Addiction

Editor's Introduction 

Dr Robert Lefever is regarded as one of the leading experts in the treatment of addictive diseases. He is widely published in the medical journals and is a regular contributor on the BBC. He has had many years of experience at the front-line, treating alcoholic and addicted patients. He established and ran the PROMIS Recovery Centre and places particular concern on the family dynamic

These articles contain the essential information that anyone suffering from alcoholism and other addictive tendencies or anyone affected by them should read. They describe the approach adopted now by millions of patients who have found that education is the essential element of their own recovery.

“Denial is the basic psychopathology of addiction”.

As Dr Lefever beautifully describes  alcohol can be viewed simply as an inappropriate form of self-medication. In other words, the term ‘alcoholism’ describes the medicine and not the disease. By the same logic, a sore throat would be called ‘penicillinism’. Although abstinence from alcohol maybe required, this act alone will not treat the more fundamental aspect of this neuro-transmission disease – as he describes.

The successful treatment methods explained here are not passive. It is not a case of a surgeon operating on a compliant patient. Dr Lefever describes how a successful outcome is entirely dependent on the patient being prepared to understand the nature of their illness and then take certain steps for themselves. And this is not easy because, as he says: “Those with a problem are also those who are most determined to prove that they do not”.

These articles have the potential to bring fresh hope for literally millions of people affected by alcohol and other addictive substances, processes and behaviours.