Jacob before
Jacob after
Excerpted from Unchain Your Brain:
When Jacob was thirty-four, he and his wife were in a car accident that took her life and left him with a serious concussion. Now a grief-stricken single father with a rambunctious four-year-old, he couldn’t cope with the stress.
When a woman he had just started dating suggested they smoke methamphetamine because it would make sex better, he said, “Okay.” This was completely out of character for Jacob, who had smoked pot a few times in high school and college, but had never tried hard drugs before.
His new girlfriend was right about the meth. They had mind-blowing sex. Whenever she would visit him, they would smoke meth before having sex. Then Jacob couldn’t wait until their weekend date, and he started smoking it at least once a day.
One day, as he lit the meth, he dropped his lighter on the floor and burned his house down. He and his son were both rushed to the hospital with severe burns. Jacob ended up losing his son to foster care and went to jail.
When he got out, he was forced into treatment. In treatment, the evaluation included a detailed family history, addressing his grief and stress issues, and examining environmental triggers like his girlfriend who encouraged him to smoke meth. In spite of all the help he received through treatment, Jacob couldn’t resist the lure of meth and started smoking it again.
What was missing from his evaluation? When Jacob was referred to Amen Clinics for a brain scan, we discovered that he had suffered severe brain trauma, probably from the car accident that had killed his wife. The damage to his brain was making him more impulsive and reckless.
When Jacob started the treatment we recommended, his brain health improved and with all the other support offered in treatment, he was able to stay clean.
Getting a comprehensive evaluation is critical to healing from any type of addiction, whether you are addicted to drugs, alcohol, food, gambling, or sex. At Amen Clinics, we look at what I call the four pillars of addiction and healing: biological, psychological, social, spiritual.
You can find out more about how addressing these four areas of your life can help you heal in Unchain Your Brain.
Very interesting, but, I would’ve left this out: “His new girlfriend was right about the meth. They had mind-blowing sex.” Even people interested in having better brain health might “try it just once” to see how good the sex might be. Addicts in general, and sex addicts in particular, would be particularly vulnerable to the lure. Love you, Dr. Amen, just trying to help.
I’m a Chritian, a teacher, and I have suffered from addictive personality and behavoirs for years. I have taught pre-school, elementary, college, prisoners, and drug treatment. I suppose some of that has been to answer my own behavioral issues. The other day I was meditating on addiction issue, and I had a vision of sorts. I saw a chain, and one of the links was only partly formed. As I looked at it the link that was “broken” disengaged and then dissapeared. At that moment I understood that I was looking at molecule chains, and it seemed that the patially fromed link had to do with the desease of addiction. I was startled. I closed my eyews and asked “What is on this chain” Immediately, I saw something inscribed on two of the links.One had G7+ and another g5-. I got online and did a search “molecular chains G7+ g5-” To my surprize, there is tons of info. but none that I understood. Can you point me in a diretion, and does that chain image make sense? Kathy Rea
thanks for speaking out on that, John. I had thought the same. I sometimes err on the side of too much information myself and later think it would have been better to follow the less is more adage.
So glad he got some lasting help!
Umm, sex is really quite good why does it need to be better? And eventually doesn’t drug use ruin sex?