Last week we talked about recovery options that are pretty well known to folks both in, and out of the recovery community. Almost everyone you know has heard of 'rehab' in one form or another. TV and Hollywood movies depict characters getting sober and attending 12 Step Meetings all the time. 2011's Arthur depicts a reckless and wealthy drunk getting sober and even picking up a 30 day chip at an AA meeting! (Spoiler Alert!)
My personal thoughts on recovery and sobriety in entertainment are mostly very positive. Awareness is awareness, and so long as the movie or TV character doesn't depict sobriety as a bad thing, something to be ashamed of or something to scoff at, any exposure that might nudge someone toward getting help, is okay by me.
But what about the lesser known recovery options? What about some of those recovery options that are more mystical in nature, almost magic sounding? What about the options that are newer, and therefor tend to be 'controversial' or rarely recommended?
Part 2 of this 2 part episode (we'll still be calling it Episode 5 for the sake of simplicity for those keeping count) is going to focus on exactly that question. What about them?!
Programming note:
This will also be our very first venture into live human-guest territory! And whilst we are extremely excited to get to 'interview' someone, we are also terribly nervous. The possibility that either WE will be awful at it, or our poor guest might be instead, is terrifying! So, please be gentle. I'm going to come out and preemptively state that,
"If this interview goes horribly wrong, is boring and yawn inducing, makes no sense at all, or is together laughable and unprofessional, it is 100% the fault of SHHRP and not at all the fault our very first guest. For whom we are eternally grateful." -Your Host
Now, enjoy the show!
-SHHRP Cast
Subscribe To The Sober Happy Hour | Radio Podcast!Show Notes:
New Idea, show prep!
(Let us know if you like the behind the scenes look at how an episode of SHHRP is made!)
Recovery Options in the 21st Century Part 2 - Prep.
+++++++++++Ibogaine
Ibogaine is a potent hallucinogenic drug that is derived from the African shrub, (Ta-ber-Natheee Eee-bow-gaw) Tabernanthe Iboga
The substance has been used in spiritual ceremonies in Western Africa for generations but has more recently become known as an addiction treatment medication that greatly reduces the severity of opioid withdrawal symptoms and can also reduce cravings for alcohol, cocaine, methamphetamines and nicotine. Holy frikkin shitballs, man! Where the hell has this miracle been all my life?
- Almost immediately stops opioid withdrawal -holy crap!
- Reduces drug/alcohol cravings.
- Grants you insight into why you use drugs or alcohol. -What?
- Is illegal in the US - Of course it is.
- Is legal in Mexico and Canada -Son of a…
- Could kill you if you’re dumb enough to lie to the facilitating doctor or specialist.
Stages of the treatment apparently last for days. But once you’re done, you are apparently done for good. The stages are as follow:
1. The Acute Dreamlike Stage - Dose given the morning after last fix for opioid users.
-You almost always puke.
-Hallucinations that are super frikkin realistic.
-You are monitored AT ALL TIMES
-The hallucinations are only when your eyes are closed -trip out, bro
-Puking is minimized by absolute stillness.
2. The Evaluative Stage
-You talk about your hallucinations
-This helps you understand why you were using drugs -sure it does
-Lasts 8-20 hours!
3. The Stimulation Phase
-You won’t want to sleep
-They’ll give you sleep aids
-2 to 4 hours of sleep will seem like too much
-Can last weeks or even months!
Guess what they tell you to do after your Ibogaine treatment? 12 step programs to stay away from the drugs who’s ass you just kicked. Or as I like to think of it, to stay away and be damn grateful for the bullet you may have just dodged.
Risks:
Due to the extreme physical and emotional nature of the therapy, people with certain preconditions should not take ibogaine.
Do not use ibogaine if you have:
Do not use ibogaine if you have:
- Cancer, epilepsy or have seizures.
- Cerebral palsy, MS, migraines, dementia requiring treatment or other cerebral dysfunction.
- Any type of cardiac condition.
- Untreated high blood pressure.
- IBS or Crohn’s.
- Kidney stones or kidney disease.
- Serious liver disease (enzyme at more than 400% above normal).
- Lung diseases, such as bronchitis, asthma or emphysema.
- Unmanaged diabetes.
- A history of stroke.
- Pregnancy.
- Any type of vascular disease.
- Active and serious emotional or psychiatric disorders that require treatment.
- Are taking antidepressants
- A variety of kidney, liver or gastro-intestinal disorders
Sounds a lot like the same do not do if list for running a half marathon tho.
I dunno guys, these sounds too good to be true. The only saving grace is the legality of it in the US. Big pharma be damned.
++++++++++Harm Reduction: HRC (Harm Reduction Coalition)
Practical strategies and ideas to help reduce negative consequences associated with drug use.
A movement for social justice built on a belief in, and respect for, the rights of people who use drugs.
Based in both Oakland and New York City.
Central Principles:
- Accepts, for better and or worse, that licit and illicit drug use is part of our world and chooses to work to minimize its harmful effects rather than simply ignore or condemn them.
- Understands drug use as a complex, multi-faceted phenomenon that encompasses a continuum of behaviors from severe abuse to total abstinence, and acknowledges that some ways of using drugs are clearly safer than others.
