This is how the health profession goes on nowadays, a cycle of diagnosis and prescription.

If anyone were to give you herbs for medicine, you would probably say that that person was a quack.

But nowadays, studies are being conducted to see if there are really is any merit to what is called natural medicine.

Natural medicine is the use of natural methods, herbal medicines, and traditional practices to heal ailments. Every culture has a form of natural medicine. In ancient cultures, village medicine men served as the doctors of the community, passing on medical knowledge to the apprentices that followed them.

Many categories of the healing methods fall under natural medicine. Among these are traditional medicine, complementary medicine, and alternative medicine.

Usually, natural medicine refers to medical practices that were in place before the advent of modern medicine.

This includes herbal medicine, or phytotherapy, which is prevalent in Chinese, Ayurvedic(or Indian), and Greek medicine.

Upon the advent of modern medicine, many professionals discarded the use of herbs in favor of man-made medicine. The fact that these treatments are based on the healing properties of some herbs was forgotten.

For example, opium, digitalis, quinine, and aspirin all have their roots in traditional medicine.

Natural medicine can be considered as a lost art. This does not mean that it has lost efficacy over time. In some cases, natural therapy is actually better than modern medicine. This leads some doctors to seriously consider and study the possible uses of natural medicine

Before we continue, it is important to stress that not all the natural remedies are legitimate. It would help to only try those remedies which have been thoroughly studied and are relatively risk free.

Take herbal medicine for example. There are many well-documented and studied herbal remedies available. However, only those that deal with minor ailments such as cough, colds, fever, skin rashes, and the like are likely to be recommended by health professionals. These remedies are sometimes superior to synthetic medicine. This is because herbal medicines are less likely to cause negative side effects.

Currently there are numerous organizations that study the effects and advocacy of natural medicine among which is herbal medicine. Some governments and health agencies openly advocate the use of natural methods since they are inexpensive and relatively risk-free.

As their studies compile, more herbs and treatments are added to the list of accepted medicines. However, many herbs and treatments have been proven to be bogus medicine. This represents a challenge for both the user and the agencies because they have to ascertain that the treatments they either use or advocate are legitimate.

There exist today many alternative medical treatments that fall under natural medicine. However, not all of them have been proven to be effective. You could mention homeopathy, aromatherapy, acupuncture, and other alternative medical treatments. It would pay to consult the experts as to the legitimacy of these treatments.

Natural medicine should also be thought of as an accompanying medicine. Right now, the current collective medical thought suggests that natural medicine be used only to supplement accepted modern medical practices. In that case of minor ailments your expert we actually advise you to take natural therapies instead.

The practice of modern medicine revolves around diagnosing an illness and prescribing treatments for such. Natural medicine is helpful because it suggests that treatment be not necessarily given only when sick. Natural medicine strives to make each patient practice good health habits. These habits include good diet, healthy living, and the regular natural treatment.

It is this same line of thought that leads our parents to tell us to eat our vegetables. Yes, a healthy lifestyle and will do no harm to our well-being. And this is the foundation of natural medicine; may it be massage, herbal medicine, aromatherapy or others.

It is funny but true that science, in its quest for excellence, is studying the knowledge of sages past. This, surprisingly, leads us back to the remedies nature offers. The possibilities of finding remedies to everyday illnesses in natural medicine are encouraging. So staying tuned to studying these remedies is worthwhile until we can verify that these therapies are truly helpful to our health and our society.

Drugs like cocaine, methamphetamine, marijuana, heroin, alter gene expression and brain circuitry. Once drug abuse crosses into addiction, the compulsive drug craving, seeking and use occurs. Our featured publications offer a variety of cultural, social, and scientific views on drug abuse.

The use of chemicals to alter the way we feel and see things is one of the oldest activities of the human race. But a person’s use of a drug such as tobacco, alcohol, cannabis or heroin can become uncontrolled, or start to control them. Even when the use of drugs leads to serious physical and mental problems, the person using may still not want to stop. If they do decide to give up, they may then find it’s much harder.

A drug is any chemical that produces a therapeutic or non-therapeutic effect in the body. Chemicals, on the other hand, are a broad class of substances — including drugs — that may or may not produce noticeable effects in the body. Many chemicals (such as tin, lead, gold) have harmful effects on the body, especially in high doses. Most foods are not drugs. Alcohol is a drug — not a food, in spite of the calories it provides. Nicotine is a chemical that is also a drug.

