an imbalance of brain chemicals. Research suggests that depression may be caused…Scientists believe [the drug] helps…”

International Drug-Free Alliance director Lucas A Catton, CCDC says, “I can’t believe that people aren’t literally revolting against this. The evidence is right there for you to see, and the so-called professionals who make these claims still cannot prove them. It is absolutely ridiculous and we’re losing hundreds of millions of tax dollars in funding that could go toward actually helping people overcome addiction.”

Catton, who has worked in the treatment and prevention field for several years, often volunteers on a national addiction help line. “It is very rare to find someone these days on drugs who has been to a treatment center before and isn’t already on some mind-altering medication. That means that a good drug rehabilitation program must now clean up the damage caused by the street drugs as well as the pharmaceuticals.”

For more information about drugs and related topics, or to learn more about the Drug-Free Alliance visit www.drug-freealliance.org.

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