- A well-functioning pre-frontal cortex is crucial to sobriety.
- For the PFC to be able to create willpower, it needs an adequate supply of glucose.
- Relatively low blood sugar reflects in lower glucose supply to the PFC, thereby lowering willpower, and the ability to say “NO”.
- Low or dropping blood sugar results in a surge of adrenaline and other stress hormones which impair effective signaling in the PFC.
- Executive functioning is thereby impaired, leading to a lack of use of recovery and relapse prevention skills in response to a relapse trigger.
- A hypoglycemia induced stress response may also stimulate a conditioned response towards the use of addictive substances and behaviors
Academy for Addiction & Mental Health Nutrition
What to Look for In an Effective Addiction Treatment Program
Treatment has evolved in the last 40 years, since I got into the field. New knowledge and skill sets enrich program offerings and curriculums. And of course, high end programs are more able to diversify their programming than state run programs with less resources. That said, client needs more or less remain the same, across the board. This 4 part article attempts to list the elements which I consider to be optimal and even essential, across 4 domains:
October 24, 2024