Alcohol, amphetamines, barbiturates, cocaine, methaqualone, opium alkaloids and mild tranquilizers are some of the substances that are most widely misused. The use of these substances brings on criminal prosecutions against the user, apart from the obvious physical and psychological damages. And add to it the social discrimination that will follow.

Many people see drug abuse and addiction as strictly a social problem. They tend to characterize people who take drugs as morally weak or as having criminal tendencies. They believe that drug abusers and addicts should be able to stop taking drugs if only they were willing to change their behavior.

Continuing to use drugs even though you have health problems that are affected or caused by your drug use. Associating with questionable acquaintances or frequenting out of the ordinary locations to purchase or use drugs

Focusing recreational activities around obtaining drugs, using drugs, or recovering from drug use.

Believing that you no longer have to worry (complacent). That is, that you are no longer stimulated to crave drugs/alcohol by any of the above situations, or by anything else – and therefore maybe it’s safe for you to use occasionally.

Reinforce the message that alcohol, tobacco and other drug use is a serious matter – and is not tolerated.

Being in the presence of drugs or alcohol, drug or alcohol users, or places where you used or bought chemicals.

Using prescription drugs that can get you high even if you use them properly.

The line between substance abuse and drug dependence is defined by the role drugs play in your life. Addiction and drug dependence occurs when drugs become so important that you are willing to sacrifice your work, home and even family. Once your brain and body get used to the substances you are taking, you begin to require increasingly larger and more frequent doses, in order to achieve the same effect.

Non-drug users do not use drugs whatsoever. Drug users use drugs from time to time, typically in the company of others during recreational time. Drug abusers use drugs more readily, at times when sobriety is called for and in such a manner that other life functions or roles are either put at risk or are already compromised. Drug dependent persons use drugs very regularly to the point where there is a physiological dependency. Given physiological dependency, abrupt cessation of the drug results in physical symptoms ranging from agitation to depression to physical pain to death.

Many people regard marijuana and alcohol as innocuous substances when used recreationally from time to time. That is arguable. At the very least, no one became a drug abuser without first becoming a drug user.

Drug abuse is of greater concern however and is more than occasional recreational use. While it may be argued that occasional recreational use is not destructive, problems do develop for those whose more frequent use interferes with psychological, marital, family, social, academic or vocational life. Further, the threshold of drug abuse is readily identifiable when it occurs during non-recreational time; where intoxication overlaps with non-recreational activities; when use or the after-effects of use interfere with any activity. In addition, if drug use is frequently or always associated with recreational activities, then this rises to the level of abuse, as the user is remarkably limited in scope of other healthy recreational activities.

Common among those who reach criteria for drug abuse is the false belief that their consumption is reasonable and does no harm. These persons are apt to project blame for any consequence to their drug abuse on factors outside of themselves. In other words, the drug abuser offers many excuses that serve to cloud or at least minimize their abuse. Hence the student failing academically will tell tales of the teacher who picks on him/her. The employee will blame the boss and sometimes one spouse will blame the other spouse. Where both spouses abuse drugs or when a person is immersed in a peer group where drug abuse is normalized, persons are apt to perceive a kind of moral support to enable or embolden a position that their drug abuse is reasonable. Each will use the other to legitimize their drug abuse and try to cause it to appear less than what it is.

Notwithstanding, persons abusing drugs will need to take personal responsibility at some point to facilitate ongoing sobriety and to correct for the consequences of their behaviour.

While there may be issues with the inter-relationships of the drug abuser, the challenge is to help the person understand how the problems either originate with him or herself and/or are exacerbated by the drug abuse. Either way, it is vital that the drug abuser be held accountable and not avoid responsibility for the impact of their behaviour on self and others.

In addition to being held accountable for the outcome of their drug abuse, these persons will need support to engage in other healthy, pro-social activities that are incompatible with drug use.

Drug abuse is intensified when the person literally gets away with it, conceals it, is not held accountable and is able to talk their way or manipulate their way out of consequences and accountability.

When structures are put in place to limit opportunity for all drug use, the person is held accountable and other supports and activities are deployed, then recovery can occur and a healthier lifestyle adopted.

Gary Direnfeld, MSW, RSW
(905) 628-4847

http://www.yoursocialworker.com