Dear Yidden! It is vital to realize that often it's not just a matter of chizuk and mussar. This is a medical condition and disease, and it must be treated as such, hand in hand with the spiritual healing.

If you suffer from depression, look into antidepressant medication. If you suffer from obsessive sexual thinking, look into SSRI medication (scroll down in the link). Today, these medications can work wonders in tandem with therapy, and they have virtually no side-effects! Also, the therapist on the line last night explained that these meds do not have to be taken for life, but rather a period of 8-10 months is often enough to help you on your way to recovery. (All the ideas above can be "Googled" on-line for more information).

 

From the gye handbook, mark.

Tool #18

Medication

If our therapist determines that our addiction may be connected with underlying

causes such as depression, anxiety, obsession, OCD, or even hyper-sexuality

(which is a common condition in lust addicts), he may send us to be evaluated by

a psychiatrist for medication that can help us significantly in these areas.

As a side note of interest, one good therapist said that he never puts a client on

medication for depression before having them try a rigorous regimen of exercise

for about three months. In most cases, the depression disappears as a result of

the physical activity, and exercise routinely outperforms antidepressants in

controlled studies.

If medication turns out to be necessary, this is nothing to worry about, as millions

of people around the world take medications for these type of issues. The

medications can truly make a difference in the long term, and with today’s

medical advances, the side effects are often negligible. Rabbi Twerski wrote to

someone who contacted him through our network:

In order to have both physical and emotional health, we require proper

nutrition. If we lack certain essential vitamins and/or minerals, we develop

"deficiency syndromes". For example, lack of iron and B vitamins may cause

depression. If a child was raised by abusive parents, who, in addition to being

unkind to the child, deprived him of proper nutrition, he may be very

depressed as an adult. A physician who examines the person may diagnose

the nutritional deficiencies and prescribe the missing vitamins and minerals.

The person may say, “How are those going to remove the pain of the abuse?”

The answer is that the vitamins and minerals will remedy the deficiencies, and

he will have to get therapy to deal with the consequences of the abuse.

There is a special section of our website that provides some medical ideas that

can help us in this struggle, ranging from “alternative” medications which can be

purchased over the counter or in health food stores, and down through the more

conventional medications that often require a psychiatrist’s prescription.

SSRI medication can sometimes be useful in this struggle, since our addiction is

often connected with OCD or other compulsive behaviors (even if we don’t

experience this in other areas of our lives). These type of drugs can help take off

the "edge" of the obsession and help us deal with the "void" and depression that

is often felt in withdrawal. Often these kinds of medications can be like holding on

to a lifesaver, while swimming in the stormy sea. While we still have to do the

swimming ourselves, the medications can help keep us afloat.

In many cases, we can slowly get off the medications as we make more

progress. A period of eight months to a year on these kinds of medication is often

enough to help us break the cycle of addiction for long enough to continue

maintaining our sobriety without them. However, getting off the medications

requires close follow-up and approval from the psychiatrist. These kinds of

medications can never be stopped suddenly, but rather in gradual increments.

There are also times when certain medication can prove to be counterproductive.

Therefore, while on medication we should be undergoing therapy and

close follow up.

Mark, if it's really bad, here's the next one.

Tool #19

Rehab

If we’ve tried everything and still can't break free, perhaps we need some time to

get away from society completely to be able to focus fully on recovery for a

period of time. Just as in drug and alcohol addiction, often the withdrawal

symptoms are simply too hard to bear. The only way to break free is to be under

supervision and be in a place where we simply cannot access our “drug” in

anyway, for a while. Here are a few ideas that the GYE network has put

together:

1) The Meadows (www.themeadows.org) is a multi-disorder inpatient addiction

treatment facility specializing in the treatment of a broad range of addictions.

2) The Experiential Healing Center of Tennessee (www.ehcmemphis.com) offers

group therapy and a trauma healing workshops.

3) Torah & The 12-Steps (www.torahtwelvesteps.org) is a rehab option in Florida,

run by a religious Jew who developed a 12-Step Torah approach to recovering

from addictions. He currently deals mainly with other types of addictions, but he

is interested in expanding his work to include sexual addiction as well.

4) Sexual Recovery (www.sexualrecovery.com) is based in Los Angeles and

treats clients from all over the world, providing intensive programming that works

to eliminate compulsive, addictive or offending sexual behavior. Their 5 and 10-

day Intensive Programs (IOP's) offer focused daily psycho-education and

individual therapy, as well as structured social support and spousal involvement

and are a well-established, functional treatment alternative for those who cannot

afford the time or money for a 4-5 week residential stay. (Patients can stay in a

local recovery house or with friends).

5) See www.GentlePath.com (Dr. Patrick Carnes) to discover more rehab options

in the U.S.

6) Retorno in Israel is a center for treatment of addictions. It is run by religious

staff and has seen much success in treating the religious community for a wide

range of addictive behaviors. For more information visit the website:

www.retorno.org, or contact:

United States: Pinny Shreiber, E-Mail: Pinny@retorno.org, Tel: 718-285-9815

Israel: Gil Braverman, E-Mail: gil@retorno.org, Tel: 972-52-244-3641

Be in touch with us through our website or hotline for an updated list and more

options.

Mark, There is still one more idea. But i'll let you look it up yourself. GYE Handbook, page 60, Tool #20, The Very Last Resort

Mark,

Are you taking medication for this?

Skep I wouldn't ignore you - ever
(Your specific question I can't answer now)

I have a question
What would you do if I created another 25 new threads repeating the same thing as this thread, and not reply ever?
You would be aggravated to say the least

Many people would be aggravated
People would drop -25 karma as many many people did to anonymous_14
WHY?

Because he doesn't have the decency to be open and frank with the GYE fellowship
anonymous_14 ignored BigMoish here
He has ignored many others

SELFISHNESS and addiction are related: Creating new threads which upsets members is selfish, and I have asked him to keep his posts to one thread (which will fill his needs of posting on gye without sharing his story which he's not ready to do yet)
The forum is designed for communication, not kamakazi speeches

WHAT IS THE FORUM FOR?
This is what gye says
One of the most powerful tools for breaking addictions is to stay out of isolation. The GYE forum is anonymous platform of group support, and a life-line of chizuk and support for hundreds of people in exactly your situation. See what others are doing to stay clean. Get and share advice with our vibrant community. Post on the forum to get support, tell your story, reach out for help when feeling weak and strengthen each other! You will never be alone in this struggle again.