🚀 go-pugleaf

Hello!

x@elf.com (Xochi Zen) wrote:
>Path: urmel.informatik.rwth-aachen.de!news.rwth-aachen.de!news.dfn.de!gs.dfn.de!zib-berlin.de!news.mathworks.com!satisfied.elf.com!x
>From: x@elf.com (Xochi Zen)
>Newsgroups: sci.skeptic,sci.med.psychobiology,sci.med,bionet.neuroscience
>Subject: CranialElectrotherapyStimulation (CES/TCET) and treatment of addiction, depression, etc.
>Date: 12 Feb 1995 23:49:15 GMT
>Organization: ELF Communications
>Lines: 27
>Message-ID: <3hm6pr$aes@satisfied.elf.com>
>NNTP-Posting-Host: asylum.sf.ca.us
>Xref: urmel.informatik.rwth-aachen.de sci.skeptic:91665 sci.med.psychobiology:4077 sci.med:90255 bionet.neuroscience:5670
>
>
>
>	I've heard that CES (Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulation) and
>TCET (TransCranial ElectroTherapy) have been used successfully to treat
>drug addiction, alcoholism, and anxiety/depression. Is this true or
>merely another kind of medical quackery/snake-oil? Apparently, there's
>a device called the Alpha Stim - invented (or marketed) by a man named
>Dr. Daniel Kirsch - allegedly the dean of electromedicine at the City
>University of Los Angeles which is used for this purpose. The primary
>use of the device is probably for the treatment of pain (like TENS devices),
>and requires a doctor's permission. Please CC: me a copy of any replies,
>as I won't be logging in for a number of days (by that time, I've missed
>most of the public responses). Thanks in advance.
>
>									- Dana
>
>
>P.S. Pete Townsend of _The Who_ was allegedly cured of his drug addiction
>     with a similar device by a Dr. Margaret Patterson. Anyone know if
>     this is true?
>
>
>--
>| Xochi Zen                            | "There's a seeker born every minute" |
>| x@elf.com                            |  - Robert Anton Wilson on the "Hour  |
>| WWW Home page:                       |     of Slack" radio program.         |
>| http://www.elf.com/pub/u/x/home.html |  - Quote orig. from Firesign Theatre |

Ugh, that sounds like from Dr. Frankensteins private lab.

First of all: we don not know too much about brain functions-
especially the functions of psyche and behaviour are
often discussed with a not very scientific, will
say, analytical approach.

What (electrical) brain stimulation can do, is
to point at motoric dysfunctions. Who says
that psychic dysfunctions as addictions
are straightforward reflexes?
If you think stimulation can help, you have
to accept this.

Another thing is the hypnotical
effect of biofeedback. Try the
Freeware program Flasher on your PC,
and you�ll notice that it CAN change
your state of mind - you simply
relax, such as with special music
or reading the right book. If
the drug problem is due to
an imbalance in personality, the
biofeedback method can probably help as
much as a good psychotherapy - hum,
it can assist such a therapy.

But I believe that drug addiction is
a part of the personality of a human
insofar that when the physical addiction
is cured (which is a disease, not something
you can heal with laws), the strength
of personality is asked to get on
without the drug thrills. I still
believe, you can�t cure this with
electro-shocks, neurosurgery
or black magic ;-).

To cure addiction, you�ll have to
make the patients rely on themselves,
not on the drugs. A balanced, self-
aware person will not need any drugs,
if he knows about and deals with his
psychic problems.

(Meaning of a layperson - just
saw too many junkies die, because
lot of people still believe they
can fight drug abuse by law).

Hope that this opinion of
minbe can help you. Don�t
expect wonders to happen, all that
works in drug addiction is
the personality of a human - see,
how W.S. Burroughs claims
to have cured his addiction.
From medical point of view it is
ridiculous, but he BELIEVED in
the cure!

See you on the Internet,

Peter


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Peter B. Schmidt                        I  I do not speak for anyone
Helmholtz-Institut fuer Biomedizinische I  especially not for the
Technik, RWTH Aachen, Germany           I  Panet Earth, Germany or
Email schmidt@hia.rwth-aachen.de        I  The Helmoltz Institut.
Phone Germany + (0241) 80 70 09         I  My opinions are only MINE!
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