Dear Yehuda,
I will not apologize for disagreeing with anybody on any issue,
for each of us help to make up a broader, richer picture.
The World Health Organization urged experts, a long time ago, to abandon
some inaccurate terms.
"Addiction" was one of them , together with "habit".
They should be substituted for "dependence", the WHO argued.
The reasons are valid. Those rejected terms are more emotional than
descriptive.
"Addictus" is a Latin word that reflects the state of one being legally
delivered into slavery because an unpaid debt. There is a technical Hebrew,
and Aramaic word for that, too, as such legal status is described in the
Torah (Pentateuch) and, for sure, in the Mischnah (Talmud).
Habit should be used for other harmless repetitive forms of performing a
task, or doing anything.
The terms to describe effects of drugs (another inaccurate word): dependence
-physical and psychical-, tolerance, and toxicity, are easier to delineate.
Abstinence syndrome is somewhat more hazy for certain drugs. The word
"drug" comes from the ancient Dutch and Celtic. It means " a dry substitute
for fresh herbs", an inferior substance. It came to mean any substance used
in chemistry, industry, medicine, and now, also an illegal one.
It should be firmly stated that substances do nothing by themselves, but only
in cooperation with a body/mind.( Ritalin, for instance may wake you up, but
will calm a hyperactive person. Upper or downer?). Opium is used in
homeopathy for constipation, and Anhalonium (peyote) is a remedy for
hallucinating
patients.
It depends on the dose, and on the individual, Theophrastus Bombastus von
Hohenheim said(Paracelsus himself) about poisons, more than 400 years ago.
The technical pharmacological name for the category Valium, Xanax, and other
benzodiazepines are in is Tranquilizers, or Anxiolitics. No uppers, but
downers.
Ritalin is a Psychostimulant, in the same group as amphetamines and cocaine.
Most Antidepressants are not dependence-forming, but they interact in
dangerous ways with the metabolism of serotonin, and hence, with several
foods.
As you say, they and shouldn't be taken or abandoned suddenly, because they
alter the normal reaction of humans in different gradients, and they are
difficult to abandon without substitutes.
The general word "hallucinogenic" is also disapproved, and "psychodysleptic"
"psychotomimetic" (mimicking psychosis) or "entheogenic" (for ritual plants)
should be used instead. The mixture of the vine Banisteriopsis caapi (an IMAO
antidepressant), and Psychotria viridis, a plant containing DMT, form the
brew ayahuasca, a powerful Amazonian entheogenic. A dependence
interrupter for
alcohol, cocaine, and other substances, too. Hallucinogenic? Yes. Dependence
forming? No.
Toxic? No. Illegal? No. Where shall we place it?
Everything depends more on technology and intention of use, than on
substances.
Another big question may be: must every depression be medicated?
Homeopathy, homotoxicology, Bach Flower Remedies, and many herbs, nutrition,
as well as CST and acupuncture, may help many patients.
Refractory and emergency cases may have to resort to prescription substances,
but to a lesser extent than is usual.
Ignacio Fojgel, MD
Buenos Aires, Argentina
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