Prevention is the key to eliminating chronic diseases, drug and alcohol abuse, and all other sorts of maladies that affect people in our society.
There is a lot of talk about preventing heart disease by quitting smoking, but there is little talk about why the smoker smokes in the first place. Or why does the alcoholic drink? We can defer to Freud and say there was a delay in the oral stage and continue the thinking that the problems lay within the individual, or we can consider other possibilities for these destructive habits.
Consider nicotine and hops as natural relaxants – the ingredients found in cigarettes and beer. Why does the alcoholic crave beer or the smoker a cigarette? Often when we crave a food, our body needs an ingredient in that food. The same is true of our vices.
There is a lot of talk about preventing heart disease by quitting smoking, but there is little talk about why the smoker smokes in the first place. Or why does the alcoholic drink? We can defer to Freud and say there was a delay in the oral stage and continue the thinking that the problems lay within the individual, or we can consider other possibilities for these destructive habits.
Consider nicotine and hops as natural relaxants – the ingredients found in cigarettes and beer. Why does the alcoholic crave beer or the smoker a cigarette? Often when we crave a food, our body needs an ingredient in that food. The same is true of our vices.
Preventative science delves into the possibility that the drinker drinks due to suffering some type of trauma as a child, and the drinking helps cope with the recurring triggers. An addiction is not a weakness in character, but rather a weakness in dealing with the past. Rather than expecting the individual to belly up and stop the addiction, and putting the full onus on the victim, we must recognize that preventing addictions falls on the shoulders of us all.
Sustainable outcomes come when both medical and mental health professionals realize they are walking on common ground. With healthcare that treats both mind and body, and by delving into the patient’s history, professionals can determine extenuating circumstances that lead to risky behaviors. Other community-based resources also become involved in the process, such as schools, law enforcement, and family services.
Alcoholic Anonymous and some quit-smoking programs work because they are extended over a long period of time and use multiple supports; the experiences of others who are in different stages of recovery, incentives to stay on task, and long-range follow up.
To implement a full-fledged primary prevention program, it would be necessary to ban all teenage pregnancies, mistreated children, and violence. These factors are the cause of most emotional and behavior problems. Since resolving these troubles are not likely to happen in our lifetime, the duty falls on beginning treatment as quickly as possible after the traumatic event. The goal is to eliminate residual memories that cause stress and flashbacks, drug and alcohol abuse, difficult relationships, suicide, and chronic conditions like cancer and heart disease.
Children living in trauma must be treated now to avoid the adult diseases, and the psychological distress, that they will face otherwise. There are many unfortunate adults who have lived a lifetime of dealing with their childhood- and adult-induced traumas. They also deserve a chance for some type of rehabilitation that will prevent further escalation of their disorder and ensure a healthier lifestyle.
www.cwpickett.com
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