- Establishes quality of individual and community life and well-being–not necessarily cessation of all drug use–as the criteria for successful interventions and policies.
- Calls for the non-judgmental, non-coercive provision of services and resources to people who use drugs and the communities in which they live in order to assist them in reducing attendant harm.
- Ensures that drug users and those with a history of drug use routinely have a real voice in the creation of programs and policies designed to serve them.
- Affirms drugs users themselves as the primary agents of reducing the harms of their drug use, and seeks to empower users to share information and support each other in strategies which meet their actual conditions of use.
- Recognizes that the realities of poverty, class, racism, social isolation, past trauma, sex-based discrimination and other social inequalities affect both people’s vulnerability to and capacity for effectively dealing with drug-related harm.
- Does not attempt to minimize or ignore the real and tragic harm and danger associated with licit and illicit drug use.
Overdose Prevention: drug overdose has increased 500% in 25 years. In 2008 35k deaths related to poisoning. Specific substance date in not available. Most believe these to be a majority Rx and illicit drug overdose related.
Overdose awareness day. A really neat idea. A day to mourn the loss of loved ones to overdose. A day to raise awareness of the need for comprehenzive drug addiction programs and medical reforms to handle the epidemic of drug abuse in the world, not just the US.
??A lot of this information and the crux of this program seems to come form the UK, is the UK more progressive than the US with regards to drug tretment especially programs like Harm Reduction???
Narcan, Naloxone and Suboxone in HRC and other Harm Reduction programs. There’s a lot of people who don’t like the idea of Suboxone for drug treatment, will the stigma of Suboxone prevent the wide spread use of Naloxone or Narcan for overdose prevention and response if these programs take affect in the US?
Syringe access (AKA Needle exchange) is a little known practice in the US, but is more widely available in other countries, especially in the UK where they realize that the need to protect IV drug users from disease is a public health issue. The stigma rears its ugly head again when we are willing as a society to give a shit about an entire sub-culture of people who use drugs are are treated worse than terrorists and rapists in prison who get medical treatment even tho we find them despicable. Even if you find an active IV drug user disgusting and pathetic, don’t they deserve to live? Don’t they deserve just a little help to prevent HIV and Hep C? We give away millions and millions of syringes to clinics and doctors around the world for vaccines, and other ‘OK’ reasons, preventing death and the spread of disease is not another acceptable reason to provide clean needles to people who use them? Oh, that’s right, they are drug addicts. Forgot.
---Brian Thompson, a 50 year old recovering addict in New York City tells his story of the Upper East Side Needle exchange program, essentially saving his sober life.
"Today I live a sober life free of HIV and Hep C. Many of my friends are not alive today because, unfortunately, they started using drugs before the exchange came into existence. Many of my surviving friends are not so lucky and are living with HIV and/or hepatitis C. Some of them have options in their treatment for these chronic diseases, others do not. I firmly believe that it is only because of my involvement with the Needle Exchange Program that today, at age 50, I am in reasonably good health and am a living example of the benefits of needle exchange…”
The HRC website goes into a LOT of detail about using drugs. There are even pages dedicated to the safe use of illegal drugs. As a recovering drug addict I find this fascinating (If not a little obvious!) but to someone maybe dabbling or who has never tried drugs before, could this kind of ‘positive spin’ on drug use be dangerous? Example:
Prevention Tips for fucking yourself up due to the ever changing quality of street drugs:
- Test the strength of the drug before you do the whole amount.
- Try to buy from the same dealer so you have a better idea of what you’re getting,
- Talk to others who have copped from the same dealer.
- Know the pills you’re taking
- Be careful when switching from one type of opioid pill to another
Is this irresponsible?
harmreduction.org for more information.
+++++++++++++Internal Family Systems
This is fascinating! The idea is that each persons mind is naturally decided into an unlimited number of sub-personalities. They call these ‘parts’. One of these parts is known in the IFS system as the “Self”. The ‘Self’ is the leader of the Parts or at least should be the leader until you become a drug addict and then the bastard, selfish, feindish Parts become the boss and kick everyone else the hell out. The idea is that, through therapy, one can be re-taught to give back control to the Self and learn to use the Self as the appropriate leader of the parts, preventing any one Part from taking control. When Self is in charge, things are good. When a Part takes charge, the whole ship starts sinking. Yes?
V. GENERAL GROUPS OF PARTS
- EXILES - Damaged parts that cause trouble and eat away at you. Sad Panda Parts.
- MANAGERS - They do most of the organizing and keep things straight, but they have no feelings and without other Parts, you’re kind of dick. Keep exiles away.
- FIREFIGHTERS - Also WANT to keep exiles away, but do so really dramatically. Drugs, alcohol, sex binging, cutting, general dipshittery.
Working with people in this way helps them to visualize the Internal Family inside of them. They see the individual Parts and help the Self stay in control and keep things from going off the rails.
???I really like this. Are there any ‘real life stories’ you could share with us about someone dealing specifically with drug or alcohol addiction who was successfully treated with this method. If not, could you walk us though the basics of what this program would provide to an individual and what treatment would look like basically????
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