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All the animals on Earth breathe,
drink water, eat, sleep, procreate, and eliminate waste.
Those are simple behaviors that serve the survival goals
of the creature and ensure propagation of the species.
All the animals, including
humans, keep using these simple behaviors because of two
reasons: if they abstain from doing them for a long enough
period of time they will experience an increasing feeling
of dysphoria that gradually becomes intolerable. But when
animals perform these behavioral acts their internal state
immediately transitions from dysphoria to euphoria. The
resulting sense of instant gratification causes those experiences
to become deeply imprinted into our unconscious memory as
the most favorable and desirable behaviors. This type of
behavior in human beings I term “natural addictions.”
Pathological addictions are
organized in a similar way to “natural addictions,”
but in contrast to “natural addictions” cause
damage to the human organism.
I have come to understand that addiction has two "requirements":
1. If the individual persistently
experiences unpleasant mood states such as depression, anxiety,
or a number of other conditions as a consequence of inadequate
mood regulation system which is either genetically derived,
or unbalanced as a result of poor nutrition, and/or use
of alcohol or drugs in the attempt to relieve suffering
– which progressively intensifies and becomes intolerable
if the individual attempts to stop using alcohol and/or
drugs.
2. Each successive instance
of using alcohol and/or drugs for relief increases the individual's
unconditional and unconscious love for the chemical. In
fact, the deeper the suffering, the stronger the craving
for the “beloved” drug becomes, because it provides
instant – but short-lived – relief.
Such "love" for
alcohol or the drug-of-choice, once formed, stays with the
person for life. To someone who is addicted, and is living
in a continuous state of dysphoria, the “beloved”
drug becomes as important as the air they breathe. This
is why it is so difficult to recover from the disease of
addiction.
For those who persistently
suffer from chronic depression, any chemical substances
or behaviors which give instant gratification are potentially
addictive.
When the use of such chemicals or behaviors begins to interfere
with a person's life – causing damage to health and
interpersonal relationships, and leading to work or legal
problems – the addiction becomes progressively and
inevitably pathological.
Chemicals that can cause pathological
addiction include alcohol, opiates (heroin, morphine, codeine),
prescription pain killers (Oxycontin, Vicodin, Methadone,
Hydrocodone), stimulatory substances (amphetamine, Ritalin,
methamphetamine, ephedrine, cocaine, ecstasy), tetrahydrocannabinols
(hashish, marijuana), prescription tranquilizers (Valium,
Rohypnol), nervous system depressants (GHB), dissociative
anesthetics (Ketamine, PCP), inhalants.
There are only two paths to
ending the vicious cycle of addiction - the first is to
eliminate the addicted individual's "love" for
the substance; and the second is to somehow help him or
her live in a persistent state of a well-being and euphoria.
Unfortunately, all the attempts
to eliminate "love" or craving for the addictive
substance – using hypnosis, aversion therapy, and
even neurosurgery – have not proven reliable.
The Marshak Method™
focuses on the second path. We have designed a comprehensive
program targeted at restoring and maintaining our clients'
mood regulation system which has been weakened by genetic
factors from birth, or damaged by substance abuse.
The Program’s residential
and transitional modules are designed to make our clients
naturally balanced and well for the rest of their lives.
Over the last 12 years in Russia, thousands of hopelessly
addicted people were successfully treated using the Marshak
Approach™. The combination of genetic testing, exercise,
food supplementation and recovery diet, as well as psycho-spiritual
treatment based on the 12-Steps, has made it possible for
these people to become happy and successful individuals
who today truly enjoy their sober life style.
- Dr. Yakov Marshak, MD
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