Fortunately, painful as the experience has been, I believe I have grown because, at least, after a little while,  I was able to put the situation into perspective, and realise I am more than the thoughts and emotions I was experiencing in response a situation.

Out of the chaos, other opportunities arose. I had lost a valued commitment, but others were waiting for their opportunities to emerge. I simply readjusted my balance.

As it was a committee decision I was powerless over the decision, which helped me to accept things a little easier.

I’m going to focus more on my personal ACT practice, mindfulness and yoga. My goals are to grow form the experience, in multiple directions.

It is vital that I act on these chosen values with all the commitment I can.

I can achieve all this by keeping in the present moment, and aware with all 5 senses.

Peace and Love,  Keith

Dual diagnosis refers to Co-occuring Disorders of Mental Health disorders and Substance Abuse disorders (alcohol and/or drug dependence or abuse).

Dual Diagnosis, and Dual/Multiple disorders profiles may include the following:

1. Severe/major mental illness and a substance disorder(s)
2. Substance disorder(s) and a personality disorder(s)
3. Substance disorder(s), personality disorder(s) and substance induced acute symptoms that may require psychiatric care, i.e., hallucinations, depression, and other symptoms resulting from substance abuse or withdrawal.
4. Substance abuse, mental illness, and organic syndromes in various combinations. Organic syndromes may be a result of substance abuse, or independent of substance abuse.

Persons are found across the mental health and substance abuse systems who have various combinations of these dual/multiple disorders.  They are also found outside of these systems of care, often among the homeless, and within the criminal justice system.”

We present one of the biggest challenges to frontline mental health services, which makes diagnosis, care and treatment more difficult. We are at higher risk of relapse, readmission to hospital and suicide. One of the main difficulties is the number of agencies involved, and an apparent willingness to ‘pass the buck’, as we are so damned difficult to treat.

We are often passed from specialist rehabilitation services to mental health services, and organisations in the statutory and voluntary sector. As a result care can be fragmented and people can fall down the cracks.

Despite (or perhaps because of!!) my addiction issues, I have never been considered ill enough to require proper psychiatric support. I’ve been passed from drug workers to GP’s and very occasionally, to psychiatrists, and, like many in my situation I have wasted many years in prison.

I am also ‘diagnosed’ with chronic anxiety and social phobia, and according to a report published by the Journal of the American Medical Association:

Thirty-seven percent of alcohol abusers and fifty-three percent of drug abusers also have at least one serious mental illness. Of all people diagnosed as mentally ill, 29 percent abuse either alcohol or drugs.

The following psychiatric problems are common to occur in dual diagnosis – i.e., in tandem with alcohol or drug dependency.

• Depressive disorders, such as depression and bipolar disorder.
• Anxiety disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and phobias.
• Other psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia and personality disorders.

One clear, common factor that can help dual diagnostic sufferers, and every other individual in our modern society, is to show one another, and ourselves, a great deal more compassion, alongside a holistic approach to well-being, on a communal and personal level.

CBT is based on the Cognitive Model of Emotional Response.

• “Cognitive-behavioral therapy is based on the idea that our thoughts cause our feelings and behaviors, not external things, like people, situations, and events.”  The benefit of this fact is that we can change the way we think to feel / act better even if the situation does not change.

After receiving many years of CBT and ACT based approaches, primarily for addiction, I have come to realize this is not always so.

I have dual-diagnosis – yet, I’ve only spent a couple of hours with qualified psychiatrists, and 30yrs dependent on addiction workers and therapists, drugs, travel, and codependent relationships etc.

Underlying my addiction I suffer chronic anxiety/phobias, which my mind is unable to change. This anxiety affects every aspect of my life and I have become trapped in a vicious cycle.

After my third brief appointment with a psychiatrist I was advised to take a very low dose of Depixol to help with anxiety (and depression). I’m taking Depixol, hopefully to help me overcome my phobia. Maybe I’ve always needed it, maybe it’s Diazepam withdrawals, but either way, years of suppressing my symptoms with unprescribed meds has seriously intensified my suffering!

I’ve not given up on therapy – but, it feels right that I should also incorporate a chemical intervention.

I’ve managed to get down from 400mg to 5mg daily, but now I’m stuck. Many people find the drop to 5mg particularly difficult – psychologically, or not? Still, there are excellent intervention strategies available. Unfortunately, the best of which, your GP may be, either unaware of, or unwilling to try.

