Ung i centrum 2008

Historical ”natural recovery” issues: 1.Does ”natural recovery” exist? 2.How common is ” natural recovery”? 3.Who are the ” natural recoverers”? 4.Which are the underlying processes?

1.Does ”natural recovery” exist?

What Do Eminent International Experts Tell Us? “Addiction is not self-curing. Left alone, addiction only gets worse, leading to total degradation, to prison, and ultimately to death” Robert Dupont Director of NIDA 1993

“A Chronic, Relapsing Condition” “As with treatments for these other chronic medical conditions [hypertension, diabetes, asthma], there is no cure for addiction” O’Brien and McLellan, The Lancet, 1996

Perceived chances for ”self change”

”Addiction looks very different if you study it in a general population than if you study it in treated cases (Robin 1993) Most drug abusers who had started using drugs by their early 20s appeared to gradually achieve remission. Spontaneous remission was the rule rather than the exception.(Price, Risk and Spitznagel.2001)

2.How common is ” natural recovery”?

Lee Robin studie vedr. Vietnam % had tried heroin -38% had tried opium 80% had used cannabis Almost half of those who havde used narcotics had done so more than weekly for greater than 6 months. The predominant route of administration was smoking (less than 10 % had ever injected) One out of five of all returning men admitted to having been ”addicted” to narcotics while i Vietnam.

One year efter return, about 10% of the general sample and one third of those who had tested ”drug positiv” at departure proved to have used any narcotics. Less than one i ten of all men who havde used since returning had experienced any signs of addiction.

3.Who are the ” natural recoverers”?

Fra ”Unge og Rusmidler” af P. Ege ” Unges deltagelse i forskellige ungdomsorganisationer og organiserede fritidsaktiviteter er positivt korreleret til brug af rusmidler, mens de mere passive og isolerede unge har et meget lille forbrug. Shedler & Bloc har ligeledes påvist, at ikke brugere er mere isolerede, ængstelige og utrygge end eksperimenterende brugere”

4.Which are the underlying processes?

Claim A: All or most people who use heroin or cocaine beyond a certain minimum amount become addicted. (false) Claim B: No matter what proportion of the users of heroin and cocaine become addicted, their addiction is caused by exposure to the drug. (not proved) ( Bruce K. Alexander Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University)

What triggers change? Evaluering af de fordele og ulemper ved på den ene side at bruge eller ikke bruge stoffer og på den anden side de fordele og ulemper ved ikke at gøre det. Helbred, familie og økonomi virker til at være afgørende faktorer.

spørgsmål Hvad er det ”naturlige” forløb af et alkohol -eller stofmisbrug? Hvilken konsekvenser får det for tilrettelæggelsen af behandlingen?