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106 pages

English

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What newscast does not include something on tragedy caused by addiction? What extended family has not had someone with an addiction problem? What hospital is not one-third full of patients there due to addictive problems? Even though addiction is America's number one health problem, our understanding of this disease is woefully inadequate. Kal Rissman has the ability to take the complex issues of addiction and make them understandable. This is a book that not only offers a non-judgmental understanding of addiction, but offers concrete solutions and hope to those afflicted with the disease and those affected by the disease. "Kal Rissman has provided us with a blend of clinical expertise and pastoral perspective in exploring ways to meaningfully minister to those who are addicted. In this book he demonstrates both understanding of the operative issues and the realities involved in the healing process and guidance for family members. He does it with rare insight and delightful humor." - Robert F. Maltzahn, Doctor of Ministry and Lutheran pastor for 54 years. "Kal Rissman has a remarkable gift for simplifying complex issues into easily understandable terms. He explains the multifaceted aspects of the baffling disease of addiction, describes current trends in recovery and offers insight and practical advise to help general and professional audiences understand addiction." - Bruce Perkins, M.A., CDAC, LMFT, LSW, BRI - II, Intervention Specialist. "Knowledge to Power: Understanding and Overcoming Addiction is the perfect resource for anyone struggling with addiction or who loves someone dealing with substance abuse. I will be sharing it with my clients and their families." - Sheryl Maupin, M.A., CRC., Therapist and Substance Abuse Counselor.

Sujets

Addictions

Self-help

Substance Abuse

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Publié par	Outskirts Press
Date de parution	18 mai 2018
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781478757917
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0500€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Knowledge to Power
Understanding And Overcoming Addiction
All Rights Reserved.
Copyright © 2018 Kal Rissman
v3.0

The opinions expressed in this manuscript are solely the opinions of the author and do not represent the opinions or thoughts of the publisher. The author has represented and warranted full ownership and/or legal right to publish all the materials in this book.

This book may not be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in whole or in part by any means, including graphic, electronic, or mechanical without the express written consent of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Outskirts Press, Inc.
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ISBN: 978-1-4787-5791-7

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PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Acknowledgments
The insights in this book have been gained by working with thousands of addicted persons and their families. I am indebted to all of these beleaguered but brave individuals who shared their struggles and their triumphs with me. They have taught me a lot.
I would like to thank my colleagues at the inpatient treatment center, Jim Wineski, Al Adams and Bruce Perkins. We had some days working together that I will never forget and I am very proud of the work that we did together to help recovering people. I not only learned from these men, but I would trust them with my life.
I am grateful to my former supervisor, the Rev. Doctor Robert F. Maltzahn who taught me many things, but mostly taught me to be both Godly and human.
I owe a debt to David and Carol Shears for their technological assistance in getting this book in print and for supporting me in the project.
I have appreciated the chaplain interns that I supervised over the years, especially Sheryl Maupin and Stephanie Rhodes. These students encouraged me to write down some of the practical wisdom gained in working with addicts for so many years.
Thanks to Judy Urban who gave me tips on publication and has supported my writing efforts.
I am especially thankful for my family of origin and also my family of creation. They have always been supportive of me and provided me with rich examples for this book as well.
I would also like to thank the parishioners in my two congregations who have always treated me so well and have supported this effort as a way of helping congregations to deal with addictions.
I thank my wife, Deborah for her patience and support.
I appreciate the encouragement and support from both of my secretaries, Marilyn Pierce and Julie Horn.

Table of Contents
1 The Disease
2 The Spiritual Disease
3 Feelings Disease
4 Painful Feelings
5 Guilt
6 Shame
7 Anger
8 Fear
9 Grief and Loss
10 Codependency
11 Adult Children of Dysfunction
12 Family Roles
13 Enabling
14 Diagnosing Addiction
15 Intervention
16 Cross Dependency
17 The Role of Religion in Recovery
18 Relapse
19 Having a Program
20 Prevention
21 Working with addicts
Conclusion

