Posted by jay on November 7, 2002, at 8:00:38
In reply to Quackwatchy question, posted by Squiggles on November 6, 2002, at 17:47:45
> Would someone please tell me if the following
> site is reliable for drug withdrawal and
> rehabiliation or "quacky" - maybe I should
> ask somewhere else;
>
> thanks
>
> Squiggles
> >http://www.athealth.com/Practitioner/particles/In>terview_KennethMinkoff.htmlNo, this interview is quite good, as is Dr. Minkoff's knowledge of dual-diagnosis disorders. What that means, is a person can suffer from more than one type of illness. It is most often implied and used in people with co-existing mental health and addiction problems.
I really like his take on treatment, as it is progressive in that he believes both should be treated at the same time. Much of the thinking in the addictions and detox field is that a depressive addict has to be completely 'detoxed', and not take ANY medication for depression until his 'detox' program is completed. BUT, the good doctor advocates using psychopharmalogical treatment along with detox. In other words, there is no need to trivialize if treating the depression treats the addiction. There are also many addiction counsellors who, on usually more of a moralistic basis than an evidence-based one, think that *any* drug use (even aspirin) should be deeply restricted and eliminated if possible during detox.
I have a fair amount of experience working both in mental health and addictions, and am an advocate of progressive concepts like evidence-based treatment and the harm-reduction approach.
I hope this clears things up for you. This is a very relevant, professional, and intelligent article, so no need to worry about it being 'Quacky'. :-) Any further questions?...
Jay
poster:jay
thread:126702
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021101/msgs/126789.html