Neuroplasticity & Addiction - 052

SPEAKER A The following program presents principles designed to promote good health and is not intended to take the place of personalized, professional care. The opinions and ideas expressed are those of the speakers. Viewers are encouraged to draw their own conclusions about the information presented. SPEAKER B Welcome to healthy living. I'm your host, Margot Marshall. Our brain is constantly rewiring, for better or worse, depending on what we think about and what we do. So how do addictions reshape our brain's physical anatomy? Stay tuned as Dr. Eddie Ramirez discusses neuroplasticity. SPEAKER C Healthy Living is a production of 3ABN Australia television focusing on the health of the whole person body, mind, and spirit. You'll learn natural lifestyle principles with practical health solutions for overall good health. SPEAKER B In the same way that addictions change the structure of our brains by forming pathways, challenging those addictions also contributes to what is called neuroplasticity. And here to give us practical strategies for freedom from addictions is Dr. Eddie Ramirez. Welcome, Eddie. Lovely to have you on the program. SPEAKER D Thank you very much. It's a pleasure to be here. And this is a topic that is a very common issue, the issue of addictions. And what happened is that our repeated behaviors start strengthening certain neural pathways, and those addictive behaviors starts becoming second nature, and the person just thinks about it and so forth. But the good news is that there is hope, and that's what we're going to be talking about today. SPEAKER B Oh, that's fantastic. Hope is really important. SPEAKER D And one of the things is that we need to change all the time. As we learn new things, as we mature, as we get new information, change is needed. And how we handle that change has an implication on this neuroplasticity. The stages of change have been documented in different ways. For example, on screen, we can see one of the ways that change has been documented. First, pre contemplation, you think about doing the change. Then contemplation, you're really thinking that you're going to do the change. Preparation, you get everything ready, action. And then the difficult part, which is the maintenance. Okay, some people can start, but that's the issue. Are you going to be able to overcome? Like Mark Twain, the famous writer from America. He said, stopping smoking is very easy. I tried it a thousand times. So he was failing on the maintenance side of things. He was starting, but he was not keeping with the change. And that's where plasticity comes into play regarding addictions, because those connections that have been strengthened by the behaviors, if we stop those behaviors, those neural pathways are going to break down, and then new pathways can start to form and strengthen. And if we stop doing the other behaviors, addictive behaviors, they are going to break down, and the brain actually will recycle some of those pathways. SPEAKER A Recycle? SPEAKER B That's something. It's new to me, yes. SPEAKER D So they will use some of those materials to create new pathways and so forth. SPEAKER B Amazing. SPEAKER D So there is hope. There is lots of hope. We have helped many people with addictions in our depression program. Actually one of the focus, one of our hits, one of our causes of depression that we identify is the cause of addictions. So why do people use addictions in the first place? The reason why most of the people do addictive behaviors is because they are trying to change the way they feel. So an addictive behavior helps you change the way you feel, but unfortunately is short live. So you may change the way you feel, but then it drops out, it disappears. And what happens? You need another one of those dosages and then the pathways for addiction start to be formed. And as I tell my patients is like an octopus that comes to you and says, why don't we dance? Just grab my hand. And you grab the hand of the octopus and before you think, you have eight arms around you and your liberty gets impaired. And that's exactly the first lie he tells you. You're free, you can choose. Why don't you try it one time? Nothing is going to happen to you. And as you grab that hand of that octopus, there were seven more that were waiting for you. SPEAKER B It's a very good illustration. I really like the way you've explained that. SPEAKER D And the issue is that addictions can have very negative consequences. I mean, I'm sure you and I are familiar with people that got into alcohol and these type of things. And that self destructive mechanism not only started affecting them, but those people around them started being affected by that type of wrong behavior. SPEAKER B Yes, because no man is an island and we do. We affect other people as well. SPEAKER D That's right. And this is the beauty of this. We can have a lifestyle free from those addictions. It is possible. And we're not know. We have the help of God to help us with that change of those connections at the level of our brain. Now we have different ways that we understand change. One of them happens. From Dr. Prashaska from Harvard University. He documents the stages of change in the following way. But before we put him on screen, let me share with you an interesting story of one of our patients. This patient, she had an issue with caffeine beverages, which is a huge problem around the world. If it ends with cola, it's probably not the best thing for you. Okay? So she was addicted to one of these cola drinks. And anytime she was thinking about having a thirst, what does she came to her mind? She was thinking about what? SPEAKER B A cola. SPEAKER