The Key to Resiliency
Doctor Viktor Frankl, author of Man’s Search for Meaning, survived 4 Nazi concentration camps and was a neurologist and psychiatrist. He had an early interest in psychotherapy, and by the time he was in medical school, he organized special youth counselling centers to address suicides, which were happening in large numbers after receiving report cards. Frankl was able to recruit many notable psychologists at the time, and in 2 years,
Read MoreThree Root Causes of Addiction
In The Realm of the Hungry Ghost, Dr. Gabor Mate, brilliantly and compassionately describes the plight of Vancouver’s hardcore drug addicts.
Drug addicts are society’s outcasts. With their difficult behaviors, and their tendency to lie or steal things to keep their addiction going, it’s tough to love and feel compassion for an addict.
But Dr. Mate eloquently reminds us, that far more of us are addicts than we realize. We might not want to identify with a drug addict, but if we reflect on our own habits, we might realize how hard it is to fight addictions. We can be addicted to a huge variety of things, including work, success, shopping, sex, screen time, coffee or a favorite food. An addiction is anything we have a compulsion to do, that we don’t feel like we have the ability to stop. How many of us are truly in control of our behaviors all the time?
Regardless of whether the addiction is considered acceptable or unacceptable by society, it often interferes with our relationships. Our significant other’s needs are often dismissed when we are in the middle of an addiction frenzy.
Why do so many of us struggle with addictions?
Read MoreOpioids vs. natural pain relief
How to become an opioid addict
Sally was a college student who was prescribed Nicodin (an opioid) by her doctor after a surgery to repair her foot. At first, she just took it to relieve the pain. But then she noticed the buzz she got and the confidence that came with it. She started taking it simply because she liked how it made her feel. It wasn’t long before she found she needed a higher dose to get the same effect. So she ran out before she was due for a refill. She went to another doctor to get more, but as she had to keep increasing her dose to get the same effect, she had to keep finding new doctors to keep up with her growing demand.
Read MoreTaming the Sugar Monster
The Sugar monster
I had a client who had a sugar addiction, and found it impossible to resist sweets. People were regularly bringing in baked goods and candy to work. And it wasn’t usual for him to eat an entire serving tray of cookies!
He often said his sugar addiction was so bad that it was even easier to give up alcohol! He had been eating this way for his entire life, and so had others in his family of origin!
Read More3 Reasons Why We Need to Limit Our Sugar Intake
You’ve definitely heard it before – too much sugar isn’t good for you. Yet for some reason cutting down and monitoring your sugar intake can require a lot of self-discipline. While most of us know that too much sugar isn’t good for us, the reasons why are nebulous at best to most. That is we I invited certified nutritionist, Kelli Wike, to tell us more about why we need to limit our sugar intake.
Kelli Wike has a degree inNutritional Science from Bastyr University, and has been working with clients for 20 years with her company Transformation Mission.
Dr Tina: Welcome Kelli Wike, and thank you for joining me!
Kelli: I’m delighted to be here!
Types Of Sugars That Have Negative Effects On The Body
Dr. Tina: Sugar is often many people’s weak spots – including my own. I’m sure you’ve all had that sugary craving where you reach for a chocolate bar to get that quick energy boost but as you are all probably aware, there are several types of sugars. They all interact with the body in different ways. Some are better for you than others. So Kelli, could you tell us more about the types of sugars?
Read MoreIs the Opposite of Addiction Connection? Exploring the Root Causes of Addictions
The author of Chasing the Scream, Johann Hari states: “The opposite of addiction isn’t sobriety – it’s connection”.
But can the causes of addictions be reduced down to just one simple reason?
In his TED talk, titled “Everything You Think You Know About Addiction is Wrong”, Hari argues that there is an underlying cause to addiction that isn’t being sufficiently addressed with addicts. He states that the current war on drugs does little to address what he says is the key underlying cause of addiction in the first place: The lack of connection and profound loneliness that perpetuates their behavior.
What is the evidence he uses to support this argument?
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