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WELCOME TO
THE Recovery Radio FLASH! |
Week of May 11, 2006 |
Welcome...to the
FLASH! This weekly e-newsletter will keep you informed of what's
new at Recovery
Radio Show...and
at Recovery Media, Inc., our affiliated service corporation. We
are dedicated to taking the hope of RECOVERY to you, your
family, and to all persons afflicted with- or affected by - THE
DISEASE OF ADDICTION. There IS a better way....
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Our newsletter is a free, weekly update on what's
going on here at
Recovery Radio Show and includes valuable resources and tools for any
 one affected
by the disease of addiction.
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1.
THIS WEEK'S SHOW:
SATURDAY, May 13, 2006
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Spring Pot Pourri
WOMEN IN RECOVERY
...The Key to Effective Treatment
Special Guest: Julie Queler, Executive Director,
The Orchid Recovery Center for Women, Palm Beach,
FL
 Women have
been under-represented in drug and alcohol treatment centers
from the days of the earliest "sanitariums" for alcoholics.
Same thing in the various 12-Step support groups. The written
history of the earliest days of Alcoholics Anonymous also
reflects a sex-bias where it was assumed by many that
alcoholism (and addiction) was primarily a male disorder. But
if addiction is truly a disease of the brain (which it
unquestionably is), intuition tells us that this view of
alcoholism and addiction makes no sense whatsoever. Women MUST
be affected just as often as men. Fact is that they are. This
week we will explore this extremely important issue: Women in
Recovery.
 The
ratio of men to women in most drug and alcohol treatment
centers is decidedly weighted toward men. Estimates for this
number vary from 3:2 to 2:1. A figure of about 30% women (1 in
3) in treatment centers is probably accurate as an overall
estimate. The various "rooms" of the 12-Step groups such as
Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous lean more towards
parity between the sexes, but nonetheless the number of men in
attendance is almost always greater.
Why is this so? Is it because more men suffer from the disease
of addiction than women? Are men's genes more inclined to lead
to the overt expression of addiction? Or is the preponderance
of men in drug and alcohol treatment facilities simply a
reflection of the fact that fewer women come forth to seek
treatment for alcoholism and drug addiction? In a similar
vein, is it because women do not feel comfortable coming into
a mixed-gender treatment environment?
The answer is most likely a combination of fewer women
seeking treatment, plus the fact that shame and other
considerations keep many women away from traditional
mixed-gender treatment facilities.
Women tend to be less willing to self-diagnose with the
disease of addiction for a variety of reasons, but very
largely due to social stigma. From a societal perspective
there is much more shame for a woman to admit to being an
alcoholic or addict than for a man. For men it's
understandable and "OK"; ie, "Boys will be boys". But for
women, it is not OK, ie, "How can a wife or mother be allowed
to be an addict??"
Many women's daily lives are very often located in the home
where they "work" as homemakers, making it such that outside
pressure to seek rehab treatment due to poor job performance
does not apply to them. And, mixed gender treatment facilities
may be viewed by potential women clients as both intimidating
and distracting, plus the reality that many of them may not
offer the desired support and focus for women's unique
personal needs.
There is no question that social and environmental influences
come into play for any given potential addict and this may
affect actual numbers of "practicing addicts", be the addict a
man or a woman. But from a genetics perspective, there is no
reason to believe that addiction is inherited by women any
differently than men. In other words, it is not handed down
through the generations in a manner similar to an "X-linked
recessive" disease like hemophilia ("bleeding disease") where
only men in a given family are affected. Rather, addiction is
thought to be handed down from generation to generation in a
"poly-genetic" manner, similar to adult-onset diabetes. The
latter common disease will pop up "here and there" throughout
a family tree due to the fact that many different genes are
thought to contribute to overt expression of the disease.
In summary, there is no question that women have similar
genetics as men when it comes to the disease of addiction, but
they do have very different issues and needs that come into
play when it comes to addiction and recovery from addiction.
Although no absolute numbers are available (since addiction in
the end is a self-diagnosed disease), most experts believe
that women are affected by addiction just as often as are men,
ie, the ratio of male addicts to female addicts is 1:1.
This brings us back to the question of why, then, do we not
see as many women as men in drug and alcohol treatment
programs, and in the rooms of the 12-Step groups?
 The
answer is that women are special beings with special needs!! A
book recently published by
The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA)
at Columbia University called "Women
Under the Influence" outlines the importance of
considering gender-specific approaches for women in addiction
treatment. This book is a "must read" for those truly
interested in this topic.
Increasingly, many treatment experts are beginning to
recommend that treatment facilities be gender-specific.
Reasons are many. Obvious is the fact that when women and men
mix, the dynamics of inter-sex relationships comes into play.
