Paul Dormer wrote:


"Bruce J. Richman" emitted :

I now have *another* acquaintance on Effexor. This one claims - thanks
to the miracles of modern medicine - to be "able to cope" and "fully
in control" of a drug addiction problem. He told me this *whilst*
consuming said drug. The actual fact of the matter is, his pattern of
use has gotten worse. He went to the doctor to address a problem, and
sure enough he's now oblivious to it...

Sunday, Monday, Happy Days..

Unfortunately, it's sometimes easier to just keep taking mood-altering durgs
and desensitize oneself from unwanted stressors that way, then to take a
chance
on confronting the world au naturel, so to speak. FWIW, Effexor, at least,
is
not physically addictive, nor are antidepressants in general, but that said,
some patients *can* build up a psychological dependence on them. Ideally,
problems like drug addiction should be treated psychologically and, if
necessary for medical reasons, detoxification under medical supervision
should
also be included (e.g. heroin, heavy alchol use, narcotic pain killers like
Vicodin, Percoset, etc., as well as heavy benzodiazepene use, e.g. Ativan,
Xanax, Valium, etc.). Interestingly enough, cocaine does *not* require
medically supervised detoxification.

All makes a lot of sense Bruce..

The problem now facing family and friends is how to support somebody
who is no longer down in the mouth and looking to make things better..
but rather wide eyed, bushy tailed and living in denial. Suggestions
that things may not be going according to plan are like water off a
ducks back. Worse still, he says Effexor is a bit like taking 'E', and
*enhances* the drug he's addicted to. What a mess..


--
S i g n a l @ l i n e o n e . n e t








Sounds like a dicey situation, Paul. Your friend is probably right in a sense
about Effexor - it's an activating antidepressant which may give him more
energy. I'm sure you know that if he's in denial, and it sure sounds like he
is, there's not a hell of lot friends or family can do other than confront him
with it, and hope he eventually sees some negative consequences and decides to
get help.

Other than that, all I can suggest is to force him to listen to nothing but old
CD's with standard redbook mastering through an old CD player with no
innovative features. Also make sure he has no access to anything made out of
tubes or vinyl. Sort of like aversive conditioning a la Clockwork Orange.



Bruce J. Richman