D A cola, that's right. She wanted a cola drink naturally. But you know, that's why it's such an important work that three AVN does, educating people. That's exactly what we're here for. And maybe one of our audience here today is going to hear some of these things and then the little desire will come up. That's what happened to this patient. She learned from a health lecture that cola beverages are not the best for you. I call them the great contradictory. Patient comes to me drinking something with caffeine. Caffeine will take away your calcium from your bones, will drop your vitamin B vitamins from your body, will drop the iron in your body, will have negative effects at the level of your melatonin. If you have too low melatonin, you actually are going to age faster. SPEAKER B That's not an attractive thing to think about. SPEAKER D And you can follow my Twitter account. I have plenty of documentation there that I like to share. Eddie RDMD for those that are interested. And in that way, caffeine is a tricker. It tells you, look, I'm going to give you energy, but in the same time is taken away from you. So she learns about these negative effects that caffeine has. So what she goes to is she goes to the first stage of change and we can see that on screen. The first stage of change is called unconsciously incompetent, which means, in other words, you don't know you need to change and you don't want to change. Okay? So he comes to the health lecture. New information comes. She becomes aware that caffeine is not the best thing for you. So as soon as she gets that new information and things start changing up here with her desire to make some changes, she just enter into the stage number two that we can see in the screen. And step number two is called consciously incompetent. SPEAKER B So she's still only thinking about it. SPEAKER D But she's not changing. SPEAKER B Okay, but she at least knows that that's right. SPEAKER D But now she is aware that she should change. SPEAKER B Okay. SPEAKER D Many people are like know, it's what they call in America, sitting in the bench, in the fence, you haven't taken the decision, but at least you're having that information in your head and so forth. So this stage varies among people. For some people are like type A type of person, hey, this is better. Boom, throw it away and let's start with the change. Some other people like to chew it a little bit more and think a little bit more about it and then they make the change. So then what she decided to do, she realized, yes, that's true. What they're saying is actually not the best thing for me to do, this cola type of drinks. So what I need to do, I need to make a change. So I'm going to decide that I'm going to stop that. So chi enter into the stage number three that we can see in screen, which means consciously competent, you are doing the change. But the change is not natural. So anytime she got thirst in her head, automatically what came to her head? SPEAKER B Cola. SPEAKER D I want cola. But she consciously said, no, I don't want cola, I want water. And a few hours later that thirst came. What did she think about? SPEAKER B She's thinking of cola. SPEAKER D Cola? No. And consciously she would say, no, I don't want cola, I want water. SPEAKER B Something she's got to think about all the time to make it keep happening. SPEAKER D That's right. So it's not natural. It's a battle. It doesn't come automatically but you need to keep with that battle. And the person was battling and in the new thought and so forth. But then she realized something after a few weeks of going through that battle she realized that at the beginning it was much harder because the desire from the addiction, from the caffeine had more negative effects. But as she started stopping that the connections at the level of her brain neuroplasticity started taking place and started to become weak and weak and weak while the behavior of water started to become strong and strong and strong. So chi enter into what is called the fourth stage of change which is unconsciously competent. So now chi is not thinking about the caffeine beverage naturally. When she got thirsty, what did she think about? SPEAKER B Water. SPEAKER D Water. It had become second nature. It had become part of her. And that's the beauty of neuroplasticity. SPEAKER B Now that has to be very good news, I would say. Because sometimes I think when people have had an addiction of whatever it is for a long period of time they feel really trapped and they think I can't do this. This is just how it is. It's too hard. But it's good to know that it can happen. And you talked about weeks for her to begin to feel as though it was second nature. But it might take a bit long. Might it take longer? SPEAKER D Yes, it does. There are some addictions such as cocaine addictions, such as opioid addictions sometimes is years. And that's the thing that we need. SPEAKER B To understand this but getting easier all the time. SPEAKER D It gets easier. But sometimes the issue is the following you have the addiction issue. So there's a physical issue with the addiction but also there's other layers. There is the friends layers. Okay, you may not be using it now but then you meet your friends. Quote quote friends. Oh, why don't you have some? Look, I have some this or that. One time it's not going to hurt you. And what happened? Boom. You use it and you strengthen again. That what you were trying to weaken. That's why programs like Alcoholic Anonymous recommend that those people of influence you shouldn't hang around with them. I have a relative of mine, he has a brother. Both of them have been alcoholics in the past. One of them decided to stop