Dr. Hitt’s Addiction Prescription Rx © Treatment has been steadily gaining a reputation in addiction treatment as the most effective program in the world. In April of 2008, Dr. Hitt received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the California Association of Alcohol and Drug Educators (CAADE) for his achievements in the realm of addiction treatment.
Addiction Prescription Rx © Topics
· Addiction
· The Addiction Prescription Rx System ©
· How The Addiction Prescription Rx System © Came to Be
· More Information on The Addiction Prescription Rx System ©
Addiction
Addiction includes both cravings for drugs* and drug tolerance (the need for ever higher doses to get the same effect). Addiction occurs because of actual physical changes in the brain and other body areas. The most important change is reduced function of neurotransmitter receptors, the nerve structures that receive the signals from dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine and other neurotransmitters. Drugs have the ability to imitate the action of these natural neurotransmitters, causing excess stimulation of their receptors. After this excess stimulation, the receptors are damaged and do not function well, causing the person to feel empty, anxious or depressed. The person reaches for drugs again, to escape those bad feelings. As drug use continues, receptors become more and more damaged in a vicious cycle.
If the person simply stops using drugs, he or she is left with cravings and very difficult withdrawal symptoms due to the sudden lack of artificial stimulation, on which the nervous system has now become dependent.
Most addiction programs focus almost entirely on the psychological aspects of addiction (talk therapy), and have nothing to offer to fix the brain changes that are producing the continued cravings. For this reason, traditional addiction treatment has low success rates.
* The word "drug" used here means illegal drugs, alcohol, tobacco and even some prescription drugs.
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