DR. PARI DESHMUKH is a board certified psychiatrist in general psychiatry, addiction, and integrative holistic medicine. He is a certified psychotherapist, and a meditation trainer in both Heartfulness and Mindfulness He is also an elected fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and Society of Addiction Medicine. He is a researcher, a teacher, a community volunteer, and a recipient of many local, regional and national awards. He lives in Central Florida with his wife and son. He has a special interest in the common grounds of science and spirituality and their implications on betterment of mental health of humanity.

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Pari Deshmukh

<h4
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        id="h-dr-pari-deshmukh-is-a-board-certified-psychiatrist-a-certified-psychotherapist-and-a-meditation-trainer-in-both-heartfulness-and-mindfulness-he-is-also-an-elected-fellow-of-the-american-psychiatric-association-and-the-society-of-addiction-medicine-he-has-a-special-interest-in-the-common-ground-of-science-and-spirituality-and-their-implications-on-the-betterment-of-our-mental-health-here-he-addresses-some-basic-aspects-of-addiction-including-common-misconceptions"
      >
        <strong
          ><span style="color: #00b3c9"
            >DR. PARI DESHMUKH</span
          >
          is a board certified psychiatrist, a certified psychotherapist, and a
          meditation trainer in both Heartfulness and Mindfulness. He is also an
          elected fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and the Society
          of Addiction Medicine. He has a special interest in the common ground
          of science and spirituality, and their implications on the betterment
          of our mental health. Here he addresses some basic aspects of
          addiction, including common misconceptions.</strong
        >
      </h4>

      <hr class="vertical-space1" />

      <h4 class="block-heading">
        <strong
          ><span style="color: #f26529"
            >What is addiction?</span
          ></strong
        >
      </h4>

      <p>
        Addiction is a treatable, chronic medical disease, a complex interaction
        among brain circuits, genetics, the environment, and an individual’s
        life experiences. Many think that addiction is not treatable and is some
        form of moral defect or character defect, which is not true. It’s just
        like high blood pressure or diabetes. Chronic means long-term; it can be
        a very long time including over a lifetime, but it is treatable.
      </p>

      <p>
        The brain is involved in pushing the addiction, and there are certain
        brain circuits that are more involved. One of them is the reward
        pathway.
      </p>

      <p>
        There is also the component of genetics; if our family members have
        addiction disorders, our chances of addiction are more. Even if their
        addiction was in some other form, we may still be predisposed to it.
      </p>

      <p>
        Then there is interaction with the environment. What kind of stimulus,
        rewards, and punishments is the environment giving us, and how is it
        guiding our behavior? That has a tremendous impact on our addiction.
      </p>

      <hr class="vertical-space1" />

      <hr />

      <h4 class="has-text-align-center block-heading">
        <mark
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          >Any form of activity can become</mark
        ><br /><mark
          style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); color: #00b3c9"
         
          >an addiction, if it’s spiraling out of </mark
        ><br /><mark
          style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); color: #00b3c9"
         
          >control and leading to </mark
        ><br /><mark
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          >negative consequences in life.</mark
        >
      </h4>

      <hr />

      <hr class="vertical-space1" />

      <p>
        Then there are individual life experiences. How has our life been shaped
        so far?
      </p>

      <p>
        So,
        <strong
          >brain circuits, genetics, individual life experiences, and
          environment</strong
        >
        are the ingredients that come together to form a long-term medical
        disease, which is treatable. Research shows that treating addiction is
        equally as successful as treating other chronic disorders, like
        diabetes.
      </p>

      <h4 class="block-heading">
        <strong
          ><span style="color: #f26529"
            >What are the different types of addictions that exist?</span
          ></strong
        >
      </h4>

      <p>
        There are mostly two types: substance addiction and process addiction.
      </p>

      <p>
        Substance addiction means we are addicted to a chemical, and the most
        common is alcohol. There are other addictions like marijuana, cocaine,
        heroin, opiates. Then there are prescription drugs, like
        benzodiazepines, or alprazolam. There are also hallucinogens and
        dissociatives, like LSD, ketamine, and inhalants.
      </p>

      <p>
        There are various forms of substance addictions, because there are so
        many substances available. The brain becomes dependent on a particular
        chemical.
      </p>

      <p>
        There is also process addiction, which is dependency on some form of act
        or thinking pattern. For example, gambling and shopping can be
        addictions. It’s for good reason that Amazon is successful, because
        shopping is one of the most common addictions. Then we have Internet
        addiction. On the Internet, we have pornography addiction and sex
        addiction. We have other co-dependency issues, and eating can also be an
        addiction. Any form of activity can become an addiction, if it’s
        spiraling out of control and leading to negative consequences in life.
      </p>

      <p>
        For example, knowing that alcohol damages your liver and has an impact
        on your physical health, will you still drink? It could have an impact
        on your performance at work. You lose your job due to addiction, yet
        you’re still drinking. Your relationships are affected but you are still
        doing it. So, despite the negative consequences, your addiction is
        persisting. You have legal problems, financial problems, but you are
        still doing it. When it becomes uncontrollable, despite the negative
        consequences you continue, then it is an addiction.
      </p>

