Basic HTML Version
row. Why are sorne people so much
more readily "hooked" than others?
Researchers believe that a meta–
bolic factor, such as lack of a certain
chemical in the body, can pre–
dispose an individual to a particular
kind of addiction. It has been specu–
lated that just as a diabetic needs
insulin, so an addict needs his or her
own particular missing chemical or
hormone, and will accept any sub–
stitute that alleviates the pain.
But wouldn't it be fine if addict–
ion-prone people could somehow
figure out what the ir bodies were
missing, and work on supplying that
element, ra ther than ingesting sorne
artificial substitute? And wouldn't it
be great if " normal" people living
ordinary lives were able to feel de–
light and joy on a regular, daily
basis without resorting to chemicals?
And what if there were forms of
addiction that strengthened one's
body and character rather lhan de–
stroying lhem?
GeHing "High" Nature's Way
Actually there are ways to bring
about druglike "highs" without re–
sorting to chemicals- a t least chem–
icals like a lcohol or cocaine or pot or
speed. And they don't violate the
Protestanl work ethic, either, be–
cause to get such highs one has lo
work and work hard al it.
For those of us who a re "into"
natura l foods and holistic medicine
and organic everything, the follow–
ing knowledge will be extremely
comforting: The human bra in man–
ufactures its own narcotics. The very
organ mosl addicts are trying to
deaden makes its own drugs, the
way God designed il lo. These drugs
do the same things regular drugs do,
only more effectively and without a
hangover. They can mollify pain,
cause pleasant feel ings of well–
being, and even wipe out anxiety
and induce euphoria.
Researchers have discovered that
the brain has many tiny "drug" re–
ceptors which are stimulated by the
presence of either the body's own
chemicals, or
if
one indulges, by
manmade drugs such as morphine
(Richard Restak, "The Brain Makes
Its Own Narcotics! ,"
Saturday Re–
víew,
March 5, 1977). These recep–
tors are located in the limbic system,
a part of the brain which deals with
24
pain and emotion. And pain and emo–
tional distress are the two factors indi–
cated in every case ofaddiction. Dr. Av–
ram Goldstein, professor of pharmacol–
ogy at Stanford University and di–
rector of the Addiction Research
Foundation in Palo Alto, California,
believes that addicts may be taking
narcotics "in order to overcome an
inborn deficiency in the natura l
'drugs' produced by the body."
Scientists a re now working to ei–
ther synlhesize such "drugs" or find
out how to turn on the body's own
production of these substances in
order to treat addiction and certain
forms of mental illness.
But in the meantime, th ere are
olher ways to bring about the same
results. Hong Kong neurosurgeon
Dr. Wen Hsiang-la i has discovered
an unusual but highly effective
method of causing the body to make
its own drugs. He uses acupuncture,
that staple of traditional Chinese
medicine, to treat heroin addicts.
His treatment (which consists of
running a 12-volt or lower current
through a small needle inserted in
the concha- the cuplike outer por–
tion of the ear above the lobe)
causes his patients to experience an
absence of withdrawal symptoms in
a matter of minutes. The elect ric
current apparently stimulates a cra–
nial nerve which signals the brain to
produce a chemical which addicts
are lacking. Prelirninary tests s how
that his method worked for a t least
51 percent of a group of heroin ad–
dicts who were free of the drug
habit a year after the experiment
ended, compared to 28.5 percent of
a control group who were dosed
with the traditional methadone used
as a heroin substitute in the U.S.
and Britain.
The Runnlng Hablt
But there is another more mundane
way by which those of us who have
no access to research programs or
Hong Kong acupuncturists can get
ourselves into drug production: by
running. Yes, plain old running. If
you run or jog regularly enough,
and long enough each session, there
is a good possibility you' ll reach an
extremely pleasant mental state that
many running addicts experience
and bave only recently begun to talk
about. (Sorne researchers believe
that such feelings of euphoria result
from an increase in the chemical
epinephrine in the bloodstream,
which causes a measurable drop in
anxiety.)
John Gries t of the University of
Wisconsin found running more
effect ive than traditional psycho–
therapy in treating abnormally de–
pressed patients. And Dr. Kenneth
Cooper, author of
The New A ero–
bics,
also finds it useful in relieving
anxiety: "... exercise is a na tural
relaxant. This a lone is highly bene–
ficia! in many clinical conditions....
The reduction of anxiety through
exercise a lso is helpful in treating
sorne patients with emotional prob–
lems" (p. 127).
And Dr. Will iam Glasscr of lhe
lnstitute for Reality Therapy has
come up with a concept which he
calls " posilive addiction," the title of
his latest book. He believes individ–
uats can build strength of character
through seeking out and finding
their own particular natural high.
Th rough his research he has found
that the two mos t common methods
of achieving a positive addiction a re
running and the less strenuous but
less sure method of meditation- not
spiritua l meditation, but a form of
conscious re laxa tion in which the
image-oriented right half of the
brain is a llowed to function domi–
nantly, in contrast to the verbal
problem-solving left hemisphere of
the brain which is usually in charge
during our waking hours. This un–
leashes all sorts of creativity, much
the same way that ideas "come to
one while shaving."
lt
also seems to
induce the brain to produce the de–
si red chemical balance.
GeHing Addlcted
Glasser gives six steps to achieving
positive addiction: " ... a posit ive
addiction can be anything at a ll that
a person chooses to do as lol}g as it
fulfills the following six criteria: (1)
It
is something noncompetitive tha t
you choose to do and you can de–
vote an hour (approximately) a day
to it. (2) It is possible for you todo it
easily and it doesn't take a great
deal of mental effort to do it well.
(3) You can do it alone or rarely
with others but it does not depend
upon others todo it. (4) You believe
The
PLAIN TRUTH Apríl 1978