Expert: Jurriaan Plesman, Nutritional Psychotherapist - 7/22/2008

Question
Hello,
I dated this guy 2 years ago who was a drug and alcohol addict.  He cheated on me and we broke up.  Recently we started talking again and he is putting himself in rehab.  I do believe he wants to change and start living a normal life.  What are your thoughts in being romantically involved with someone who is going through the recovery process.

Answer
Dear Heather,

I believe one has to be very careful about getting emotionally involved with a a drug addict, simply because drug addiction like any of the other]mood disorders is difficult to treat. Drug addicts can be very destructive of emotional relationships.

On the other hand, this is not to say that drug addiction cannot be cured. It is rather the case that contemporary treatment of drug addiction is poorly understood and that most treatment facilities seem to ignore the biochemical underpinnings of drug addiction.

Firstly, a drug addict has to be highly motivated to overcome his/her addiction. It may be worthwhile to read:

Values Clarification course at:
http://www.hypoglycemia.asn.au/psychotherapy/values_clarification.html

As a Nutritional Psychologist I believe that drug addiction can be overcome once we start to understand the underlying biochemistry of addiction. It has been found that most addicts have hypoglycemia, a term not as yet recognised by conventional medicine. Since hypoglycemia is associated with insulin resistance it means that the person has problem producing sufficient biological energy for the production of feel good neurotransmitters such as serotonin.

The first part of treatment is withdrawing under doctor's supervision, then treatment of hypoglycemia and then a course of psychotherapy to restore a seriously damaged self-image. I believe that this can be achieved by the person him/herself by means of education.

Please read:

Drug Addiction is a Nutritional Disorder at:
http://www.hypoglycemia.asn.au/articles/drug_addictions_nutritional_disorder.htm...

Treatment of Drug Addiction at:
http://www.hypoglycemia.asn.au/articles/treatment_drug_addiction.html

Why Alcoholics Drink? at
http://www.hypoglycemia.asn.au/articles/WAD.html
Which applies to most drug addicts.

Self-help Personal Growth Psychotherapy at:
http://www.hypoglycemia.asn.au/articles/self-help_personal_growth.html

and discuss with a Nutritional Doctor, a Clinical Nutritionist or a Nutritional Psychologist if you want to.

_______________________________________________
Jurriaan Plesman
Editor of
The Hypoglycemic Health Association of Australia.
www.hypoglycemia.asn.au
Author of "Getting off the Hook"
Freely available at Google Book Search
Skype: jurplesman