Many an early recovery has been shattered by early return to
sexual relationships and the sobriety-testing situations that
follow. Moreso, however, experts cite the need for women to be
able to focus on themselves and their unique personal, social,
and workplace issues and needs when it comes to creating the
ideal treatment environment for women.
 This
week we will be joined by Julie Queler, Executive Director of
the Orchid Recovery Center for Women in Palm Beach, FL. The
Orchid Recovery Center was founded 2 years ago by Julie after
she had run a successful sober living facility for women in
that city for several years. It was the first one established
solely for women. She came to realize that women had special
needs that prevented them from obtaining the help they needed.
We will discuss many facets of "Women's Issues In Addiction
and Recovery". The philosophy of The Orchid is truly effective
healing of addicted women must include "relational growth".
This is a treatment modality that fosters personal growth
through the encouragement of a high degree of interdependence
and trust among women during the treatment process. The
interrelations built between women in treatment can form a
nucleus around which recovery can be more effectively sought.
Healthy interdependence is the bedrock upon which a woman's
treatment should be placed.
Julie now has many years of recovery from cocaine and alcohol
addiction. Prior to creating a career for herself in the world
of recovery, she had a highly successful professional career
in publishing in New York City. Her own addiction to cocaine
and alcohol pulled the rug out from under her in that career.
She found recovery for herself over a period of several years
while doing extensive world travel and including conventional
mixed-gender drug and alcohol treatment.
She subsequently realized while traveling the globe in her
early post-recovery years that 1) Women were different from
men when it came to alcohol and drug addiction treatment and
had special needs, and 2) Many complementary spiritual and
adjunctive treatment modalities existed in various non-western
cultures and spiritual belief systems that were useful to
women in finding and solidifying their own recoveries. The
holistic treatment program for women at the Orchid Recovery
Center includes yoga, acupuncture, walking, meditation, a
personalized exercise program, and art therapy.
Don’t miss this exciting and highly informative show!
Live!! This Saturday night, May 13th, 6 – 8P
Pacific Time on 99.5 FM KKLA Los Angeles and 10 other
cities…and…streaming on the web. Our show call-in number is
888/995-5552 for your questions and comments. Remember…..
RECOVERY WORKS!!!
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2.
STRAIGHT TALK FROM THE
DOC by Dr Steve
DR WILLIAM HITT AND HIS
INTERESTING IDEAS: NEUROTRANSMITTER RESTORATION (NTR™)
 Last
week I began this series about medical approaches to addiction
treatment. Repair and restoration of drug-altered
neurotransmitter receptors is thought to be way in which both
PROMETA ™ and
NEUROTRANSMITTER
RESTORATION, or "NTR", work to decrease drug cravings and to
return brain function to a more normal status.
In drug addiction, drugs (including alcohol!) used chronically
and repeatedly lead to a state of “tolerance” in the brain's
cells and synapses. Simply stated, the brain cells adapt to the
presence of the drug such that it takes more drug to get "high".
When the addicted person stops taking the drug, he or she goes
into ‘withdrawal”. Withdrawal occurs because the drug-adapted
synapses and brain receptors involved with addiction have been
altered substantially over time; it takes a similarly long time
for them to shift back to normal when the drug is removed.
 During
the withdrawal period, the brain goes “haywire” due to the
sudden ending of drug-induced inhibition (or stimulation;
depending upon the specific drug) on those receptors They then
go into a chaotic frenzy which can include seizures, altered
autonomic nerve activity, altered consciousness, and abnormal
brain cognition and function. The detoxing person cannot think
straight! Detoxing from drugs normally takes days to weeks for
the most severe phase of withdrawal, followed by months of
gradual normalization.
The most effective and important medical approaches to the
treatment of addiction (and the ones we are discussing here)
will be medications or other medical procedures that help the
brain's drug-altered cells to return to normal much more quickly
than naturally occurs after cessation of chronic drug use.
 About 20
years ago in Mexico City, Dr. William Hitt, now of the
William Hitt Center
in Tijuana, Mexico did some interesting laboratory research on
cells in tissue culture. Viewing them under the microscope, he
found that when the cells were bathed in certain amino acid
nutrient solutions, they shifted their growth phase from the
day-to-day “functional” phase, into a much different “repair
phase”, wherein they appeared to concentrate their entire
cellular mechanisms into a phase of healing, or repair, after
having been damaged.
To make a long story short, Dr. Hitt theorized that by
re-creating a similar environment in the brain, it might cause
drug-damaged brain cells to shift into a “repair phase” during
which the drug-altered neuroreceptors would be repaired, and
would return to their normal, pre-drug state much more quickly
than than would naturally occur.