      <h4 class="block-heading">
        <strong
          ><span style="color: #f26529"
            >What are some factors that predispose a person to addiction?</span
          ></strong
        >
      </h4>

      <p>
        Sometimes addiction serves as an escape from the uncomfortable feeling
        we are having. It’s easier to just go ahead and look at the mobile or
        drink a glass of alcohol.
      </p>

      <p>
        Eventually, over time, we develop a tolerance toward drugs and alcohol
        the more we consume them. Initially, one glass of alcohol would give us
        pleasure. Eventually, we would have to drink 10 glasses to get the same
        pleasure. The tolerance builds up. With time, the pleasure goes away and
        misery starts.
      </p>

      <p>
        Then there are co-dependency issues. Relationships are normal, but when
        dependency affects life performance it also can be an addiction.
      </p>

      <p>
        Coming to the factors that predispose us, they could be genetic, family,
        or our lack of ability to cope. Initially we find it pleasurable, and
        there is a reward pathway in the brain that whenever we find pleasure we
        want to do it again. Nature has put those reward pathways there for a
        reason, giving us pleasurable stimuli for certain things. For example,
        if we did not have any pleasure in eating, we would not eat, and we
        would suffer from nutritional deficiencies. If we win something, we feel
        pleasure. We feel like doing more hard work because there are outcomes
        and we get pleasure from the outcomes. So nature has its way of
        advancing us and improving our life. But if we are too much involved in
        work, for example, it can be an addiction.
      </p>

      <hr class="vertical-space1" />

      <div class="block-image">
        <figure>
          <img
            alt="misconceptions-addiction2"
            class="lazyload has-img-center"
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          />
        </figure>
      </div>

      <hr class="vertical-space1" />

      <h4 class="block-heading">
        <strong
          ><span style="color: #f26529"
            >What does recovery from addiction look like? What does it entail
            when a person has to go through rehab or treatment?</span
          ></strong
        >
      </h4>

      <p>
        Treatment options are many. Rehab is when we are admitted to an
        in-patient facility, where there’s detox followed by learning. Detox is
        done under supervision, because detox from some substances, like alcohol
        and benzodiazepines, can be life-threatening. Other detoxes may not be
        life-threatening, but they are very uncomfortable, and taking
        medications from a professional during that time can make it easier,
        tolerable and safe. Detox is the first step.
      </p>

      <p>
        The second step is learning about addiction, learning about self, and
        learning about coping skills. I would say there are two ways of
        approaching this. The first is within, where we are learning about our
        own psychiatric disorders, treating them, and removing the underlying
        factors, such as access to the drugs and alcohol, and stimulus triggers,
        so that we can get away from them. We learn how to say no, and about the
        underlying emotional states that predispose us to addiction. Then we
        learn to cope with that. We have to remove those factors and learn about
        our inside environment and triggers, and work on them.
      </p>

      <p>
        The second thing is action, and the level of action we take. Some
        examples are the 12-step meetings, going to peer support groups, sober
        houses, and ongoing community programs that helps us stay motivated and
        sober.
      </p>

      <p>
        So, there is inside work and outside work on the path to recovery. As
        professionals, we use various tools such as individual psychotherapy,
        group psychotherapy circles,&nbsp; psycho drama, Rapid Eye Movement
        Treatment (EMDR), neurofeedback, medication, and then meditation after
        some time. All these tools are utilized. More and more research is
        available on how to use what tool for which person. There is no one
        formula for every person with addiction – we have to choose what is best
        for them. The good news is there are a lot of tools available, and as
        the research is growing they are becoming more and more effective. The
        primary step is to recognize the addiction and to seek help.
      </p>

      <h4 class="block-heading">
        <strong
          ><span style="color: #f26529"
            >Misconceptions and myths people have about addiction</span
          ></strong
        >
      </h4>

      <p>
        The most common and harmful misconception about addiction is that it’s a
        moral defect, or a character defect, or a lack of will power. I don’t
        know who’s spreading that misconception, but it’s so wrong. Addiction is
        a medical disease and it’s very common. We should all have empathy and
        compassion toward each other, because it’s all about imbalance. We all
        have been through some form of imbalance, and if we understand that,
        then we can have compassion and empathy for each other. That’s the first
        step toward improvement. It’s a disease and it’s a spectrum. We all fall
        somewhere along that spectrum.
      </p>

      <hr class="vertical-space1" />

      <hr />

      <h4 class="has-text-align-center block-heading">
        <mark
          style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); color: #00b3c9"
         
          >We should all have empathy <br />and compassion toward each other,<br />because
          it’s all about imbalance.<br />We all have been through <br />some
          form of imbalance, <br />and if we understand that, <br />then we can
          have compassion<br />and empathy for each other.</mark
        >
      </h4>

      <hr />

      <hr class="vertical-space1" />

      <p>
        The second thing is that it’s treatable. Efforts do bring results. The
        thought that it’s not treatable puts a block to recovery, to wellness,
        to our betterment.
      </p>

      <hr class="vertical-space1" />

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        </figure>
      </div>

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