As I climbed 15-feet on a wooden ladder to the peak of an old platform, next to this wall of leathery gray flesh, I caught a good whiff of fresh animal dung that immediately cleared my sinuses. Attempting to hide my fear from my wife with a poker face, and already feeling a little queasy, we were then advised by an old man who held a hammer in his right hand, to step into a shaky bamboo cradle seat atop of this seemingly gentle 8000 lb mammoth giant.
Let’s see…
As the sweat dripped off my forehead, I knew there was no turning back from the plunge into the humid jungle while perched on an elephants back that we had so enthusiastically planned. At last, we were elephant trekking in Thailand. Besides the slow bumpy ride, and my thighs being chafed on the course sides of this enormous peaceful beast, the serene walk through the forest with its beautiful and unique flora on top of one of the strongest ancient animals alive, was an unforgettably pleasant experience for both of us.
Recently, as I was daydreaming about elephant trekking in Thailand, I started to consider an old movie that is used in the addictions field entitled,”The Elephant in the Living Room.” This is a rather silly story of a family that pretended to work normally with a true life elephant walking around in their living room. It illustrates the dynamics of this co-dependent, dysfunctional family that continues to allow the alcoholic relative and deny the existence of alcoholism in the family.
Do This
Try to imagine having some quality family time – discussions, watching tv, or simply relaxing all together when the elephant continues to tramp round the living room, bumping into things and knocking them over. It smells bad, eats a huge amount of hay and bananas daily, it takes up half the living room area, and it makes loud trumpet sounds all day long. Then try to imagine convincing your kids, friends, and other family members to help keep it a secret, or that the elephant doesn’t actually exist.
The concept is that if you only pretend long enough that its not actually there, and its not really an elephant, which it might just go away by itself. Some things such as the common cold, poison ivy, and anxiety headaches usually due subside with time. Chronic ailments and lifestyle addictions (e.g., alcoholism, drug addiction, obesity, gaming, etc.) on the other hand continue to advance with time.
Just dismissing a chronic problem rarely makes it go away for good, due to the ongoing negative consequences that influence everyone involved. My first purpose in writing this guide is not just to emphasise the elephant is real, but it wont be ignored despite our best attempts to do so. Lying about it makes the elephant larger and stronger, and it’ll continue to dominate the home. If we admit its presence, we could take the first step out of denial and on the road to recovery.
Poly-Behavioral Addiction
The “it” that I’m referring to is what I call “Poly-Behavioral Addiction.” Secondly, I would like to present the Addictions Recovery Measurement System (ARMS) as a progress tracking measurement tool for clinicians. In a sense, this system simulates the old elephant masters steering instructions to me. Behavior medication experts and health psychologists must take into consideration the biological, psychological, and socio-cultural influences when contemplating an individuals health.
They have emphasized the role that multidimensional life experiences (e.g. traumatic life events, the negative effects of stress on the immune, endocrine, gastrointestinal, and cardiovascular systems, unhealthy/ poisonous life-styles, and bad health choices in relation to adherence to preventative regiments, etc.), play at the occurrence, maintenance, and prevention of physical illness. Some experts in the medical field are presently purporting that Americas number one health problem is no more heart disease or cancer, but a mortal condition labeled “Syndrome X”.
This problem is described as a blend of several metabolic problems such as being overweight, having high blood pressure, being insulin resistant, and/ or with abnormal cholesterol levels which are all associated with a poor diet and too little exercise.
The numbers
The amount is greater than the parts in this syndrome. Considering the U.S. 290,000,000, some estimate that up to 73,000,000 Americans would benefit from some kind of education awareness and/ or treatment for a behavioral addiction. To compound this health care crisis, the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) both continue to look for verification of quality health care, as health care disciplines typically don’t have any frequent principle that standardizes outcome measures.
The outcome measurement study information in their comprehensive medical center inspections therefore, remain a main focus. In most nations, outcome evaluations are legislatively mandated with future appropriations tied to the demo of therapy program effectiveness. To increase the confusion, there are differences in the definition of results that relate to two paradigms:
Final note
Our current health care system is set up to focus on acute care instead of chronic illnesses. My aim in writing this guide isn’t just to instruct and make others aware of these intricate problems, but also to offer approaches and practical tools for clinicians to use in attacking these issues.
Comply with the U.S.
Support the U.S.. The ARMS is a standardized multidimensional integrative program that provides a mix of twelve chief clinical and advanced evaluation and measurement tools to help providers and consumers of health care services.