I am using the Ashton Taper Method, for which there are three approaches; each slightly less traumatic, and more fiddly, than the one before. These are the direct, substitution and titration methods.

After stabilizing on Diazepam, I began to reduce at the rate of 2mg per month. Since dropping to 6mg my withdrawal symptoms have overwhelmed me. I must now slow the reduction to 0.5mg every 3-4 weeks, and for the last couple of mgs I’ll resort to the titration method.

• benzobuddies provides the best information and on-line support community for people concerned about benzodiazepines
• another extremely useful UK based site is: http://www.benzo.org.uk/

Here is the abstract:

Opiates were used to treat major depression until the mid-1950s. The advent of opioids with mixed agonist-antagonist or partial agonist activity, with reduced dependence and abuse liabilities, has made possible the reevaluation of opioids for this indication.

This is of potential importance for the population of depressed patients who are unresponsive to or intolerant of conventional antidepressant agents. Ten subjects with treatment-refractory, unipolar, nonpsychotic, major depression were treated with the opioid partial agonist buprenorphine in an open-label study.

Three subjects were unable to tolerate more than two doses because of side effects including malaise, nausea, and dysphoria. The remaining seven completed 4 to 6 weeks of treatment and as a group showed clinically striking improvement in both subjective and objective measures of depression.

Much of this improvement was observed by the end of 1 week of treatment and persisted throughout the trial. Four subjects achieved complete remission of symptoms by the end of the trial (Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression scores less or equal to 6), two were moderately improved, and one deteriorated. These findings suggest a possible role for buprenorphine in treating refractory depression. (J Clin Psychopharmacol 1994;15:49-57).

Suboxone Talk Zone

//

From the introduction:

The subject of this book is Vipassana meditation practice. Repeat, practice. This is a meditation manual, a nuts-and-bolts, step-by-step guide to Insight meditation. It is meant to be practical. It is meant for use.

There are already many comprehensive books on Buddhism as a philosophy, and on the theoretical aspects of Buddhist meditation. If you are interested in that material we urge you to read those books. Many of them are excellent. This book is a ‘How to.’ It is written for those who actually want to meditate and especially for those who want to start now.

This is no great surprise to me as I’ve tried a fair percentage of them over the years without any noticeable improvement on my state of mind. We cannot change our thoughts, but we can learn to accept and live with them.

The new website can be found here @ ACTinAddiction Community.org

It’s a very different approach and I’m glad I did! It may not be the best option for everyone, but for me it is a lifeline.

I was attracted initially by a number of points initially,

• It’s fresh approach
• It’s scientifically based
• It incorporates the best of both eastern and western psychological traditions
• There are no rules!
• ACT addresses the underlying issues behind addiction

And, since starting the course, 6 months ago,  I can honestly say

• My overall sense of awareness has improved exponentially
• My mind is less “busy”
• I’m more accepting of myself, and of other people
• I am learning to live in the present
• I have more choice
• I have values

My journey is not easy, but life is better than it was before.

Regularly updated details of particular courses and workshops are available at the ACTinAddiction Community homepage.

Groups are available at:

Baytrees residential detoxification unit:
St James’ Hospital
Locksway Road
Portsmouth PO4 8LD
Tel: 023 9268 3370
Fax: 023 9268 3389

Kingsway
130 Elm Grove
Southsea
Portsmouth P05 1LR,
Tel: 02392 291607
* also offer an ACT for Anxiety course.

Cranstoun CDA
67 Kingston Road
Portsmouth P05 1LR,
Tel: 02392 291607
* run an Open Access Service which is based at Fratton Community Centre.  Yoga classes 1.30pm to 3. Also offers acupuncture and many other services.

ASPIRE Group

Members meet on a Monday and also have one2one counseling for an hour each week.  We act as a catalyst for ACTinAddicton.

PUSH OFFICES
157 Elm Grove
Southsea
Hampshire
PO5 1LJ
Tel: 02392 297 364
Mobile: 07847 176 933
Email: info@pushingchange.org

** Best first point of reference for anyone.

PUSH is a user self-help organization, offering advocacy and support services.

E’s up
130 Elm Grove
Southsea
PO5 1LR.
023 9282 5140 (there is a confidential answer phone outside normal office hours)
A users support organisation, for under 19′s.