No one is to blame for another person’s chemical dependence. If your wife, husband, teenage son or daughter is chemically dependent, you didn’t cause it. Furthermore, you can’t control it and you can’t cure it. When you stop blaming yourself, you can start letting go of being responsible for your children and start being responsible to them. The alcoholic or drug addict’s relationship with the drug becomes more important than anything else. They plan their whole day around the next drink or drug. Chemical dependence is a “love affair” with the drug of choice. Using drugs becomes more important than relationships, doing well at school or work, planning for the future or anything else.  Like any other disease, chemical dependence has certain describable characteristics. There are three stages: use, misuse and abuse. Use can be defined as using a chemical to enhance an already pleasurable event – drinking wine at a meal or having a beer at barbecue. Misuse means that the chemical has occasionally begun to interfere with one or more areas of a person’s life. For example, the alcoholic will get drunk on their birthday when they had no intention of doing so. They only planned a few drinks with their friends.  One drink is too many and a hundred drinks are not enough for the alcoholic. Abuse indicates that the chemical has consistently begun to interfere with one or more areas of a person’s life. Getting drunk on a regular basis (binge drinking) or daily drinking is not social drinking.  Social drinkers do not need alcohol on a daily basis. They may enjoy a wine or two but that’s it. They have no need to down the whole bottle. For the alcoholic or addict, using alcohol/drugs is a compulsion. Compulsion is a primary symptom of the disease of chemical dependency.  It resides within the old “primitive brain” - the hypothalamic instinctual brain that houses our strongest instincts: to flee or fight, to eat and drink, to reproduce. Have you heard of the Dopamine Neurotransmitter?  That’s the center of satisfaction and reward part of our brain. Why do we drink? To feel better or to reward ourselves after a hectic day.  That’s fine, as long as we don’t abuse the chemical. Chemical dependence is a progressive disease. Once a person enters the addiction process, the disease follows a predictable, progressive course of symptoms.  Left untreated, it always gets worse. The normal progression goes from using chemicals with few consequences to using chemicals with greater and more serious consequences, including physical, mental, emotional and spiritual deterioration. Domestic Violence ranks high with the perpetrator abusing alcohol and unable to control their violent emotions. Sober, they are remorseful and promise never to be violent again. Our jails are full of men and women with alcohol abuse. What chance do they have of rehabilitation and returning to the Community to lead a productive life? Chemical dependence is a fatal disease. A chemically dependent person usually dies prematurely if he or she continues to use alcohol or drugs. I’m not talking about a bad habit; I’m talking about life and death. The average lifespan of an alcoholic is 10 to 12 years shorter than that of a non-alcoholic. In addition to the medical causes of death that are directly related to chemical dependence, alcoholics are primary risks for car accidents causing fatalities.  They are also high suicide risks. Chemical dependence is a treatable disease. The five characteristics of chemical dependence just described – compulsive/obsessive, primary, progressive, chronic and then fatal, can be discouraging for both the addicted person and those who love them. The biggest problem I find when counseling alcoholics is the fact that denial is one of their main problems. It’s always someone elses fault. The alcoholic is the last person to know and accept that he or she is sick. Chemical dependence has been described as “the disease that tells people they don’t have a disease.” And that is why intervention must come from the outside, from significant persons surrounding the alcoholic: family, friends, work colleagues, employers and other concerned individuals. About 20 years ago I read a book called The Mood Cure by Julia Ross and did a lot of research on the effectiveness of Tyrosine to help my patients with low dopamine levels. I have had some amazing results with patients telling me how wonderful they feel after a few short days taking this non-essential amino acid supplement. It assisted their concentration and motivation and helped to relieve a lot of mood swings caused by low dopamine levels. It also helped a lot of my patients feel satisfied with their daily routine without abusing alcohol or drugs.    Tyrosine can also assist to relieve emotional pain as we are often very sensitive people. Tyrosine Mood Food is necessary for the manufacture of dopamine and noradrenaline, which are required for concentration, alertness, memory and a happy stable mood. L-Glutamine is an amino acid and has been shown to improve brain function. L-Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in the body and over 60% of your muscle tissue is comprised of glutamine. Strenuous exercise, viral and bacterial infections, inflammation, stress and trauma in general, can cause glutamine depletion that weakens the immune cells. Glutamine is vital for healthy intestinal function and may help with inflammation of the intestinal tract. It is also vital for muscle growth and healthy muscle function. People with Charcot’s Marie Tooth Disease (CMT) need L-Glutamine to strengthen their muscles. Glutamine supplementation can be found in our Ultimate Gut Health Powder. LivaTone Plus is a natural liver tonic containing the liver herbs St Mary’s Thistle, Globe Artichoke and Dandelion, combined with the amino acid Taurine, and Lecithin. It also contains natural sources of Chlorophyll, Carotenoids and fiber. It is available in both capsule and powder form. The liver is the main fat burning organ in the body and regulates fat and carbohydrate metabolism. A healthy liver will take fat in the form of cholesterol and pump it via the bile into the intestines where it will be carried away in the bowel actions provided the diet is high in fiber. Vegetable juice has been successfully used to help with a myriad of health disorders.  Dr. Cabot has a great juice book that’s easy to follow and has recipes to help rejuvenate your liver, it is called Raw Juices Can Save Your Life. Dr. Cabot’s book, Help for Depression and Anxiety is an excellent read for people suffering with depression, stress and anxiety. The above statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat o cure any disease.