Drug and alcohol cravings were markedly reduced or even
eliminated! Mental clarity (improved cognition and intellectual
function) returned early and usually was quite remarkable.
Removal of cravings is key to maintenance of sobriety and for
avoiding dreaded relapse.
After much work, he was able to identify certain specific amino
acid combinations that would cause chronic alcoholics’ brains to
revert towards normal much more quickly than normal- in about 10
days. These amino acid solutions were given intravenously and
they then diffused into the brain tissues directly from the
bloodstream. Dr. Hitt treated over 10, 000 chronic alcoholics in
Mexico City beginning in the early 1980’s using his NTR™ amino
acid protocol, with an astonishing 70% sobriety rate at one year
post-treatment!!
This figure is truly remarkable when one considers that in
12-Step groups like AA or NA, or after treatment in a typical
drug and alcohol treatment center, one-year sobriety rates are
something in the order of a mere 20%.
My Opinion: This is astounding!! And very exciting. We
MUST learn more about this!!
Next week: More on NTR
This is Dr Steve, giving it to you straight!!
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3.
THOUGHT FOR RECOVERY- by BOB MUNCK
 Missing
Bob's Thought for Recovery? Bob has been out of town but
will continue his thoughts for recovery next week.
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4.
MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES
WITH RECOVERY RADIO
Recovery Radio Seeks
Show Sponsors
 The
Recovery Radio Show is more that just a radio show.
We are a comprehensive set of resources for addicts and their
families. Our uniqueness is that each week we reach hundreds of
thousands of addicts and their families who are still
suffering…over 500,000 people each week. We do this in many
ways, the most obvious of which is over the airwaves every
Saturday night in Los Angeles and 10 other cities,
coast-to-coast.
In addition, we will soon be publishing “California Together”,
a monthly newspaper targeted at the recovery community
throughout Southern California. We will be publishing this in
partnership with Bill and Barbara Brown, publishers of “Arizona
Together”, which periodical has been meeting the needs of
the Arizona recovery community for over 15 years. The two will
be sister publications.
We maintain one of the most popular “recovery radio” websites in
the world! Both Google and Yahoo have rated ours to be #4, and
this after only 6 months of existence! That is phenomenal, and
testimony to the fact that we are “doing something right!” Our
weekly e-newsletter, the FLASH! reaches many people each week as
well, with timely updates on what is happening with Recovery
Radio and the recovery world in general.
Future projects include an “800 HELPLINE”, the HOW Program USA
“recovery scholarships”, Fourth Step Workshops with Bob and Dr
Steve, and “The Art of Recovery- Southern California” recovery
community annual convention.
What does this all mean? It means that those organizations whose
business is related to recovery and/or recovery products have a
unique opportunity to engage- at the ground-floor level- in an
extremely effective marketing alliance with The Recovery Radio
Show.
Ours is a highly-targeted audience. We reach over 500,000 people
each week (conservative estimate). Approximately 60% of our
callers are family members or loved ones of an alcoholic or
addict who NEEDS RECOVERY. They are looking for solutions to get
their loved on into recovery. About 30% of our callers are from
addicts or alcoholics who are IN RECOVERY, and want and need
recovery-oriented products.
More so, ALL of our listeners are learning more about a
societal problem that in reality affects essentially every
single person in this nation. Addiction is by far the #1 public
health problem in the nation today, costing our society over $4
Billion/year. It is long overdue that our nation accepts
addiction for the medical disease that it is. We are doing our
part to effect that change.
If you are with a business or organization that might benefit
from a marketing relationship with Recovery Radio, please
contact us. We will be happy to discuss the many ways that you
can benefit from joining our team…and at the same time help AND
benefit from our growing fan and listener base.
CONTACT US
if you would like to explore sponsorship or marketing
opportunities with Recovery Radio Show. Toll-Free:
866.334.0471., ext. 102 (Bob), or ext. 111 (Dr Steve).
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HERE" button.
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Archive Here
RECOVERY RADIO
A NOT-FOR-PROFIT ORGANIZATION
The
Recovery Radio Show is organized as a 501 (c) (3) non-profit
public benefit corporation under the IRS tax code: Our Mission
is to provide education about addiction to our fellow human
beings, and to do what we can to allow those still suffering to
get into recovery. If you, or your company, would like to make a
tax-deductible donation to the RRS, you may do so with our
profound thanks and appreciation by clicking on the link above,
or by going to the "DONATE" button on our website on the
HOME page. Or, you may call our very own Melissa Stewart at
866.334.0471 M-F between the hours of 8A - 5P.
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That's it for
this week....Join us this Saturday Night, won't you?????.....6-8
Pacific Time...on-air, or on the web.
Yours very truly, and in sobriety,
Dr Steve, Bob, and the Recovery Radio Crew |
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