Addict In The Family - How to cope with the long haul
Contents
- Introduction: DRUGS ARE ALL AROUND US
- Chapter One: FINDING OUT
- REALISATION OF THE FACTS
- A CLASSIFICATION OF COMMON PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS
- WHAT TERMS TO USE AND WHO TO TELL?
- WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP?
- DOS AND DONTS FOR RELATIVES OF DRUG USERS
- Chapter Two: BUT WHY?
- REASONS FOR DRUG USE
- WHO IS NOT A DRUG ADDICT?
- PREVENTION: IS IT A DISEASE?
- PREDISPOSITION: GENES & ENVIRONMENT
- ENZYMES, TOLERANCE AND RECRUITMENT
- INITIAL DRUG USE: WHO ARE THE PUSHERS?
- GATEWAY OR STEPPING-STONE MYTHS
- Chapter Three: CAN'T YOU JUST GIVE UP OR SOMETHING?
- DEFINITION OF ADDICTION - DRUG AND SUBJECT
- FORMAL PROHIBITION AND LEGAL CONSEQUENCES
- PRISON CULTURE
- WHAT DO HEROIN ADDICTS ACTUALLY DO?
- WHY DON'T ADDICTS GIVE UP?
- ADDICT CHARACTERISTICS
- HARMFUL MEDICAL CONSEQUENCES OF OPIOID USE
- Chapter Four: OR SOMETHING - Treatment Options
- ABSTINENCE ORIENTED TREATMENTS
- DETOXIFICATION
- NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS
- THERAPEUTIC COMMUNITIES
- ALTERNATIVES TO ABSTINENCE
- METHADONE MAINTENANCE TREATMENT
- WHAT HAPPENS WHEN COMMENCING METHADONE?
- 'PROBLEMS' WITH METHADONE
- METHADONE: RESEARCH AND MYTHS
- PRESCRIBED HEROIN AND OTHER OPIOIDS
- Chapter Five: GETTING OFF METHADONE
- WHEN TO BEGIN REDUCTIONS
- 'CO-DEPENDENCY'
- HOW TO REDUCE DOSES
- "PLAN B"
- Chapter Six: THE LONG HAUL
- THE NATURAL HISTORY OF DRUG ADDICTION
- FAMOUS DRUG USERS
- RESEARCH
- MORTALITY IN DRUG USERS
- PAINFUL DISORDERS
- PSYCHIATRIC CONDITIONS
- OTHER MEDICAL CONDITIONS
- Chapter Seven: SELECTED CASE HISTORIES
- COMMON PRESENTATION FOR TREATMENT
- COMPLICATIONS, THEN ABSTINENCE
- DEATH IN A PRISON CELL
- TEN YEARS ON METHADONE
- TWIN SISTERS WITH DRUGS IN THE BLOOD
- MIDDLE CLASS ADDICT
- DISASTER TO DOMESTICITY
- METHADONE JUST IN CASE
- SABOTAGE FROM WITHIN
- THIS TIME, FOR SURE!
- Appendix: OTHER DRUGS
- NICOTINE/TOBACCO
- CANNABIS
- ALCOHOL
- OTHER DRUGS: BENZODIAZEPINE TRANQUILLIZERS
- AMPHETAMINE AND ECSTASY
- LSD, MAGIC MUSHROOMS, PEYOTE
- COCAINE
- Chronology: Some facts and figures
- Reading List
- Glossary: Street Language and Medical Terms
- References
Dedication
This book is dedicated to the many Australian heroin addicts who continue to suffer. We should endeavour to minimise the harm resulting from drug and alcohol use, especially in the young. Prohibition of drugs has failed to achieve this goal and policy changes are needed to prevent the continuing tragedy. Many authorities have adopted the 'harm minimisation' philosophy including the limited availability of certain drugs such as cannabis, methadone and even heroin. As politicians enact more enlightened legislation, there will be fewer overdoses, less viral disease transmission, crime and other untoward consequences of illicit drug use.
Thanks are due to Rosemary Blayney, Bill Brooks, Allan Gill and Anne Love who all assisted in the preparation of this work. My father, John Justinian Byrne, has been the guiding light for most of the medical principles espoused in this small book. He still runs the 'family practice' started by his father, James Michael Byrne, at Ramsgate on Sydney's Botany Bay.
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While every care has been taken to ensure that the content
of this book is accurate, the author and publisher do not accept
legal liability for any problems arising from the implementation
of the various treatment strategies outlined therein. The
high mortality amongst street heroin users means that deaths
are occasionally encountered in this field. The aim of this work
is to assist family members and others to ease the suffering of
those affected by heroin addiction.
This work is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for
the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review,
as permitted under copyright law, no part may be reproduced by
any process without written permission from the publisher.
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| ISBN 0 646 29144 0 | Copies of this book are available from the author |
© Andrew James Byrne 1996 |