1
The Disease
I work in a hospital in the middle of America in Muncie, Indiana, which is very much the average city. In fact, when studies are done of American cities, folks come to Muncie to do their studies. Muncie, Indiana has been called Middletown, USA, because it is such a representation of average cities.
It seems surprising that in such an average city there would be so much drug abuse. You might expect that in New York City or L.A. or Chicago, but not Muncie. About three months ago at our hospital we had 16 overdoses in a two day span one weekend. Four of these people were dead on arrival. About a month ago we had another 14 people who overdosed, two of whom were dead on arrival.
Apparently, there was a new batch of heroin that had arrived in the city that had been mixed with a synthetic narcotic, Fentanyl. This mixture was much more powerful than the addicted persons were used to and they were dying right and left. The drug overdoses and deaths were certainly a hot topic, not only in the h ospital, but around the city as well. I spoke to one nurse who seemed exasperated and outraged at this senseless loss of life. She said, “I just can’t understand how people can be so stupid to keep using drugs when they know that people are dying”.
This is the kind of sentiment that a lot of people have when it comes to trying to understand chemical dependency. People tend to think that chemical dependency is either: a lack of brains, a lack of willpower or a lack of moral fiber.
Unless people have a firm understanding that chemical dependency is a disease, they will never be able to look at it in any other way than a judgmental one. Unfortunately, this never helps anybody to get well.
The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous says that addiction is “cunning, baffling, and powerful”. My purpose in this book is to hopefully, make the disease a little less baffling. I believe that if people understand what the disease is and what it needs, then we will be able to combat it.
I have worked with this disease for 37 years and have gained some insight that I hope will be helpful to people who work with addictions. I believe that social workers, nurses, physicians and just regular people could benefit from a better understanding of addiction. Probably some background about who I am might be helpful in understanding where I’m coming from.
My background is a little bit unusual. I became an ordained Lutheran minister and was interested in chemical dependency, because one of my seminary professors was a recovering addict. I also have family history of addiction with my grandfather being an alcoholic. Most people who do work with addictions have a vested interest in the disease, it seems. My first Parish was in Jamestown, North Dakota and it was only a part-time position in a mission congregation. Consequently, I had time to work at another job or get other training. I was eventually accepted at the North Dakota State Hospital as a chaplaincy resident. When asked where I would like to do my chaplaincy work, I replied that I would like to work on chemical dependency. After completing my chaplaincy training I was accepted as a chemical dependency intern. I completed that internship and begin working at an outpatient human service center in the drug and alcohol division.
One day while I was looking at a chaplaincy newsletter, I saw an advertisement for a job opening in Muncie, Indiana. It said that they wanted someone who was an ordained minister, had chaplaincy training and had extensive chemical dependency training and certification. They also wanted 3 to 4 years parish experience. It sounded like they were looking for me! The position was for a spiritual care counselor, which was a combination chaplain and addiction counselor. This position was to work on an inpatient drug/alcohol treatment unit and I did this for 17 years. After this time the treatment center was going to be closed for financial reasons. Insurance companies started to not pay for treatment anymore and of course, if drug addicts and alcoholics have money they wouldn’t be using it to buy insurance or pay for treatment, but to buy drugs and alcohol. I switched to become the nicotine dependency counselor for the next five years. After this time, I went back to being a chaplain in the hospital, which is what I still am today. I still do 4 group therapy groups on psychiatry every week and most of these groups are made up of over half addicts. Of course, I also see many individuals who are on medical floors that have addiction problems as well.
If you speak to people about addiction being a disease, they usually will say that it might be called a disease, but it’s not a real disease. This then leads them to have a moralistic view of addiction. People who work with addicts must not have this view of them, otherwise they will not be able to help the addicted person. Addicted persons may appear to be very insensitive and do act insensitively, but they are at heart, very sensitive people and will be able to smell condemnation a mile away. I cannot state this strongly enough, that it is important to approach people from a nonjudgmental, non-moralistic stance.
Addiction is a disease and has been recognized by the American Medical Association since the 1950s as such. In order for something to qualify as a disease, it has to meet certain standards. It must have signs or symptoms that are not signs of some other disease, it must be progressive, chronic, and fatal if left unchecked.
There are many signs and symptoms of addiction, such as: a preoccupation with drinking or using drugs, increased tolerance for the drug, solitary using, using drugs to self-medicate, having blackouts, using drugs to deal with uncomfortable feelings and the morning eye-opener to prevent withdrawal. The number one symptom of the disease of addiction is denial that there is any problem, despite negative consequences.
However, the easiest way to diagnose a problem with drugs or alcohol is by looking at what problems it causes in any major areas of a person’s life. If drinking or using drugs causes problems in any of these five major areas: relationships, health, legal issues, financial or job/school, then it is a problem. That which causes problems is a problem and that which never causes any problems is not a problem. That is the simplest way to understand if someone’s using is beyond the bounds of normal. We will discuss diagnosing addiction in greater detail later on.
Addiction is basically a brain disease. It is not within the scope of this book to explain all of the biochemistry that makes up this brain disease, but it is im