Research in the 1950s showed that animals - mammals in particular - compulsively used and abused the same drugs as humans. Yet other psycoactive drugs - the ones used for treatment of mental health conditions - did not cause the same compulsive use patterns. Dr. Darryl Inaba expands on the use of  these medications, and the ways they affect people with substance use disorders - commonly knows as dual-diagnosis or co-occurring disorders.

 

 Psychiatric Medicine & Addiction Recovery: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Chemically-assisted detox, replacement therapy, recovery-pharmocotherapy are current buzzwords in addiction treatment. Five years ago these would have been viewed as oxymoronic. Today, our understanding of the brain has advanced the development of more drugs to treat addiction then almost any other health problem. We as a society believe there is a pill for whatever ails you - including being addicted to pills. Dr Inaba explores this trend, its impacts and the conflicts with more traditional approaches (12-step, peer counseling) in recovery treatment.

 

 A Pill for Everything - even your addiction: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

70-80% of people who meet the clinically accepted diagnostic criteria for substance abuse do not believe they have a problem. To increase people’s understanding and acceptance of the issues they are facing, “S-BIRT”, Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral and Treatment has been shown to be very valuable tool. The brief intervention alone, just 5-10 minutes of evaluation and education about drugs (including alcohol and tobacco), drug use and the impact on people’s health and lives, has been shown in studies to have an effect of reducing drug use by up to 50%.

 

 Our Awareness Gap of Addiction and "S-BIRT": Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

These GO and STOP controls are in the “old” brain - where survival and automatic body functions, emotions and habits reside. Psychoactive drugs activate the GO switch creating the desire to repeat the behavior. “An addict’s MORE is a lot more.” Perhaps even 1000 times more. Once the GO switch is on, it stays on; there is no feedback to stop. The massive amounts of dopamine released by all addictive substances (and behaviors) actually causes destruction of the part of the brain and neurons involved with the STOP switch. So it can be very physically hard for an addicted person, who has modified or damaged parts of their brain, to stop. On the positive side, after the use of addictive substances is stopped, the brain can make new connections and begin to rebuild damaged structures.

 

 The Stop and Go Switch - The Brain's Control Circuitry: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download