the alcohol. He joined one of these groups of support for alcohol and it was thought he learned that he shouldn't be hanging around people with these addictions. And it came to a point he couldn't see his brother. He knew that if he saw his brother, he was going to start with the addictive behavior. That doesn't mean that he was never going to see him. But while he was going through this process of neuroplasticity and healing, he couldn't hang around with him because he knew where he was going to end up drunkard and abusing the alcohol and so forth. SPEAKER B So that'd be a tough one, really, wouldn't it? Especially if it was someone really close to you, like a relative. SPEAKER D That's right. And that's why you need to surround yourself with people that can cause a positive change. Go and join a church. And another layer that you need to add there is the layer of accountability. All right, okay. SPEAKER B So you've got the addiction and then you've got the social, and then you've got accountability. SPEAKER D Accountability. You need to find somebody or someone or some group in which you are accountable to, because it's going to help you two things. Number one, it's going to help you from falling into the hole again. And number two, it's going to help you by the fact that if you fall on the hole, you have somebody to help you get out of it. So as you go and join a church, be vulnerable. Tell them, Look, I'm trying to quit this, and so forth. As other people pray for you, as other people give you that support, as other people give you their phone number, is a good idea to have some sort of connection. So when you know you're going to fall, you can get that phone and says, look, I'm in really dire strides. I'm about to fall. I need your help. And the fact that you're talking to somebody helps you change the focus from a nihilistic type of thing, oh, this is impossible to conquer to there is hope. And you know, there's different types of addictions alcohol, opioids, pornography, rock music, and all kinds of things. Yes. SPEAKER B Even screen time. SPEAKER D Even screen time. SPEAKER B That's becoming really high on the list. SPEAKER D So what we need to do, we need to focus on a few at a time. If you have many addictions at a time, don't try to tackle them all, but rather prioritize and start tackling them. And you're able to overcome one. Once you see that it's overcome, then you go and tackle the next one and so forth. We have helped many people, for example, stop smoking. We can see in the screen three of my studies that we did. The first one showing how abstract thinking exercises can help you in your overcoming of addictions. The second one showing how tobacco users tend to have more depression and anxiety. And the third one showing how sexual abuse actually, those people that have gone to sexual abuse are more likely to use cigarettes. That doesn't mean that every single cigarette smoker has had it, but you're more prone to do that. So what are you going to do for abstract thinking? Let me give you the exercise that we give to every single one of our patients for abstract thinking. So one of the abstract thinking methods is to interpret a proverb, okay? In the old days, they used to use them more. They still use them some, but not as much as in the old days. SPEAKER B You're going to test me, aren't you? SPEAKER D So when you hear a proverb, the Proverb doesn't necessarily literally mean that. For example, if I say that it is better 100 birds in the sky than one in my hand, I'm not talking about 100 literal birds, okay? I'm talking about something that means something else. So in the same way, I actually. SPEAKER B Think it's better to have it in the hand than in the bush, which. SPEAKER D Means that you have conquered something you actually have. That's right. They're there, but they're not yours. SPEAKER B They're not mine. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER B Might never be. SPEAKER D So in the same way, to find currently collections of Proverbs, it's hard. SPEAKER B Can I give you an example of that? Yes. My husband loves looking at luxury cars. I don't know why, because we're never likely to have one. But I was with him one time and he said, which do you think is the best car here? Which one would you pick? And I said, that little red one on the curb, because I own that. SPEAKER D That's right. It's better to have one in your hand than 100 flying. SPEAKER B Yes, that's right. SPEAKER D So one of the ways to find a good collection of Proverbs accessible, not complicated and so forth, is in any Bible. Doesn't matter if you're agnostic or atheist or Buddhist, you can do this exercise. So find a Bible. And in the Bible, there is actually a book of what? SPEAKER B Proverbs. SPEAKER D Proverbs. It's a collection of proverbs. It actually is very handy because it has 31 chapters. How many days has a month? SPEAKER B Well, some have 31. SPEAKER D That's right. Most of them have not 31, some 30 and sometimes less. So what you're going to do, you're going to read the chapter of the day. So if today is the 20th, you're going to read Proverbs chapter 20th. And I can assure you, when you're reading Proverbs, you cannot read them too fast. You need to read them and think about it. Read them and think about it. And by doing that exercise, you are actually stimulating abstract thinking. You are strengthening the frontal lobe of your brain. And in the frontal lobe of the brain is where you have your will. So by strengthening the frontal lobe, you strengthen the will. And that's why in a study, we show that those people doing that abstract thinking reading Proverbs, we actually did the Proverbs reading in that particular study. They were more likely to overcome the smoking habit. SPEAKER B Isn't it wonderful? SPEAKER D When I was presenting this study, one of the other researchers came and see it and said, so basically it means that you have to think, isn't it? Yep. That's the secret, Neil. You have to think. If you're able to think, you are able to strengthen that part of the frontal lobe. Another study that we did, and we actually presented here in Australia, in Perth, Australia, we can see it on screen about nicotine and how nicotine has a negative effect on your levels of anxiety. And this is the funny thing. The nicotine is used because the person feels anxious and is a way of dealing with their anxiety. Yes. SPEAKER B Say that again. SPEAKER D Yeah. So they use nicotine, they use cigarettes because it's a way of dealing with their anxiety. SPEAKER B Yes. SPEAKER D So this is a contradiction. They're using nicotine to deal with their anxiety, but if they use nicotine, they actually have more anxiety. SPEAKER B Okay. SPEAKER D And what we're showing in that published study is that if you're able to quit the smoking habit, your anxiety levels are actually going to go down to the level of normal. So the best way of dealing with your anxiety is not by taking another smoke, but rather by quitting smoking. SPEAKER B So the anxiety might go up a bit in the first couple of days. SPEAKER D The anxiety does go up in the first couple of days, but after that, actually, your anxiety baseline levels are going to go much lower than what you had before. SPEAKER B Excellent. SPEAKER D That's a study that you did, that I did as published in a drug metabolisms review journal. SPEAKER B Excellent. So that's really good to know. SPEAKER D And this is a big sample. This was not just a few people. We're talking about more than 1000 people in the study showing how it is possible, number one, to quit smoking, and number two, how that's going to have very beneficial effects on your mental health. SPEAKER B Right? SPEAKER D So we have addictions that may require some medical help, and we can see some of them on the screen. For example, alcohol. If you're using alcohol every single day, and you haven't quit alcohol for more than a day, you may need to want to talk to a doctor to stop it. Bensodiacepines medications such as alprazolam loracipam and certain opioids things like your heroin and these type of things, those you may need the help of a doctor to be in your team. SPEAKER B All right, well, that's good to know, because sometimes we think we just have to do it all by ourselves. And if we can't, we think, well, there's nothing that can happen and there's. SPEAKER D Help available even if you need that help. Intervention. For example, in the issue of the alcohol, very common issue, sometimes people, elderly ladies, very commonly this, they have an alcohol habit. They don't realize they have it, but they do have it, and they go for a medical procedure and suddenly they start with something that is called a delirium tremons. And we have medication to help with that, but we need to know that the person has an issue. And when we interview them originally, they say, oh no, I don't have any problem. Once in a while I drink a little cherry or something, but it is an alcohol problem that they have. So make sure that you talk to your doctor about it. There is help available for that. SPEAKER B Okay? SPEAKER D So we want to close with ten steps for those people that want to quit addictions. This works wonderful for the people with cigarettes, but also other addictions. Let us go on screen and see them. Number one, you need to choose not to smoke, okay? It's something you have to decide with all your heart. Number two, no hidden cigarettes. Don't say well, just in case I feel like no, nothing, throw them away. Deep reading exercises, daily exercise, more sleep lots of water, drink lots of water. Also take showers not only once, but many times in the day. The nicotine is going to start coming in your skin and you have to wash it out. Avoid other things that trigger the nicotine, such as caffeine, alcohol, heavy meals, heavily spiced meals, and avoid high risk situations. People smoke after certain pattern and tell others that you are quitting, okay? So many times it's a special chair, many times is the breaks at work, many times is just after a meal. So what you need to do, you need to use neuroplasticity. So because those patterns call for those addictions, what you need to do, you need to change that. So instead of having the usual break with your friends and having that smoke, go for a walk, do something else instead of sitting down after the meal when you were eating that heavy meal, don't do that. Go ahead and start doing some other activities such as washing the dishes. Oh, that's a really good idea, isn't it? So many people have been able to overcome it. You can remember you're not alone. God is with you. And if you ask God for help, I can assure you God is not going to let you down. So surround yourself with those positive people, put yourself in your hands of God and you will experience those fruits. SPEAKER B Wonderful advice and I'm so pleased we ended up with such a positive way to deal with it. Because I guess everyone has to some extent an addiction of some degree. So we're so pleased that you've joined us today and I hope you've been challenged and encouraged by today's program. We look forward to having you join us next time for more secrets of healthy living. And remember, you can watch our programs on demand. Just visit 3abnaustralia.org.au and click on the watch button. God bless you. SPEAKER C You’ve been listening to a production of 3ABN Australia Television.